The Grumpy Old Gamers

October 10, 2019|All Reviews, Grump Fitness

By Rob Leggo

BoxVR, developed and published by a company called FitXR, is a virtual reality exercise game available for Occulus, Steam and PS4, the latter of which I am playing. Released in April of 2019, the game attempts to mash up a rhythm game with a fitness game, all in the world of VR. So, how well does it work? Is there a good and enjoyable workout to be had here? And more importantly, will anyone in the Leggo family get hurt while I have my VR helmet on while I swing wild haymakers in our living room?

watch out kids…Daddy’s gleaming the cube!

The Presentation and Workout

BoxVR is a series of aerobic boxing exercises, put together by trainers set to popular type music. Exercises range from 2 min to 60 min long, with the longer ones giving you several breaks for a couple seconds at a time where you switch stances and such. Orbs come at you, and you have to punch the pink ones with the pink glove and the blue ones with the blue glove, with solid orbs being for jabs and straights, and curved ones being for hooks and uppercuts.   There’s also orange rectangles coming at you that require you to either duck, or to weave to the left or right and block symbols that require you to raise both hands in time with them arriving at you.  It’s all fairly intuitive, and the tutorial does a good job of getting you up to speed.

Before starting, you’ll want to ensure you have some good space around you.  You’ll need two of the Playstation move controllers, one for each hand, and of course the PSVR helmet for the ol’ noggin. The camera on top of the tv does a fairly good job of motion tracking for both the controllers and your head whilst you bob and weave.  I’m not the worlds biggest fans of the move controllers, with their lollipop type shape, but they are balanced fairly well and feel comfortable in the hands. I also didn’t experience any motion sickness during this, which I have been very prone to using the VR in the past.

An unfortunate problem with the PSVR however, is that the headset is wired, and I did find the cable getting in the way a lot, especially as I was changing stances.  I also found the lenses getting fogged up quite a bit, as it a mostly enclosed headset, with rubber nose rests. This tended to get better the longer I got into the workout, as things all heated up. I am also a bigger gentleman, so I end to sweat a little more than most, so your mileage may vary.

Its just my fat crying, really….

And as far as the workouts themselves go, these are no joke! Whereas the workout in a similar game such as Nintendo Fitness Boxing builds up gradually, the workouts here go from zero to eleven, and will knock you flat on your butt. There is definitely plenty of room for growth before you hit the end of the exercises, and everyone should be able to get a great workout with these. But that is all you are getting with this game, don’t expect fun little mini games, or challenges….you are getting the core workout experience, with some customization of the workouts and that’s it. But what it does deliver is a hardcore workout experience for your money.

The Graphics and Audio

Graphics in a game like this are like the bun on a hotdog..no one is buying it for the bun, but you will sure as heck notice if it’s stale. The environment is immersive, and the icons are colourful and clear.  The stats for the workout are easy to see  in the corners of the screen, and travelling between the menus with the move controllers is intuitive. In the workouts themselves, I could count on one hand the amount of times I muttered “C’mon, I hit that one, you filthy idiot box”, and even though I have the inner ear of drunk senior citizen, I didn’t have any motion sickness issues while using this. So that’s a plus for the graphics, I guess!

Just another day in the cage, son!

he audio is fairly minimalistic as well. The music during the exercising is done well, and the healthy smacks when you punch an orb are set extremely well to the music. But that’s all you’re going to get, as the menus are barren of all sound or atmosphere. Again, not a huge deal, as the bar for this type of game is fairly low, but it felt like they could have put a little more effort into sounds for the game.

The Verdict

Overall, BoxVR will give you a great exercise experience…. and that’s about it. The workouts are great, and the music choices will keep you going but there isn’t anything else to it once you start getting bored with the main experience. This game does one thing, and does it very well. It’s like using the family’s K-Car to go on vacation….it’s going to get you there safely (eventually) but don’t expect a lot of options…or a working tape deck. If you just want a killer workout, and already have a PSVR, you could do a lot worse than this….just keep your loved ones out of arms reach!

Rob Leggo really is a swell guy, once you get to know him.  20 years in the telecom industry has given him the social skills of a hermit however, so he spends a lot of his spare time with those “vidya games.” He’s a husband to a wife who is WAY too good for him, and a loving father to 3 wonderful kids.