Geek Review: Throw Anything (PS VR)

The realm of virtual reality has allowed us to get closer to experiencing things that were once far out of reach, as consumers now have opportunities to visit fantastical worlds and become a superhero for a day, or even living out a survival scenario where the world is overrun by an army of zombies. Your only defence is anything you can find around you, this is the premise of Visual Light’s PSVR title, Throw Anything.

Originally a PC VR game, Throw Anything brings its own brand of quirky fun to the living room experience. Put on the headset and you will find yourself in a variety of high-rise buildings, looking down on a procession of zombies waiting to climb and devour you. To stop yourself from becoming their next meal, you need to throw whatever you can to knock them off.

It is not just basic zombies you have to deal with either. Special variants can be tougher, more nimble, and generally more deadly than the common fodder. Certain levels will have gigantic bosses that need your best throwing skills to best.

Every level packs its own theme of items to use as makeshift ammo. The first level sees you in a typical bedroom, so expect to fling plenty of furniture like chairs and tables onto the undead. Items as small as video game cartridges can also be utilised, albeit to lesser impact. 

As for the larger furniture, such as beds, players can use other items to break these down to create more ammo for yourself. Even the trapped occupant that is running about can be used as a last resort. The heavier the item, the more coverage and damage it can do.

In order to keep things more interesting, there are secrets hidden around the Throw Anything levels as well. Breaking things up is often the first step, and taking a look around the rooms will lead you to discover hidden items. From cracking open locked safes to unlocking secret compartments, it can pay off if you pay more attention to the surroundings every once in a while.

A postman also occasionally arrives to supplement your arsenal, dropping off a variety of weapons to help you on your quest. Firearms can be a real leveller, but best save those for the later stage of tougher levels. Upon completion of each level, you will get access to a hub to launch your next mission, or to purchase weapons in preparation of a harder stage.

There is no doubt that Throw Anything is repetitive. After all, the gameplay loop is all about grabbing enough objects to throw at the rapidly climbing zombies. However, it is made worse by the fact that it is on the PS VR. The constant turning between facing the room and the zombies make for a challenging time for PS VR tracking.

Be it sitting down or standing up, the turning away from the camera results in wonky tracking, to say the least. 

Unlike other PS VR titles like Blood & Truth and ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION, the less than reliable tracking tarnishes an otherwise unique premise in the VR space. Adopting a snapping turn mechanic and keeping the player facing forward would have made for a better control scheme, but alas, it was not to be.

Rather than struggle in the fight against the encroaching zombies, you will find yourself fighting the camera tracking and difficulty in picking up lifesaving objects to throw. 

Throw Anything definitely brought something new to the table of zombie games, giving players yet another way to combat the living dead. However, the appeal runs out fairly quickly, and the amusement in no way makes up for the poor implementation of PS VR’s tracking and controls. This is one port that could have stayed dead.

Throw Anything is available on the PSN Store for S$27.70.