Firewall Zero Hour – Operation: Nightfall review for PlayStation VR

Platform: PlayStation VR
Publisher: SIEA
Developer: First Contact Entertainment
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-4
Online: Yes
ESRB: T

One of the best VR games to hit the PlayStation VR in 2018 was Firewall Zero Hour. A tactical online FPS where you form up teams and try to take control or defend a computer located somewhere on the map. You can check out my previous review here.

Operation: Nightfall is a giant expansion with new maps, weapons, updates to the UI and visuals and a few other welcome changes, thus making Firewall an even more immersive experience that before. If you’ve never played, gameplay consists of  two teams of mercenaries to either protect or obtain highly sensitive information on a laptop in dangerous and exotic locations around the globe. Each team has a guide or “Contract Handler” that guides each match by providing objectives and critical mission information along the way.

Each team accomplishes objectives through sheer teamwork with online partners. Just like before, offline play is limited to Training Mode only. Players are rewarded in-game with cryptocurrency and experience points upon the successful completion of contracts/matches and can use those currencies to upgrade contractors, weapons, equipment, load-outs and cosmetic customization.

Operation: Nightfall, begins as a Free update to owners of the original game with extra add-ons available for purchase. The previous challenge system has been overhauled to offer more rewards. Each week you can get a new Mission to complete, yielding new rewards. There are also new Daily Tasks presented to you as well, which reward you with XP and Crypto. You can grab a new task everyday for even more XP!  Every week there will be one Mission is available for free for all players. With the Op-Pass, (Purchased Separately) players can unlock additional missions and earn Special cosmetic rewards. If you simply cannot complete a mission, you can use a “Hack Key” (also purchased separately) to instantly complete it an gain rewards, however, you will not earn any XP or Crypto.

We also have a brand new map, Hangar, and a new Contractor, Ruby, who brings the Skill of ?Thief? (ability to steal Crypto from the enemy’s corpse). The map of Hangar takes place around a large military transport aircraft in a hangar in the heart of Malaysia, and is available to all players. Ruby, the Contractor, is accessible via the Op-Pass. Her Skills are available as a timed-exclusive, but will be available to all players as the daily updates progress.

The Op-Pass will be $9.99, while a pack of 5 Hack Keys will be $4.99. Also, you can get the Op-Pass and 25 Hack Keys in a bundle for $29.99. This bundle is great for those who want to get through the more tedious missions more quickly and earn fast rewards.

The core presentation has not really changed, but this update brings us updated visuals for the guns, character models and also the maps available. New maps, weapons and playable characters round out the update making the core game feel more complete than it was. As before, while you can use the standard DualShock 4 controller, it is strongly advised you use the VR AIM controller if you have one.

This is a very welcome addition to an already great VR Game. The base game was lacking in a few areas and this update seems to fix almost everything that was missing or broken. I am also glad that there seems to be a larger community for this title now, as finding a match was way easier than before! If you’ve played the original Firewall and were a bit underwhelmed, you need to dive back in with this update. If you haven’t tried it before, Firewall Zero Hour is a fantastic title for the PlayStation VR with Operation: Nightfall making the Firewall experience even better than before!

Note: SIEA provided us with Firewall Zero Hour – Operation: Nightfall PS4 codes/keys for review purposes.

Grade: A