REVIEW | Jetpack Vacation

LifeisXbox’s Jetpack Vacation review | Are you tired of it all? Had enough of the daily slog that is life? Do you need a vacation? Ever wanted to fly with a jetpack? If you answered yes to any (or just the last) of the aforementioned questions, you can put on your SteamVR compatible headset and blast off with Jetpack Vacation. Travel with Tourism Infinity, the developers, publishers, and tour operator of this rocket-powered island excursion. Take part in two, soon to be three, exciting activities. I played Jetpack Vacation while it was still in Beta right before release, so what you read below is indicative of my experience up to November 16th, 2021. While I played Jetpack Vacation alone, it is definitely recommended you play it with friends where possible.

The available excursions will prove for a good afternoon’s worth of rocket-powered fun alone but will live a lot longer when enjoyed with friends.

ℹ️ Reviewed on Oculus Rift | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion from the writer.

What we liked!

• Jetpack 101 | Before discussing all there is to do let’s quickly go over how the jetpack works. If you’re reading this you probably have a base understanding of the concept already. Here it works slightly differently since your jet isn’t necessarily a pack, rather you have rocket arms. The way you hold your controllers, imagine the tip of a rocket is attached to the palm of your hand. Since this is VR, you luckily don’t need the arm strength to support your entire bodyweight below it. Squeezing the trigger button will activate the rocket on the corresponding hand. These can be aimed and activated individually, meaning you can get some finer control over your speed and aerial movements with practice. Spread across the various levels you can also find speed boosts. These will give your already powerful jetpack some extra oomph.
• Jetpack Stadium | The first game mode I tackled after arriving on the island was the Jetpack stadium. Here you can play a soccer-like game, with jetpacks in a sealed-off arena. If you’ve ever played Rocket League, think when you start doing aerial moves to hit the ball, but then only that, and with a lot more control over where you go. Just as in the previous comparison, the arena has a fair helping of boosts strategically placed around the field. Having a good amount of play space also helps a lot in this mode, since the ball can quickly be knocked behind you. Whether you physically turn or use the controller to rotate yourself can make quite the difference. Fine control over how you hit the ball seems theoretically possible, but given the fact you are using a jetpack to crash into a giant football means you will probably need a degree in rocket science to achieve.
• Target Practice | This is the second game mode I tried out, and kits you out with paintball guns at the end of your boosters. For this activity, there are two game modes: One solo and one multiplayer. It’s kind of straight forward really. In target practice, you fly through the island trying to hit as many of the hovering targets as possible within the allotted time. Solo you obviously try to beat your own highscore, while in multiplayer you go up against the group, so that the one with the steadiest aim and best jetpack control may come out on top. Now, the best part about this mode in my eyes is the island it’s set on. The devs over at Tourism Infinity have crammed the island full of famous landmarks. Fly through an Egyptian style pyramid, up the Eifel Tower, or past the Statue of Liberty. I’d actually love it if these landmarks could be added to the hub island, and while you can’t find them there, they do show up on the race track.
• Jetpack Racing | A quick disclaimer: at the time of playing, this feature was still in development.
  Lastly, you can already try out the obstacle course that will later become a place where you can race others, as well as try and beat your own time in solo runs. The course consists of a number of chambers you must successfully navigate, with a variety of obstacles for you to deftly avoid. Or at least try to. The course makes really great use of all the assets available in the game, as you’ll be going through rooms full of bouncing footballs, spinning fans or walls, or even a cityscape like path where you’ll whiz and wind in between buildings and monuments. As said before, this mode is still in development, so I was unable to see my own time per run. I am rather sure, however, that I never beat my original run.

Somewhere between

• Coins and Cosmetics | Spread across the islands are purple coins or floating rings to fly through. If you’ve played any games before you’ll quickly come to realise that coins mean unlockable items and objectives. Not only can you find these coins in the wild, but you can also earn them from competing in the various activities that the island is rich. It makes for a nice reward to give the player next to eternal jet packed glory and fame. So what will your hard flown coins buy you, I hear you ask? Right now not a lot. Exactly 2 outfits during the time I played. One watermelon and one pineapple themed skin for your in-game avatar at 100 coins each. It’s a nice start, but I can see it getting stale very quickly if there are only 3 different skins people can use to express themselves with, including the default blue.

What we disliked

• I have no strong dislikes about anything in Jetpack Vacation.

How long to beat the story | There is no story, but you can do everything in an afternoon.
How long to achieve 1000G | Not applicable.

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