BoxVR Review – Working out is Tiring but Time Well Spent

We hear all the time about how video games are known to make folks lazy. BoxVR is here to change that and we’ve been working out with it for a week. Is it worth dusting off your VR headset and controllers?

Read on to find out.

Exercise games for VR are starting to get more and more enhanced, and developer FitXR has added to the growing list of VR titles that can give you a helluva workout. As far as gaming goes, BoxVR isn’t a game in the sense that it has a story or follows a movie series like Creed: Rise to Glory. With BoxVR, it brings you a daily workout segment that can be either added to your home workout, or be used to tailor a timed workout that fits your schedule.

The game uses simple boxing mechanics and tracks your controllers and your head to put you in a 3d space. We used the PlayStation VR with two move controllers to test out the game, and as boxing fans, really enjoyed the gameplay. The game uses musical beats to help you time your punches and as you up the difficulty, you’ll up the beat and have more punching opportunities. On Easy, the beat is fairly slow but makes for a nice warm up round to better prepare you for the more upbeat higher difficulties. You’ll be throwing hooks, uppercuts, and jabs like a pro in no time. BoxVR is a game that not only tests your physicality, but your timing as well.

There are 45 pre-made workout classes already in the game, and are sorted by difficulty and length. These go from an easy 3 minute workout, all the way to an intense 60 minutes that you may have to pause between music tracks in order to stay hydrated. The game isn’t just punching as it will also have you leaning and squatting. There are several no-squat modes for those that only want to user their hands, which is a thoughtful addition for those that want to work out and are in a wheelchair or have low mobility in their lower body.

For those that want to create their own timed workouts, there’s a custom workout mode that allows you to insert any of the 110 music tracks into your workout, with the overall workout time determined by the length of the combined tracks. It would be nice if the tracks showed their length, but once added you can see the overall workout length, so it’s not too hard to figure out how long each song is. You can also set the difficulty for the workout session and give it a custom name.

The game tracks your progress as you workout and keeps daily and accumulative totals for the amount of time spent and calories burned while playing. You can set your own personal daily goals for these, and maybe increase them as time progresses. The workouts can get pretty intensive and require a little bit of physical space in order for you throw punches without actually hitting anything. A fist through a 4K TV could be an expensive accident, so always be aware of your surroundings.

BoxVR is a welcome addition to our gaming library and may help some of us get in decent shape.

Nicely done FitXR.

9


BoxVR review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.

Louis Edwards

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