MARS Light Gun System – 2 Months Later

Leading up to its launch, MARS was being heralded as the next greatest light gun toy to hit the market, but there was great hesitation on whether or not the product would deliver on the high claims the company, Performance Design Products, were touting.

After playing with the system for a few months, and having over a dozen different people take it for a spin, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty – for $99.99, is the MARS Light Gun System worth it?

The answer to that question is a hesitant yes. If you love those shooting arcade games you pop token after token into at your local arcade, then this is an easy purchase, and one that could ultimately save you a few dollars over spending that time in an arcade. If you are looking for a fun multiplayer experience that you can whip out at parties and such, I would once again say yes, purchase this system.

If you are looking for deep gameplay experiences and hours upon hours of single player fun, I’d say this is likely a hard pass. Thankfully, for me, I fall into the first two categories.

Of the three bundles currently available, we are taking a hard pass on the buck hunting experience, which we felt – and the others who played as well – was not up to par with the other two experiences. Flat out, it is just a bad game, and isn’t worth picking up. The other two experiences, however, are instant winners in our opinion.

Before we get to a discussion of our favourite game, Voyage of the Dead, I do want to write about how easily the system is to setup. Once you’ve connected the sensor to your Xbox One or PlayStation 4, getting it calibrated is as easy as moving it around your coffee table until you line up the sensor markings with the markings on the screen. The first time it took me roughly 3 minutes, but now I can get it all setup within 20 to 30 seconds. It may seem complicated at first, but it is a really easy process once you have an idea of where the sensor should sit.

Make sure it on something that won’t move easily. If ever the table gets bumped and the sensor shifts slightly, it will result in your game stopping until the sensor can be repositioned.

Now back to the games – while we enjoyed the single player story behind Qubits Quest, the real winner of the three games for my wife and I was Voyage of the Dead. In Voyage of the Dead, you will pick one of many individuals to play as, and while embark on an on-rails shooter aboard a luxury cruise liner. While the actual action remains the same regardless of which character you pick, the voice overs and moment-to-moment quips from the characters themselves vary differently.

The game is broken down into levels, much like you’d see in an arcade. At the end of each level you’ll be given experience points, that will allow you to level up your character and pick different perks and weapons to carry forward. With the ability to play with up to 4 players on one TV, we found that the more people playing the game, the more fun we had.

Outside of the campaign, there are also a ton of fun and unique mini-games as well, and although these are definitely secondary to the main story, they add additional fun to the entire experience, and make great party games as well!

Overall, MARS from Performance Design Products is definitely a worthwhile investment if you have the opportunity to share it with others. If you pick it up, let us know what you think!