Nails the vSports concept with refined mechanics, an incredible spectator mode that's conducive to good community and effective training modes. Just needed offline play and a higher online population.

What are YOU looking at?

Approx 0.7% of Steam users own headsets. Not even that paltry a population and there are other stores in addition, but when one of the best qualities of the VR revolution has been a push for social multiplayer, it makes for seriously fierce competition. So it's sad that Sparc, so fundamentally solid a future sports realisation that has most all of the good of VR titles like Racquet NX and Echo Arena, is now a ghost slowdown. It has an average of 3 players active in the last month and its absolute peak on Steam was only 37. I don't know how its crossplay with other stores affects numbers, admittedly. The VR multiplayer space is unforgiving, and Sparc is a definite casualty.

The one time I managed to synchronise with presumably those fabled three, I was massively struck by the presentation. When you spectate, you loom over a model village-sized projection of the court in session - all of the movements of the players preserved and action digestibly showcased with audio equaliser bars in the background ratcheting up the excitement as they jump with the sounds of play. It does an incredible job of nailing the feel of a kind of VR future where sports are experienced with presence. vSports can count me in. Even the smallest detail like confirming the start of a match by holding your hands to your opponents' as a riff on a handshake before a game does amazingly to capture this feeling.

What I imagine you see with the binoculars in the royal box at Wimbledon.

The game itself - what very little I got to play - is tremendous, ultra-physical fun. It strikes an interesting interplay of offence and defence by having possession of the energy orb/ball project a shield you'll be forced to give up upon taking a shot at your opponent. Hitting them gains you points. Most in two minutes wins. Dodging is also viable, but will leave the circle behind you vulnerable - granting your opponent a bigger, faster energy orb for a hit. The tutorial does well to hand-hold you through it and otherwise I got a good friendly talking to from the spectators. The only active server was, unfortunately, the advanced mode! This means it carried less aim assist and, I assume, a certain expectation of proficiency.

As well as the tutorial, you have the challenge modes. These are essentially for brushing up on throwing, deflecting and then both at the same time. They have their own competitive leaderboards and are fun in their own right. With the addition of energy walls demanding tricky wall and ceiling bounces, it's no pushover. I might have preferred something a bit more playful than target practice, even with the energy walls, but that may well have undermined the serious vSport intent.

That serious intent also comes through in the more muted colours and overall presentation. Sparc isn't badly lacking personality that it's a major complaint, but it plays it extremely straight, clean and functional. I wonder if anyone was warded off by its more reserved approach. Much of VR plays up the fun and quirky, so it just lacks a noticeable spark (intentional).

The customary pre-match fist bump.

One thing the practice did expose to me was either my ineptitude at getting a straight-on throw/deflection or simply a difficulty in-game. Given my actual dearth of sports coordination, it wouldn't be totally unfounded to be the former, but it certainly was a consistent struggle. It might even have been a height issue. The aim assist is certainly welcome.

The game desperately needed, particularly in its current state, some kind of bot mode with difficulty settings. Other than the practice, this is an online-only proposition. Unless you have reliable VR friend in tow, there's not a whole lot of game for the VR premium price. It's a recommendation, then, but primarily based on the merits of the game when you're able to play it fully.

It nails the vSports concept with refined mechanics, an incredible spectator mode that's conducive to good community and effective training modes. It just needed offline play and a higher online population to really knock it out of the park. I shall definitely return to this one periodically in hope of a game. Maybe I'll see you there!