The crossbow is exactly what it sounds like...but better.
Either way, you’re going to run into trouble, and as before you’ll want to pick up any throwing weapons you can use to take down the robot aggressors: knives, scissors – while mugs will stun them. A major change from the first game is that thrown weapons break after each successful kill now, which completely changes the action. No longer can you extract the scissors from the oil-soaked robo-corpse of your victim. Instead, you’ll have to think very carefully about if and when to burn a projectile.“
Budget Cuts 2’s other big addition, at least in the first hour or so I’ve played, is a crossbow. It’s exactly what it sounds like...but better. What’s cool is that it pivots based on which way you turn it, so you can rotate your hands to turn it from a traditional bow to a crossbow depending on your preference and/or the gameplay situation. Arrows aren’t plentiful, per se, but I have seen a couple of obvious “quiver stations,” for lack of a better term, to give you opportunities to use your new toy. It’s hardly an “I win” button, though; aiming isn’t easy, and you do have to account for gravity on long-distance shots. I’m eager to see how Mission Insolvency makes use of the bow as the campaign progresses.Thus far, it remains as thrilling as ever to lean around a corner in VR and chuck a knife at an oncoming robot, oil spurting from its “artery” as it tumbles to the ground powers down for good at your feet. Solving puzzles feels rewarding too – from using the glass-breaking tool on the wall of the train to knock out a window and toss out a live bomb to finding a sticky note with a door code pressed onto the back of a robot waiter. If you’d like to give it a try yourself, Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency is out next week on December 12 for PC VR platforms. Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
