3DS Hands-on: Face Raiders

January 24, 2011

Face Raiders, the built-in 3DS game, has you taking a photo of your face, then shooting it repeatedly. With a vengeance.

It’s a little strange.

        

 

 

 

 

The game maps your face on little ships that zoom toward you from all directions, damaging you when they come close enough. You have to move around in real space, aiming and shooting these faces. The faces scowl at you. The faces laugh at you. The faces are sometimes disguised or covered in weird makeup. It’s… well, it’s incredibly disturbing.

We speculated with the Nintendo rep about the possible plot for this game. One theory involved the destruction of the space-time continuum, and only by destroying yourself could you save the fabric of the universe from being torn apart. Our favorite, though, was the entire experience was some sort of Freudian psychological experiment, gauging your reactions to this bizarre activity of shooting yourself in the face.

Ultimately, though, it’s a fun little diversion, and as fun little diversions go, it looks more fun than the AR Games or the DSi’s Photo Dojo.

Just be prepared to have nightmares for a while.