If you follow the news, you know that it hasn’t been a great year for VR gaming. That’s a bit of an understatement: it has been dire. Meta shut down four of its internal VR studios, including Twisted Pixel (Marvel’s Deadpool VR) and Sanzaru Games (Asgard’s Wrath 2). Ubisoft shut down game development at Red Storm Entertainment, the team behind Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR. Moss developer Polyarc laid off two-thirds of its staff. At a glance, all signs point to the impending death of VR as a gaming platform.
And yet, VR is having an unlikely moment right now. In the last month, we’ve seen the launch of three major game releases: Little Nightmares VR Altered Echoes, The Boys: Trigger Warning, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City. All three IP-driven projects are high-profile efforts from studios that remain committed to taking VR seriously. That’s on top of a stream of regular releases that are pushing the tech forward, from Star Trek: Infection to the Apple Vision Pro showpiece Retrocade.
That’s a bit of good news for VR’s loyal player base, and it’s also a small relief for Valve. The company still plans to release the Steam Frame, its next headset, this year. (It has been delayed due to the current RAM crisis along with the Steam Machine.) That’s a bold gamble, at a time when so many major studios that helped build the space are either closing or downsizing. The Steam Frame’s success is entirely dependent on great games, and this month has proven that there’s still life left in the space.
If you plan to pick up a Steam Frame eventually, you’ll have quite the backlog to work through, at the very least. Here’s what I’ve been playing on my headset over the past couple of weeks. If any of them sound interesting, make a mental note to check them out whenever Valve can get its headset out the door. (At least you can finally get a Steam Controller to use with it.)
Little Nightmares VR Altered Echoes
Little Nightmares is one of those series that’s such a perfect fit for VR that I’m surprised Bandai Namco didn’t try it sooner. The creepy-cute horror games always excel at toying with scale, making you feel like a tiny character in a towering world. That’s what VR experiences like Astro Bot: Rescue Mission can do better than any flat-screen game. Little Nightmares VR Altered Echoes is another great reminder of that.
Developer Iconik, the team behind King Pong, does a commendable job of adapting Tarsier Studios’ horror franchise to VR. The adventure takes players through a series of surreal levels filled with twisting architecture and creepy monsters that stalk you along the way. Its finest sequence happens right at the beginning, where players are tossed into Little Nightmares’ version of The Backrooms with a hallway that folds in on itself. Later levels turn train cars and dusty libraries into certified creepshows that perfectly capture the spirit of the series. Its only weak point is some finicky controls that make it difficult to mantle over objects during tense chase sequences. Other than that, Altered Echoes is a strong example of how VR can find a new way to build on what a series does well.
The Boys: Trigger Warning
Superhero games have become something of a go-to option for VR developers over the years, and I can understand why. There’s a real appeal to letting players don a supersuit; even blockbuster movies can’t capture that experience. Batman: Arkham Shadow, Iron Man VR, and Marvel’s Deadpool VR all pull it off quite well. The Boys: Trigger Warning, on the other hand, struggles to land the same trick. That’s not for lack of talent, considering that it’s developed by Pixel Ripped studio Arvore, one of the best VR studios around. It’s just that The Boys is a tricky IP to do right.
Trigger Warning tells an original story in the comic book universe, as an average guy gets roped into The Boys’ war on supes. His target is The Armstrongs, who he must take down with superpowers gained through Temp V injections. It’s a great idea, but it mostly translates to a run-of-the-mill stealth-action game where you need to fling your arms around wildly to melee guards with your blade hands. The real problem, though, is that the writing lacks the same bite as its source material. The humor isn’t as outrageous, the violence is tame, and there’s little social commentary to pull out of it. Without that all-important satirical edge, Trigger Warning’s only real appeal is the bits of fan service it works in as it recreates characters and locations from the show.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City
Undoubtedly the most fun I’ve had with my Meta Quest 3 so far this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City is exactly what I want from a VR game and more. It’s a remarkably polished co-op action game that brings TMNT to life with high-quality voice acting, stylish art, and a surprising amount of depth. You can play as any of the four brothers, using their signature weapons to block and parry attacks. Combat can be a little floppy (no surprise considering it comes from Gorn 2 co-developer Coroptia), but it still fulfills the fantasy of getting to smack around a ninja with Donatello’s staff. Jumping kicks, special abilities, and collectible mods all give me plenty to tinker with as I pummel bad guys in the streets of New York City.
The city itself is what I’m really loving so far, though. You can parkour your way up any building by scaling drain pipes and windows. Free-climbing my way to the top of high-rises in search of Foot Clan outposts to wipe out is a tactile delight so far. The same goes for chucking smoke bombs at my enemies, rotating mirrors to solve light beam puzzles, and sailing across rooftops on ziplines. I’ve only scratched the surface, but it’s the kind of true TMNT experience I’ve been craving since the beat-’em-up days.