Play it on: Meta Quest 2/Professional/3 (or the flat model’s on nearly every little thing)
Present objective: Starve myself of upgrades till I get the nice weapons
I’m shocked how hardly ever video games characteristic in my VR playtime. Standalone Meta Quest video games, which have sucked the lion’s share of growth {dollars} away from the (for my part) extra thrilling realm of PC-powered VR, continuously strike me as small in scope and unexciting. As an alternative, my killer apps these previous few years have been VRChat and Bigscreen VR. I discover socializing in fantastical user-made worlds and screening obscure flicks with distant friends properly well worth the value of admission.
However, Claire decreed we had been doing Halloween video games this week, and I’m within the honeymoon interval with a brand new Quest Professional, so I lastly acquired round to beginning Armature Studio’s Meta Quest-only VR model of Capcom’s 2005 basic Resident Evil 4. Verdict up to now? Great. (The headset’s fairly good, too.)
Resident Evil 4 was the primary sport within the collection I actually beloved, however having not revisited it for the reason that GameCube OG, I’ve been lengthy overdue for a replay. This VR version’s digital actuality you-are-there factor gives a newly intimate perspective on Leon S. Kennedy’s iconic journey, heightening each the creepiness and my immersion. It does this so properly that I believe RE4 VR is now ruining me on all of the older “pancake” (2D, flatscreen) variations.
Armature did an incredible, considerate job changing the 2D sport to VR. Leon’s palms particularly are nice. It feels so cool to seize your pistol off your hip, headshot a goon, drop the gun, pluck a grenade out of your chest, pull the pin along with your different hand, hurl it on the mob, retrieve the shotgun from over your shoulder, pantomime the reload, rack it… When you get used to the motions they change into second nature, making fight frantic and enjoyable in a really contemporary manner.
Yeah, Leon’s new agility (strafing!) makes the fights simpler; you may flip that off, but it surely feels unhealthy to take action in VR (positively disable the laser sight, although). Given how otherwise it performs, you may principally think about this an entirely separate sport. However no sweat. It’s tremendous enjoyable, and I’m discovering it onerous to think about the OG pancake variations feeling fairly as satisfying, now. (Past moddability, the one particular benefit they nonetheless maintain is that Ada Wong’s “Separate Methods” marketing campaign is regrettably lacking right here.)
Resident Evil 4, I’m reminded, is an exquisitely well-designed online game, stuffed with every little thing I like concerning the medium. It’s proving a pleasure to revisit in VR, and it’s additionally actually neat the way it now runs on somewhat pc connected to my face. If the Quest platform (or VR basically) will get extra video games of this high quality, I would discover myself spending rather less time in VRChat. — Alexandra Corridor
Hey! Hear!
A nifty app referred to as Quest Games Optimizer makes it straightforward to run RE4 (and a whole lot of different Quest video games) at significantly increased decision. It’s properly well worth the $10 on Quest 2 or Professional, and legit important on Quest 3, being the one technique to conveniently reap the benefits of Q3’s further GPU horsepower in older video games.
For those who don’t have a Quest, there’s a pretty good fan-made PCVR mod for the current RE4 remake, and the PS5 model of the remake’s getting official PS VR2 support within the close to future. (Capcom…please keep in mind your PC gamers…)
