Space Marine VR - Defenders of Avarax (2024)
[game]
I’d never played VR before, let alone free-movement VR. Well, now I have.
Yesterday, our squad of four stormed Space Marine VR, and damn, it hit hard. I had no idea what to expect—was I gonna get motion sick? Would the visuals be blurry as hell? Turns out, none of that mattered—I had an absolute blast. They handed each of us a headset and a gun. That’s it. No wires, no battery packs, no quirky adjustments.
You’re swarmed by tailed monstrosities from every direction. You shoot, chuck grenades, and keep pushing higher and higher up yet another holy-shit-giant-ass tower in this universe. Sometimes, you get the chance to swap your gun for a plasma rifle, heavy bolter, or a flamethrower. When the ammo runs out, you’re back to your default rifle with the underbarrel grenade launcher.
At its core, it’s just a straightforward Serious Sam-style shoot-'em-up: monsters closing in to rip you apart while you hold down the trigger and obliterate anything that moves. But the game tracks headshots, and those actually matter for your score. You don’t see your own body—just your gun—but your teammates’ full models are rendered and look pretty cool.
The game isn’t just about adrenaline-fueled shootouts, though. There are moments where you need some finesse, like hopping to another platform before the floating chunk of concrete under your feet disappears into some astral void. And while doing that, you’re also trying to shoot an armored capsule floating in midair. Sounds like boring bullshit, but in reality, it’s a fun break from the chaos.
I don’t know shit about Warhammer lore, but I do know this is a standalone game you can only play at Zero Latency venues. The whole experience takes about 30 minutes, which somehow fits a lightning-fast tutorial (both before and during the game), a variety of segments, and even two boss fights. Tight and fun.
The downside? The comms. The headsets have mics, but the delay was ridiculous—hilarious considering the place is called Zero Latency. And how you hear your teammates? Absolute trash. Sure, you can tweak the master volume on the headset, but that just cranks everything up. And with explosions already loud as fuck, we ended up relying on just yelling at each other IRL.
Jan 12, 2025