In the early 2010s, when VR was reemerging as a gaming medium, Epic Games was one of the biggest advocates of the technology. Alongside support through Unreal Engine, the company created several experiences and games, culminating in Robo Recall in 2017 for Oculus Rift. The arrival of Quest in 2019 saw the game ported across, making further use of the standalone hardware. But how does Robo Recall: Unplugged fair in 2026, that was a question 131XR sought to answer in its latest review.
An Epic Recall of Robots
Considering it’s been approximately 7 years since Robo Recall: Unplugged was released, and almost ten years since the original, it’s not too surprising if you haven’t heard of the game. It’s an unabashed arcade experience whereby robots have run amok, and you need to destroy every last one of them.
However, this isn’t some globe-trotting adventure. Set within a singular city, your job is to shoot, smash and dismember as many robots as possible. This can be done in any number of ways to accrue multiplier scores, offering frantic, wall-to-wall action. However, while certain aspects still work very well today, there are other aspects that definitely show their age.
Robo Recall: Unplugged Review
As 131XR states early on in its review of Robo Recall: Unplugged, the game was excellent for its time. It showcased how well Epic Games knew the medium already, offering the type of immersive gameplay VR fans have become accustomed to. You’re thrown onto the nameless city streets with a job to do, clear them of rampaging robots. These come in all shapes and sizes, from little flying drones to much larger, tank-like enemies.
By and large, the most prolific foes are the humanoid robots. These also offer the most fun and engaging combat scenarios. Use your pistols to shoot them at range, or go in a little closer and blast their heads off with the shotgun. On the other hand, get in real close, and you can grab them (by handles no less), swing them around and even pull their arms off to use as weapons. Such is the fluidity of the action that juggling the robots with well-timed shots is possible. It’s a testament to Epic Games’ design that this still works well in the modern VR era.
However, as 131XR notes, that can’t be said for everything. Robo Recall was made in a time when teleportation was the de facto locomotion system. As such, that still remains to this day, with no update adding smooth locomotion, a lot of players today may find the teleportation-only option a bit clunky. Furthermore, to keep that intensity of the gameplay, there are no reload mechanics. Once your gun is empty, you throw it away, and another will spawn.
That being said, 131XR still finds Robo Recall: Unplugged to be a fun experience.
Epic Games’ VR History
As previously mentioned, Epic Games was an early advocate of virtual reality technology. It brought early support to its video game engine Unreal, which has since been expanded upon for developers. But that was very early-stage support at the time. What really caught folks’ attention was the content Epic Games began trialling and putting out.
Those with a long memory may remember Bullet Train, a 2016 demo (that’s still available for free) testing various gameplay features, including motion controls. Bullet Train impressed everyone at the time, helping sow the seed for what would become Robo Recall.
Unfortunately, after the launch of Robo Recall, that’s where Epic Games’ interest in VR began to wane dramatically. It never followed up with another title, and while Unreal Engine still supports VR, it’s not a feature that’s heavily mentioned. Even the port of Robo Recall: Unplugged was mainly handled by Drifter Entertainment. Ultimately, that was a great shame as Epic Games obviously had the internal talent to make great VR games; it simply lost interest.
