It’s a beautiful summer’s day and there’s not a cloud in the sky. This makes a great time to enjoy the garden, or more accurately get some work done. Lawns need constant maintenance to look immaculate, with a sense of satisfaction once the job is finished. But can you get that same feeling from a VR simulator? One that specialises in lawn mowing? On Meta Quest, all you grass aficionados out there will find Lawn Mowing Simulator VR cuts a choppy edge.
Reviews
Reviews of all the latest XR hardware, software and games.
Humanity Review: Lacking VR Support Saves a Few Lost Souls
There’s something uniquely riveting about VR games that create beautiful microcosms to interact with. Games like Ghost Giant, Little Cities, Down the Rabbit Hole, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets and more, all provide living dioramas that you can’t help but get sucked in by. Humanity is very similar in this regard, watching thousands of humans merrily wander by. Albeit with the slight caveat that they love leaping off ledges into an infinite abyss. And while the puzzles are fun, our Humanity review finds a noticeable lack of VR mechanics.
Stranger Things VR Review: Just for the Fans
Whenever a huge IP from film or TV gets turned into a videogame there’s always that thought of fan service. Whether a project will stick heavily to the source material or try to do its own original thing within that universe. We’ve seen the likes of Peaky Blinders: A King’s Ransom evoke its source TV show very well, without neglecting newcomers too much. We were hoping for something similar with Tender Claws’ Stranger Things VR. But as we found in our review, Stranger Things VR is a fan service through and through.
Paint the Town Red VR Review: Endless Decoration
When it comes to mindless cartoon violence in VR, Gorn has ruled the roost since 2019. But now there’s a new contender to the throne, Paint the Town Red VR. A VR port of South East Games’ popular flatscreen combat title, the same blood-gushing carnage remains. But this time with a slice of VR interactivity. Almost like throwing yourself into a Minecraft session with the settings on “B-Movie Gore”, Paint the Town Red VR offers a ton of content. Shame that it all becomes the same slash fest after a while.
Swarm 2 Review: An Adrenaline Spiking Sequel
When Greensky Games released Swarm back in 2021, it was a refreshing entry into the VR scene. Sure, we’d seen grappling games before, but not quite with this arcade intensity. It was a bold move. And now we have Swarm 2 for Meta Quest, looking to outdo its older sibling with the same frantic gameplay but with a deeper replay system. As we find in our review, Swarm 2 does exactly that. Bigger, bolder and badder in every way.
Titanic: A Space Between Review: Sci-fi Horror That Sinks Quickly
The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is a maritime tale that’s been retold countless times and reimagined just as many. 2018’s Titanic VR is the most notable in the VR space, aiming for historical accuracy to help educate players on the tragedy. Titanic: A Space Between, on the other hand, weaves a futuristic, time-travelling tale in amongst the events of that fateful night. Whilst chaos is going on all around you have a mystery to solve, but other dangers are stalking those water-logged corridors. Shame it’s all third-class cabin fever and not more first-class survival.
Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior Review: A Chilly Reception
Two years ago Rebellion brought its Sniper Elite franchise to VR for the first time. Dropping players into 1940s Italy, it was a decent instalment – although not the best in the series – with all the X-Ray Kill Cam goodness you’d expect. Now Meta Quest fans have been treated to a sequel Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior, but as we find in our review its not quite the sequel you’d expect.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice Review: An Insatiable Hunger for Venice
Fast Travel Games first meddled with the World of Darkness with 2021’s Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife. That was a suspenseful horror, full of atmosphere and vengeful ghosts. Action-oriented it was not. This year the studio returns to the World of Darkness once more in Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice. This time, however, you’re not on the back foot. Instead, you find yourself in the shoes of a vampire hunting for answers in Venice, Italy. And whilst you’re still sneaking around, this time you get to be the blood-thirsty killer.
Floor Plan Remastered Review: A Bite-Sized Slice of VR Entertainment
In the early years of VR’s resurgence, when standalone headsets were sheer fantasy and rooms were covered in cables, developers were getting very creative. This was also the era of the ‘VR experience’ when games were fairly short to see what ideas worked. One of those was Turbo Button’s Floor Plan, a delightful puzzler where you spent all your time in an elevator. Now the studio has brought this little slice of VR nostalgia back, which meant XR Source had to review Floor Plan Remastered.
The Foglands Review: Exciting as Pea-soup
During the course of 2023, I’ve been looking for that one game that truly sells virtual reality. Some have come close like I Expect You to Die 3 and The Light Brigade but I’m still after something with panache. Well Told Entertainment’s The Foglands seemed to be a good contender as an atmospheric roguelike shooter. However, as this The Foglands review will detail, the experience gets caught up in its own gloom.