Reach VR Review — Hardcore parkour, with a side of bugs

It has taken an excessively long time to write this review for Reach VR because I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with this game. It impressed me at Meta Connect and since then has become one of my favorite games at home. With that said, playing the game requires patience because this latest multi-platform release from nDreams has a few technical issues.

Let’s start with the positives.

Reach VR has a lot of variety in terms of environment, physical activity, and weapons. I’ve read comments that the environments seem repetitive to some people, but I disagree. There are numerous types of settings such as an industrial setting, a cave, ancient ruins, etc.  

There’s a variety of weapons, which I greatly enjoyed! My favorite was the bow, which comes with a standard arrow that you can upgrade by grabbing and squishing little glowing bugs. Different types of upgraded arrows include explosive, fire, ice, and stun capabilities. This is a creative idea I initially enjoyed, but then I felt a little guilty because the bugs are actually cute. I spent time trying to figure out how I could get the benefit of the bugs without actually squishing them and then decided I was overthinking things. (Still, I might’ve liked a basket to collect them in and just keep them alive.)

You eventually get  a shield, which is satisfying to throw like Captain America. It’s not only effective as a weapon, but you can also toss it into slots on the wall to use your shield for climbing. This is a great example of how the developers combined a bit of parkour and puzzle solving for more engaging gameplay.

The guns are relatively simple and have limited ammo, but they’re effective enough.  You can pick up dropped guns for use as well, though they all blend together with little differentiation  for the most part. You don’t need to be a very good shooter to take out an enemy. If you manage to hit them somewhere, they’ll usually be eliminated. You won’t find accuracy in guns or mechanics like you might see in games like Onward, Contractors, or H3VR, which is a little bit disappointing. Many people, including myself, expected that from Reach VR, but this is a different type of game.

Parkour

While fitness games in VR are super popular, this isn’t a “fitness game” so all the parkour seemed a little much. Some of it I really did enjoy - like climbing across the side of a building holding pipes or jumping through broken windows. I only became frustrated when it felt like something was way too difficult and it took forever to get through that area. Also there is just A LOT of parkour.

For me, the parkour is smack dab in between positives and negatives. I prefer to chill when I’m killing or maiming enemies so I’d rather be shooting or blowing up things than trying to figure out how to jump, climb or shimmy from one place to another.  The team did a good job in approximating being a special operative, pushing the player to put  in a little physical effort. After all, you are living the life of an action-adventure hero.  

If you enjoy parkour, then you’ll probably love the game. You’ll experience more parkour - climbing, jumping, sliding, ducking, etc. - than you would in Stride and it includes storytelling that you won’t find in Orion Drift (which has a dedicated Parkour District). I’d recommend it for anyone interested in that sort of immersive gameplay.

Now for the elephant in the room…

The game has bugs. Not the adorable ones that glow and you squish for arrow power-ups, but the incredibly annoying kind that require you to play a level more than once because it gets stuck or something glitches. Our Editor in Chief had the demo version restart or crash on him half a dozen times during a recent event, and it seems like those issues are still present and accounted for.

Once I was starting to enjoy the parkour aspect of the game and I catapulted myself through a hole in the wall. It was pretty cool and I imagined myself like Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow jumping through the wall in some action-packed Marvel film. 

Unfortunately it was at this time that  reality hit. I realized that I was now stuck in this tiny little space and couldn’t get out. At first I thought it was part of the game and I had discovered the secret entrance to the next level, but then realized I was trapped like moonshine in a still during prohibition. Eventually I had to go back to the menu, and this wasn’t the only time.

Honestly I don’t usually mind game bugs, but in one of my favorite sections of the game (using the bow & arrow), you have to clear a certain area with the grapple hook and I tried this twice while playing it at Meta Connect. Both times I died and when you die in that section, you literally can’t progress any further. I’m not sure if the devs have a fix for this yet, but it’s very annoying. So if you’re reading this and getting ready to play the game, don’t die in the part where you have to shoot open the doors with your arrow and then use the grappling hook to get across the open space. Don’t die there!

Final impressions

I keep going back to play this game because despite the bugs, it’s also engaging and it’s obvious the developers put a lot of time and thought into the game. They also avoided flat-screen elements and focused on “best practices” for VR to create a completely immersive experience. 

Like any great relationship, I’ve had moments of frustration with the game, but overall the good outweighs the bad. At the end of the day, Reach VR is still one of my favorite games this year.