‘Zombie Military VR’ Assessment – Arcade Zombie-Slaying Finished Proper(ish)

Zombie Military VR is serving up its iconic arcade-style taking pictures on all main VR headsets. Just like the flatscreen video games, it’s all about blasting each make and mannequin of Nazi zombie, upgrading some cool WWII-era weapons, and experiencing the sport’s darkish, neon green-drenched universe. Whereas Zombie Military VR tailors its zombie horde motion to suit on VR headsets, regardless of its greatest efforts, it nonetheless feels a little bit too tied to its flatscreen roots.

Zombie Military VR Particulars:

Writer: Riot Video games
Developer: Riot, Xtended Realities
Out there On: Quest, SteamVR, PSVR 2
Reviewed On: Quest 3
Launch Date: June twelfth, 2025
Worth: $30

Gameplay

You’re a member of the elite ‘Deadhunter’ squad on a mission to rid the world of zombies, and assist the squad’s chief Hermann Wolff discover his daughter, who’s mysteriously gone lacking within the wreckage of Nuremberg. For those who’re searching for an interesting story with tons of lore past that little abstract, you need to most likely look elsewhere, as a result of Zombie Military VR is all about unloading as a lot lead at zombie brains as potential, and never a lot else.

Like all good arcade shooters, the story, which is generally delivered through voice overs in loading screens, is constructed to be skippable, as the sport’s replay worth is available in taking part in marketing campaign missions you already beat, or selecting a marketing campaign degree in co-op mode so you may kick it with a good friend. I didn’t have an opportunity to go co-op for the assessment, though I discover it exhausting to consider any recreation can’t profit with an excellent bud at your facet, ideally one with a spec-ed out machine gun.

That mentioned, the meat of the sport lies in its large number of zombies that you simply blast away with numerous WWII weaponry you discover alongside the best way. This consists of varied submachine weapons, scoped rifles, pistols, and shotguns from each Axis and Allies. There may be additionally a singular one-off weapons you’ll discover in some ranges, particularly a large machine gun that solely has 100 pictures.

You’ll even have grenades, mines, and TNT at your disposal too, that latter of which you’ll be able to shoot from afar to blast a pack of walkers. Zombie Military is all about funneling a practice of walkers right into a chokepoint, and letting them go growth, and the brand new VR entry is not any exception.

When you can pull the pin on grenades and toss them naturally, the sport additionally provides a secondary means that allows you to robotically fling a grenade with a easy set off pull, similar to you may with a gamepad. That was my first trace that Zombie Military VR continues to be fairly tied to its flatscreen roots. The sport is aware of you’ll have to throw a literal mountain of grenades, and it’s presenting you with an choice to make it ‘simpler’, but additionally much less immersive.

Weapon upgrades are additionally right here, with work benches scattered all through beginning zones and mid-level break areas so you may select your loadout and tack on some mandatory bits to maintain step with the sport’s issue ramp. Improve packs may be earned at your base’s gun vary for high marks within the time trial, gained by finishing particular degree challenges, like killing 300 zombies or by no means utilizing a well being syringe, or additionally present in ranges within the type of a satchel, which inspires thorough exploration. There are a number of different collectibles to trawl for, together with further weapons skins and creepy dolls for added XP.

And XP is the secret. Shoot extra zombies, extra precisely and in fast succession, and also you’ll rack up XP multipliers, which in flip gives you a greater likelihood at making your subsequent rank, and subsequently getting one other Weapons Improve. It’s an excellent system that rewards gamers for not solely attempting their greatest, however going again and attempting ranges once more, which take round 20 minutes to finish.

That mentioned, upgrades really feel a perhaps a little bit too customary, providing issues like prolonged mags, higher shot stability, and extra penetration energy, however lacking is any type of optics or website upgrades. As it’s, iron sights really feel principally unusable on all weapons, which might be addressed by offering higher visible distinction on fashions, or perhaps some type of glow-in-the-dark add-on. As it’s, taking pictures is principally an train in squeezing off your first shot, then readjusting by following the wispy white path it leaves behind.

Melee weapons are additionally littered all through, providing up a number of alternative brain-splattering thwacks for if you’re low on ammo, or simply trying to beat again a zombie with no matter, be it a hammer, arm bone, or wrench.

You’ll be able to’t holster melee weapons although, making them extra of a ‘spice’ to the general meal. You’ll be able to nevertheless use your gun as a melee weapon, which feels very pure, because you’ll be flailing about anyway when ammo runs dry.

As for scoped rifles, a lot of time I hardly even bothered, as a substitute opting to fireside from the hip and adjusting purpose based mostly on really feel. Placing the scope as much as your eye offers you a fullscreen overlay of the shot, which made me really feel a little bit too hemmed in when zombies are popping up from the left, proper and heart. There have been only a few moments once I really wanted a scope anyway, as a result of ranges are usually too small for them to actually make sense.

Regardless of typically clipping by one another, zombies have been a spotlight. Many of the fan favorites are right here, which you’ll acknowledge from the collection different video games: quite a lot of walkers, helmeted walkers, heavy armor walkers, MP44-shooting zombies, screaming kamikaze zombies, and likewise a sniper zombie that may magically fly to varied vantage factors. Character fashions and scripted motion really feel on level, as they lunge out you when closing in, voicing more and more horrible moans alongside their means.

You’ll be hard-pressed to see greater than a dozen zombies on display screen at a time although. As quickly as you kill the final straggler of the wave, you gained’t have to attend lengthy for the subsequent. Whereas I hoped to get a really large wave in some unspecified time in the future, the sport doles out tougher zombies in smaller numbers to amp issue.

In the long run, Zombie Military VR’s boss fights are considerably of a letdown, as they’re few and much between. There may be some continuity in how one can beat them, though bosses usually felt extra like summoners who solely spawn your customary vary of zombies in no explicit order. I used to be ready for some massive one-off reveal, or one thing to make me go “wow,” however that by no means got here.

Immersion

Zombie Military VR has most of the trimmings of a real VR-native, though I believe it has a little bit of an id disaster on its palms.

At first, manually reloading a weapon felt actually partaking, and an excellent supply of friction to intensify the zombie risk. Because the hordes develop although, and also you begin expending extra bullets per second than you may moderately discover, it turns into obvious that Zombie Military VR simply isn’t paced for this to actually make sense in later levels of the marketing campaign. At the very least not for me.

I’ll admit this proper right here: midway by the sport, I toggled on ‘computerized reloading’ within the settings, and was a lot happier for it. Even now, after having overwhelmed the sport’s 5 hour marketing campaign, it felt like an all too unlucky sacrifice on the altar of immersion to maintain friction low so I may maintain tempo.

I hate to really feel “comfortable” for deliberately making a VR recreation much less immersive, however when 4 kamikaze bombers, an armored mega-zombie, and a half-dozen helmeted runners are on the best way to stomp me to demise and ship me again the final checkpoint, all of the whereas a sniper zombie is taking pictures overhead, in simply doesn’t really feel like a state of affairs the place I needs to be moderately requested to eject a spent magazine, seize the brand new magazine from a pouch, cost the primary spherical, after which must do it once more lower than 30 seconds later.

Perhaps it’s a talent challenge, however perhaps (simply perhaps) Zombie Military VR is aware of that reloading is usually too fiddly for such a fast-paced recreation; therefore the automated reloading toggle, which exists throughout all the recreation’s difficulties—simple, medium, exhausting.

That mentioned, the sport’s visuals are fairly spectacular when performed on Quest 3. Ranges are pretty darkish, though there’s lots of fascinating decay and environmental selection round to maintain you gawking. Your customary swath of normal objects, like wine bottles, a pair of trainers, and motivational posters in German litter the sport too, making the apocalypse really feel prefer it simply occurred a number of days in the past. Quest 3 has some environmental fog as properly in bigger ranges, however I by no means discovered it distracting.

As for object interplay, it’s a bit on the ‘low-cost’ facet, as within the recreation expects you to force-grab highlighted objects in any respect time. The sport nevertheless makes an excellent effort by making weapons bodily objects which have acceptable weights.

Oftentimes I’d have my three-slot stock full, and a one other hand devoted to conserving one other earlier bait grenade in-hand, leaving me to push a button with the barrel of my gun. In that respect, the world works as you’d count on it, which is a good feeling. Swap weapons from left to proper felt rather less intuitive, requiring you toss it within the air barely and catch it with the opposite hand.

Consolation

Zombie Military VR provides all customary locomotion choices and rotation strategies. Kill cams and narrative reveals can shortly speed up you out of your physique midway throughout the map although, which may be jarring in case you’re not prepared for it. Kill cams may be toggled off within the settings, and there are solely a handful of narrative reveal ‘zooms’, making the sport principally comfy for many anybody.