With VR developers preferring to target the casual gaming market, due in some part to the fact that casual games are cheaper to make and have a wider potential audience, it’s no surprise that story driven VR adventures are pretty hard to come by. But where some developers saw a problem, Washington-based Camouflaj – the same people working on Iron Man VR – clearly realised a vacuum existed in the gaming world. And so we now have République VR on the Quest.
Following hard on the heels of the games runaway success on mobile devices, Camouflaj took the praise worthy decision to rebuild République from the ground up for the virtual reality market. And, rather than sticking to the episodic format of its predecessors, République VR offers all five episodes available to play from end to end. The game follows the same storyline as the original; a dystopian sci-fi future, a totalitarian state determined to force children to conform to its warped ideologies. And a girl called Hope whom you have to protect and, eventually, save from being reprogrammed.
In order to help Hope you watch over her via CCTV cameras and guide her to freedom. République VR is a sneak and hide game which owes more than a passing nod of acknowledgement to the Metal Gear series. The emphasis is very much on stealth and making quick decisions about where to conceal Hope from patrolling guards. Every now and then Hope is able to pick up useful objects – or steal them from unsuspecting guards – but these objects do little to detract from the core game play; hide and escape. République VR is probably one of the most forgiving games we’ve played in this genre. If Hope gets caught, she isn’t executed on sight. Instead, she’s led back to her cell and you get to mastermind her escape all over again. Control wise, navigating Hope through buildings is a breeze.
You hop from camera to camera in order to get a better perspective on the terrain and guard location and movements. In a whimsical nod to the Metal Gear series, Hope can even hide in cupboards as she waits for guards to pass her by. Excellent.
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Graphically, République VR is a visual tour de force. The game makes great use of the Quests understated processing power with beautifully rendered environments filled with shadows and strong deep colours. The fact that you are viewing the game from a CCTV camera in VR means that you are immediately immersed in the adventure and feel more connected to Hope than you would had you been watching a flat screen image from the safety of a remote building.
The puzzles in République VR are not overly challenging and serve as a means to reinforce the stealth gameplay. With lots of items to pick up and multiple directions you can take, République VR will take you at least 8 to 10 hours to complete. The game also offers tons of replay value as you’ll want to go back and try out different routes that you may have missed.
If you’re a fan of the Metal Gear and Splinter Cell series or even enjoyed Force Field VR’s Term1nal, then République VR is a must buy. If, on the other hand, you’re new to the stealth genre, then there can be no better introduction than République VR. Go buy.
