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Roboquest VR Review: An Instant Classic

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Roboquest VR takes an already exhilarating FPS roguelite to deliver a near-flawless adaptation, becoming one of my new favorite games to experience in a VR headset.

VR is no stranger to flatscreen conversions, and Flat2VR Studios quickly made a name for itself doing exactly that. Roboquest VR is the latest example, taking RyseUp Studios’ 2023 roguelite FPS and thoroughly overhauling it. You control a Guardian robot taking down waves of hostile enemy machines, blazing a path for your human companion Max towards Haven 8 – an oasis in the desert that makes up most of this post-apocalyptic Earth.

The Facts

What is it?: An FPS roguelite trek towards humanity’s lost haven where you play as a Guardian robot.
Platforms: Quest (Coming Soon), Steam, PS VR2 (Reviewed on PC VR)
Release Date: Out Now
Developer: Flat2VR Studios, RyseUp Studios
Publisher: Flat2VR Studios
Price: $29.99

During a run, players can find any number of weapons with Borderlands-esque modifiers from chests, dropped from enemies, found as rewards from challenge rooms, and offered for sale at rest points. The variety on display here is impressive, and that’s not even accounting for the different variables weapons can be rolled with. They range from standard rifles and shotguns to energy weapons, joined by handheld fare such as tomahawks, kunai, boomerangs, bows, and more.

This is where Roboquest VR first differentiates itself from the original release. With a keyboard and mouse, range, rate of fire, and such were different – actually controlling each weapon feels much the same. In VR, that’s not quite the case.

Bows need you to manually notch an arrow much like other VR experiences; for throwable weapons, instead of merely aiming and holding down the trigger, you instead hold down the trigger, aim a swing, and then let go once you’ve achieved your desired arc. You can reload weapons with a button click, though Flat2VR has pleasingly added a manual reload function where you actively eject and load magazines. It feels incredible in action, especially with the optional laser sight enabled.

Other retooled elements relate to the user interface; while by default there’s a floating health bar for your convenience, you can check your left wrist for more granular information on your status, including HP and how close you are to leveling up. The right wrist can showcase a minimap when raised and can be expanded by holding down the right grip button. Upon level-up, the perks you’re offered are portrayed as physical cards that you must grab and then confirm your choice by holding down the trigger while the perk card is in your hand. All very welcome changes, and these go a long way towards grounding the VR experience.

Many of your various Guardian classes’ unique abilities have also been retooled to better suit VR gameplay. The default class has a recharging shield tied to pushing in the right analog stick, while holding down the right grip and trigger lets you use a melee attack with the thrust of your arm. That can even be upgraded into a sledgehammer through the selection of random level-up perks, and of course a slightly different focus on swings rather than thrusts. Other classes provide functions like summonable drones that distract and attack enemies, an explosive laser charge, and more. If you didn’t know any better, you’d struggle to tell that Roboquest wasn’t a VR native release to begin with.

PC Specs Used

While we had no noticeable performance issues, it’s worth noting that I was using top-of-the-line hardware with a Ryzen 7 9800x3D and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090.

This was good for 90FPS on a Quest 3 via Godlike Virtual Desktop settings and maxed out in-game – albeit with Temporal Antialiasing rather than MSAA. We even tested it at 120 FPS, thanks to the recent Virtual Desktop 2-pass encoding update, and it holds up brilliantly for me.

You can find the minimum requirements and recommended specs on the Steam page.

Still, Roboquest was already a fairly brutal experience, and its VR conversion makes it even more difficult. Once you get to grips with the controls, however, it’s an exhilarating experience unlike anything else – Roboquest isn’t just a fast-paced game, but verticality is a core element of its gameplay loop. Jumping onto grind rails and rocketing yourself across the map with a double jump while peppering bullets on the enemies below isn’t just a possibility; it’s basically expected when you near a run’s end game. Some bosses even outright depend on it! It’s one thing when all that aiming only requires a mouse, but when you get your whole body in the equation, what was already a taxing experience feels like it asks even more from you. Even if in return is a far more memorable experience.

There are, of course, additional difficulty options (four in total) for players looking for them. Easy mode offers a slightly less oppressive difficulty curve while still maintaining most of the friction that makes the game shine; a sensible choice as you accustom yourself to Roboquest VR and its controls. Levels are randomly generated, though it’s best to think of it like Risk of Rain’s procedural generation; the bulk of each level’s layout remains the same, so you can quickly learn the best way to beeline from point A to point B.

Comfort

Roboquest VR is not a game I would recommend to anyone but the most seasoned VR veterans. By its very nature, the comfort options at your disposal are fairly limited.

You can use smooth and snap camera turning, there’s an option to enable a motion vignette, and there’s the ability to choose either standing and seated play. Movement direction can be based on your head’s position or your hand, using artificial stick-based locomotion. Roboquest also features heavy use of high-speed, verticality-focused gameplay.

Adaptive triggers on PS VR2 can be switched off alongside controller vibration, you can select your dominant hand, and a motion vignette is also available. Lastly, you can select to automatically face the movement direction when using a bounce pad.

Considering that some of the game’s branching paths are locked behind fairly strict time requirements – many of which eventually lead to crystals that, once activated, make the final level less difficult – it’s all well and good that’s the case. It’s a good enough hook to keep playing, even though the story is by no means the game’s focus. There’s worldbuilding for players to look out for if that’s their fancy, however – and some of that does tie into some of the game’s optional objectives.

Sometimes one path provides a quest item to hand over to an NPC found on an entirely different route from the one you took; maybe you’ll be rewarded the passcode or ticket to access an area you couldn’t reach the first time. Individual locations don’t change much beyond the enemies you find there, yet there’s still plenty of strategy to be had with each run and deciding what your ultimate goal is. These feel like the perfect length for VR; not accounting for moments where the timer is paused while in camps, a successful run typically lasts between 30-45 minutes.

Upon ending your run, you can spend resources accrued within to upgrade your base. These include upgrading the amount of HP you gain from a level-up or increasing the rarity of weapons you might find in chests, alongside spawning NPCs that can reroll or add new abilities to your weapons. You can even increase their rarity when using Powercells gained during a run.

How Does It Compare On PlayStation VR2?

While James reviewed the PC VR edition, Roboquest VR has some subtle differences on PlayStation VR2 worth mentioning. Performance runs at 60Hz reprojected to 120Hz, which you naturally won’t find on Steam. Flat2VR Studios is working to patch in native 90Hz support, though the fast-paced, colorful visuals means reprojection is sometimes noticeable.

Beyond this, Roboquest VR makes great use of haptic feedback across the headset and controllers. Adaptive trigger support feels nice, and its using dynamic foveated rendering. Cutscenes can be skipped by pressing buttons, and my only major complaint right now is how sensitive this is. I accidentally skipped cutscenes on several occasions.

If you’re sensitive to reprojection, it may be worth waiting slightly longer for that 90Hz patch. Generally speaking though, it’s a solid option for PS VR2 owners right now and I encountered no framerate drops on PS5 Pro.

This section was written by the Senior Editor, Henry Stockdale.

Completing NPC quests rewards you with gadgets, permanent toggleable modifiers that apply from the outset of a run. Some quests, beyond simply requiring items from other branching paths, might require specific actions. You may need to bring a specific weapon to show an NPC, save up on Powercells to open a door, or use a specific Guardian class to get past a wall of lasers. Some of these are pure upgrades – one will net you a free Powercell upon level-up, for example – while others offer trade-offs, like the Shades which increase your base damage but limit your starting health. They’re still well worth seeking out regardless, as toggling them on and off back at your basecamp can radically change how runs play out in some cases.

Like any good roguelite, Roboquest VR delivers a satisfying loop that both complements the moment-to-moment gameplay and actively pushes you outside of your comfort zone. Exploring these zones and figuring out where to find these hidden areas or logs detailing some of the game’s lore also benefits from the transition to VR. Looking out for level geometry you can use as a makeshift parkour track to reach somewhere out of reach feels all the more engaging when it feels like you’re the one making those jumps, and finding these hidden areas.

Roboquest VR – Final Verdict

Roboquest VR takes what was already a great flatscreen roguelite experience and transforms it into a new VR classic. Moment-to-moment gameplay feels fantastic, and the game is right at home on the platform. Flat2VR Studios should take pride in the work they’ve accomplished, as it feels like an essential experience for hardcore VR players without being revolutionary. I just wish that co-op was available at launch; I’d like any reason to hop back in for another round.

UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.

Hotel Infinity Review: A Standout Example Of True Room-Scale VR

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You check into a hotel, but no one’s there. Not even at the reception desk. You sign your name, but then the paper disappears. Things only make less sense from there.

The entire structure of the hotel makes no sense. Turn a corner, and suddenly you can see where you were before at the other side of the room, or an impossible corridor that turns in on itself. And what’s that oozing red substance that seems to be everywhere?

Hotel Infinity is a geometrically impossible labyrinth of an escape room, and that’s precisely what makes it one of the best VR experiences I’ve ever had in the medium.

The Facts

What is it?: An impossible space puzzler through a mysterious hotel.
Platforms: PS VR2, Quest (reviewed on Quest 3S)
Release Date: Out now
Developer/Publisher: Studio Chyr
Price: $19.99

The brainchild of Manifold Garden developer William Chyr and his team at Studio Chyr, Hotel Infinity takes the abstract puzzle exploration of his previous work and implants it into a roomscale VR experience like few others. Indeed, it builds on many of those ideas of impossible spaces and portals to new areas that the game deployed to allow that unique puzzle title to thrive, naturally translating the idea to this very different medium.

Basic techniques that Hotel Infinity employs to make its physically 2×2 meter space feel much larger are not itself new, and you may have experienced the idea before in Tea For God. But how it combines the approach with interesting puzzles makes for a unique experience.

Your reasons for arriving at the hotel are unexplained, but the point once inside is to reach your room, then find a way out. Which, when no corner or object in this space obeys the laws of physics and order you’re used to, is more difficult than it sounds. It’s also incredibly unnerving to never know where you’re going next, witnessing everything from dense corridors to sights of massive hedge mazes and the ever-present glowing neon sign of Hotel Infinity. There’s no dialogue, and there’s barely any music bar the occasional riff and subtle audio cues during puzzles to guide your way. But that doesn’t mean that the game doesn’t raise your heartbeat for its unique atmosphere and the uncertainty over what’s to come.

It’s split into five chapters, each taking you through a set route through the hotel before warping you back to your hotel room and venturing deeper. There are puzzles that must be cleared along the way but beyond some basic math and spatial awareness, these are hardly challenging for anyone with even a base intelligence for these sorts of titles. That’s not the point when taking in this space and discovering (or interpreting in your own terms) the secrets are more important.

For those who lack a 2×2 meter physical space, there is a stationary mode, but I strongly recommend finding the space to play Hotel Infinity how it’s designed to be played. Trust me, as someone living in a Japanese apartment that, while not small, did require a bit of reorganization to make work, I know how challenging this can be if you don’t live in a large place. But it’s worth it. Hotel Infinity is so clearly designed around having the space to make it work that without it, it feels lacking in the spark necessary to get into its many joys under the surface.

If you can find the space, the experience that Hotel Infinity delivers is magical. It’s like a bridge between home VR and the location-based spaces that take advantage of huge, expansive locations to offer a free-roaming experience enhanced by VR. Having experienced many of these in Japan, it’s hard not to see the wonders of being fully transported into a haunted house or location using the tech as you physically, carefully wander the eerie corridors one step at a time. There are many great at-home VR horror experiences or titles in other genres that can transport you to new worlds with more depth. Still, I won’t lie about occasionally wishing I could take that next step myself, and not with a thumbstick.

Hotel Infinity manages to find that happy medium by using impossible space to create the immersive exploratory feel of these commercial VR attractions with a longer adventure, puzzles, and greater possibilities than ever. It’s precisely what makes the roomscale mode of this game such a wonder. Within this 2×2 meter space, corridors are designed in such a way that you can fully walk and duck your way through every area in the game without needing the controllers for anything other than gripping, holding, and interacting with objects or levers in the environment. Walking through this hotel and turning each corridor not knowing what you’ll see next brings an added layer of fear and excitement, and before long you forget where you are. Sure, you don’t need to step over that gap or duck to get through the door; it doesn’t exist, but I bet you will anyhow.

It makes Hotel Infinity one of the most immersive VR games on the market, and a showcase of the technology that should become the standard for showing newcomers what’s possible in VR moving forward. This can also have the opposite effect, though, where every exciting and mind-blowing effect is coupled with moments of genuine terror that feel so much more real when you have to take a step towards them. For that reason, I can’t recommend the later moments of this game to anyone with a major fear of heights. I have a partial and circumstantial fear that manifests when I feel directly in control of whether I can fall from such a height, leaving me genuinely worried traversing some of these later areas.

But isn’t that a testament to just how well this game can transport you by virtue of its free-standing 360-degree movement? The core design of moving within this contained and transforming space is its biggest asset, making this idea possible and bringing the immersive free-roaming VR into the home in a way often impossible for setpiece-driven narrative works.

Sure, some of its puzzles can feel overly simplistic, and it’s a very short adventure that can be cleared in about 2 hours in a single sitting before the battery notification of your headset even buzzes. But when it’s this much of a wonder to explore, that hardly matters.

Hotel Infinity – Final Verdict

Hotel Infinity is a standout example of true room-scale VR, and a must-own for anyone interested in understanding the potential of this medium. Notably, the potential is not merely to be a new way to experience familiar ideas, but to offer experiences only possible in VR. What a revelation of a game this is.

UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.