A new game for the Oculus Quest is introduced, ‘Red Matter’. This game has players exploring an alternate version of Earth in a mid-20th century setting. The player delivers orders and missions to complete different objectives by finding clues in the environment.
On launch day, this game was in the Top 10 best games published on the Oculus Store. The developers, Vertical Robot, are expecting feedback from players to help improve their future projects.
I really enjoyed playing Red Matter. It had me thinking throughout the whole thing, trying to figure out what I should do next or where I should go next. While it does seem like there is not much point (for example: why am I delivering stuff? Is it part of my mission?),it’s very fun exploring the environment. I found it challenging enough that I really had to think about what I was doing, but still possible enough that I didn’t give up out of frustration.
I do have a few problems with the game though. First of all… is this a VR game? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If you were to take a screenshot from an ordinary PC monitor, you probably wouldn’t even know it WAS in VR unless you looked at the background or if someone told you so. This isn’t necessarily bad, as obviously not every single VR game needs to be made exclusively for VR – but just something to note, because it can surprise some people who don’t know about this before playing.
Another issue is that the game has so many little details which are not very noticeable, like how shiny items are compared to other items. Sometimes I wondered why I couldn’t get through some doors, only to realize that my gun was not shiny enough for me to open them (so you need to find the right tools). It’s good that this game is challenging, but still frustrating when you can’t tell what you did wrong sometimes.
I did however enjoy all the little spaces where the game took place, especially the final stage. While there were no enemies or anything like that, it was really cool exploring and finding clues everywhere.
Although it would be nice if there were a better variety of content throughout the stages – as sometimes it’s a bit too ‘solved’, and the solutions are usually very easy to see too – I really enjoyed playing Red Matter. It’s a cool little puzzle game that everyone should try, especially those who like games with story and exploration.
It seems as though the developers made this game specifically for VR, as it makes sense in virtual reality and giving it a go on an ordinary monitor doesn’t seem worth it. I think it’s definitely worth buying if you have access to one of those.
I would give this game an 8/10! 🙂