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There by no means seems to be a scarcity of recent zombie apocalypse video games, with the disastrous The Day Earlier than having solely simply launched, however only a few nail each gallows humor and a contrasting sense of isolation fairly like Arizona Sunshine 2. VR is all about immersion, and at occasions I really felt scared and alone whereas navigating darkish corridors, hoping that the sound forward wasn’t a gaggle of undead as a result of I used to be right down to my final clip of ammunition. Nonetheless, I might at all times depend on the protagonist to crack a joke and lighten the temper earlier than the battle forward.
Arizona Sunshine 2 is a variety of enjoyable, and I might argue among the finest Meta Quest 3 video games, and finest zombie video games, you possibly can play proper now. That is largely attributable to its tone and world, relatively than its core gameplay alone. After all, the taking pictures, melee, crafting, and motion mechanics are tight, as I would anticipate from a studio with the VR pedigree of Vertigo Video games. The place Arizona Sunshine 2 stands out, nonetheless, is its fixed sense of dread, and the defiant comedic facade the protagonist places on when going through the top of the world alone.
My time in Arizona Sunshine 2 began with trepidation, primarily attributable to a barrage of quips from the principle character that appeared like they had been going to set the tone for the sport. Happily, this wasn’t the case. It takes just some minutes for these emotional obstacles to come back down while you see a helicopter crash touchdown, inflicting the protagonist to disclose his true emotions on the prospect of perhaps – simply perhaps – seeing one other residing human. The combination of glee and panic that units in hits exhausting as you begin to understand simply how lengthy this particular person has needed to survive alone. It’s this sensible presentation of what isolation can do to the thoughts that makes the eventual bond with our animal companion Buddy all of the stronger.
That is additionally the place a powerful comparability to Lifeless Island 2 is available in from me. One other zombie recreation that tries to make use of humor and a lighter tone as a option to elevate the temper of an apocalyptic scenario, however I don’t really feel it achieves it almost as nicely as Arizona Sunshine 2. In Lifeless Island 2, it feels compelled, like the choice was made that this recreation must be humorous as a result of the collection has at all times had an undertone of sarcasm and cynicism. With Arizona Sunshine 2, the moments of comedy and humor really feel far more pure means. As somebody who does put up comedy as a protection mechanism, I totally linked with a personality who’s singing “our bodies, our bodies, our bodies, rockin’ all over the place’’ as they navigate a truck stuffed with biohazardous corpses. This lighter habits distracts from the grim actuality of the scenario and is a coping mechanism that’s helped with survival thus far, so why change?
I’m nicely conscious that many individuals will play Arizona Sunshine 2 and probably not even discover this, nevertheless it was an everpresent consideration throughout my time with the sport, and it linked me to a world that, fact be instructed, isn’t probably the most expansive or artistic that I’ve explored in VR. Once more, I look in direction of Lifeless Island 2, a recreation I loved however by no means linked with in the best way that I did with Arizona Sunshine 2, as a result of whereas there was loads of effort and talent that went into creating that world, it appears no consideration was given as to whether or not I ought to care about or join with the character I management.
Humor alone is nice, however another excuse it really works so nicely is the upcoming sense of doom led to by the isolation of Arizona Sunshine 2. I by no means felt secure all through my complete playthrough, even with a ferocious animal companion by my facet. The environment is heavy like a weight is consistently sitting on my chest, however earlier than the sport ever permits itself to change into a pure horror expertise, a one-liner snaps me again to actuality. I’m not alone in having reacted to an ungainly or scary scenario with an uncontrollable snigger, and this sense is fixed all through Arizona Sunshine 2.
An amazing instance of this seems early on while you’re making it by means of a good, darkish pathway earlier than ultimately reaching the sport’s first crafting station. It was tense within the lead-up to strolling by means of the doorways, and I wasn’t positive what to anticipate. Upon coming into what I now know is a secure area, I used to be relieved, however shortly after falling into this false sense of safety, the undead had been banging away on the metallic grates surrounding the room. It obtained a soar out of me, however my immediate response after this was to snigger. They obtained me good, however the laughter was a nervous response to not understanding for positive that they weren’t ultimately going to interrupt by means of, so I did what I wanted to do in double time, then obtained the hell out of there.
It received’t take lengthy so that you can understand that the protagonist additionally by no means refers back to the undead as something aside from a ‘Fred.’ To me, that is one other coping mechanism that’s developed as a result of calling them zombies or undead is an acceptance of what’s taking place, and so they’re simply not able to admit that that is the world they reside in.
All through the sport the protagonist additionally lets their true intentions slip regarding different human contact. When the crux of the plot is first revealed – monitoring down affected person zero to establish a remedy – relatively than pondering of this as a option to finish the apocalypse, the protagonist as a substitute sees it as a means for them to be discovered, as soon as once more seeing and connecting with different people.
Moments like this are sprinkled gloriously all through Arizona Sunshine 2, making it a VR recreation I might suggest to anybody. We’re on the cusp of a golden period of VR, and when experiences like this could evoke such sturdy reactions and feelings in me, it’s a transparent signal that we’re previous the purpose of gimmicks and are able to take VR extra critically.
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