Play Games
1 year ago
172
The VR version of Resident Evil 4 and several other games worth buying for the Meta Quest 2 headset are significantly discounted for the remainder of this week. This is part of Meta’s spring sale on games, and it includes single game purchases, as well as some themed game bundles for those who may be less decisive. Note: These games can be bought for yourself, or you can gift purchases to friends or family.
There are some stellar titles in the lineup, including In Death: Unchained (a cool game where you take down foes with a bow and arrow in a world dripping with Anor Londo vibes from Dark Souls), Superhot VR (a trippy John Wick simulator with a world that moves only when you do), and Bonelab (one of the most immersive VR games I’ve played, with stellar gunplay and vast mod support).
But the highlight of this sale to me is Resident Evil 4. No, not the 2023 remake that’s coming out later this week, but the Quest-exclusive VR game developed by Armature Studio. My feelings about the game match those of my former Verge colleague Adi Robertson, who called it “a VR adaptation with a reason to exist” in her review. Everything you remember about the 2005 classic is here, but in VR.
Maybe you played the Resident Evil 4 remake’s Chainsaw Demo recently and thought the village scene was pretty intense. For me, playing it in VR provides an unparalleled sense of dread, but also a greater sense of control. You can turn on a dime to pop a Ganado villager in the leg as you knife open a box for more ammo. There are new strategies to employ that aren’t even possible in the original game. There’s even a big head mode. It’s a blast.
Is it worth buying a Meta Quest 2 headset for? Not particularly, but RE4 along with some of those games I mentioned above make a pretty strong case for owning one. It’s far easier to justify if you own a powerful gaming PC, as you can take advantage of my favorite personal use case for the Quest 2: playing Half-Life: Alyx (currently 60% off). With the headset’s built-in Air Link feature, or with the optional (and superior) Virtual Desktop app for Quest, you can play graphically-enhanced desktop VR games wirelessly on the Quest 2. I have a guide over at The Verge on how to set this up.
If you’re thinking about buying a Quest 2 headset, you have a couple of options. The 128 GB base model is $399.99 at most retailers, and for a limited time it comes with two games: Golf Plus and Space Pirate Trainer DX. For people who plan to buy a bunch of games, I’d recommend spending an extra $30 to get the 256 GB version, which recently got a permanent $70 price cut.
Alternatively, you can buy a refurbished 128 GB model from Meta and save $50. It’s in like-new condition and comes with a one-year warranty, just like a new model does. The difference is that I don’t think you’ll get the two complimentary games mentioned above.
