Red Matter 2 Review (Papa Sid)
(Updated at the bottom)
First impressions 2.5 hours in. Great graphics that match the screenshots. Doesn't look downgraded for Quest at all. Very nice reflections, texture detail, and models. Very sharp visuals with MSAA on by default, no blurry TAA here. Performance is excellent using a 2080ti, running the game at a solid 90fps with 150% supersampling. Could probably drive it a bit higher if I wanted.
Index support is good, with the in-game "controllers" to match. However there is no finger tracking. Sprint was set to thumbstick click by default, however I've posted a binding that changes this to right trackpad click.
Smooth turn with plenty of speed adjustment. Smooth locomotion speed adjustment, head or controller forward. Optional vignetting. No graphics settings besides supersampling & dynamic shadows, but the game looks fantastic.
Its a very atmospheric puzzle/adventure game. Fairly slow paced to start but I can feel the tension rising with turrets and a bit of stealth being introduced. The VR interactions are incredibly smooth and refined. Everything feels very intuitive and polished. Most items have physics too. So far theres been a good variety of puzzles and even some platforming sections with the booster pack. Soundtrack and voice acting are top notch!
Look forward to playing more but so far I'm really impressed! It's like Half-Life Alyx meets Myst, in space, with a cool retro soviet theme.
Update:
Beat the game in just over 7 hours. I'll add a few things;
Most of the puzzles were good, a few stick out as particularly fun and 1 or 2 had me truly stumped for a while. Most felt pretty rewarding in the end, even if a bit obscure. I enjoyed the little physics puzzles and platforming sections a lot. I had one problem with inserting the battery into the rail car after you return from the mines, apparently I was putting it in upside-down. Took me about 45 minutes of trying to escape the level boundaries to realize that lol. No real bugs besides that I guess. The hacking mini-game is alright but I think it could be improved to make it more of a "puzzle" and less of "just find a random spot in 3d space".
The stealth/tension with the turrets was great. The first enemies are awful and way too hard. The second drone-like enemies that get introduced later are better, however the gun play is pretty lackluster which makes the combat a weak point for this game. The bullets travel too slow and it overheats too fast. Some sections have enemies that spawn infinitely until you deactivate a control panel, that was a but frustrating too.
The environments continued to impress throughout the game and had a good sense of exploration, even though its completely linear. There are TONS of things to scan and read. If you're big on lore, there seems to be a lot of it here.
Also have to mention the soundtrack, it's phenomenal. Works so well with the ambience/vibe. Voice acting is excellent too. The sound design in general is pretty good but a few physics objects are missing impact sounds. Overall the audio provides a great atmosphere.
The story had me really engaged throughout. The characters felt real and although the lip sync is bad the animations are good otherwise. They did a good job allowing you to build a connection with the characters which makes the story feel more significant and personal. I wont spoil the ending but it definitely gets weird and has a bit of a twist. I don't really know if a 3rd game would be... possible? But I absolutely want more Red Matter.