TEST Red Matter 2: red suits him so well on Meta Quest 2

Four years after the release of its cult game, the studio Vertical Robot sign the arrival of RedMatter 2the second episode of the license, directly following the first opus (read our test) and using the codes that have made this game one of the most beautiful experiences in virtual reality on our autonomous headsets.

A graphic slap from start to finish. Here we have the most beautiful game in the Meta Quest catalog, able to compete with PC VR games.

This sequel puts us back in the shoes of the agent Epsilon on Saturn’s moon Rhea. The story picks up where we left off., that is, after freeing ourselves from the simulation that held our own mind hostage. Our priority is to escape from the base of theAtlantic Union. However, we unexpectedly come across a distress signal belonging to an old friend. Determined to come to his aid, we must travel to the farthest reaches of the solar system to find him. During our journey, we will uncover the darkest secrets of Volgravia and the mysteries surrounding the famous red matter, against a backdrop of the Cold War. It is not necessary to have already traveled through the first episode to understand the background of the story, the first twenty minutes helping us to replace the different events and protagonists in the chain of events. However, you won’t get all the flavors.

Thereafter, we will sail through space, from Saturn to Neptune, guided by artificial intelligence Beta with whom we communicate by radio and with whom we will develop almost intimate ties. This little voice is our only company throughout this intriguing adventure. In this space and as we progress, the oppressive atmosphere becomes palpable and is reinforced by our solitude, the red matter and the soundtrack. However, do not see here a horrific game, no offense to some.

This second opus brilliantly resumes the mechanics of the first episodebut the developers have seen things bigger this time. The title loops here in about seven hours, but it also depends on your reasoning skills. It is therefore longer, but also and above all more dynamic.

The puzzles are not necessarily very difficult, but require you to take a good look around you, even if it means scanning everything that comes your way.

RedMatter 2 thinks big, but reconnects with the style of its big brother. We are always in the mind of a escape room with riddles and puzzles to solve to progress. Within everyone’s reach, the title however requires us to be very vigilant to note the slightest clue, but also to be creative. It does not revolutionize the genre of its elder: we have to restore power here, unlock rooms there, hack terminals, assemble parts, etc., but the recipe still works just as well. Obviously, these are not the same tables or the same issues. Some areas of the game really gave us a hard time and forced us to go back and forth in the different rooms in search of the slightest clue, yet scattered before our eyes. Also, do not hesitate to manipulate everything you can and especially to scan everything that can be scannedin order to decipher the documents and signs written in Volgravian, but also to understand the usefulness of certain objects, otherwise you will be stuck for a while, the game hardly helps us. This can seem frustrating at times and nothing is done to remind us of the current objective.

Some passages can only be crossed by interacting with objects or our environment. The arrival of jet pack also forces us to review our ways of proceeding and moving. Some levels are made of platforms or obstacles to cross at the sole thrust of our reactors, helped by the weak gravity of the corner. The verticality of the title then opens up new perspectives and gives way to larger and more open areas, and some of them seemed gigantic to us.

RedMatter 2just like its predecessor, is once again the technological showcase for our autonomous helmets. This is the Meta Quest 2 version that we tested here, and we were amazedonce again, by the flawless realization of the studio Vertical Robot.

During our journey, we will uncover the darkest secrets of Volgravia and the mysteries surrounding the famous red matter.

Turning once more on the engine UnrealEngine 4specially remodeled for the license, the game fills our eyes with itso much so that the comparison with its PC counterpart VR is almost non-existent. The game offers an anthology of details, various objects, interactions and very advanced visual effectsable to make a Half-Life: Alyx. The games of light, reflections, transparency and particles are really very accomplished, and the whole thing is close to what the ray tracing on our big machines.

The textures are at the level of the service, even if we note a certain blur due to the lowering of resolution operated by the developers so that all these visual marvels can be made possible. However, everything remains very coherent and captivates us visually on all scenes. The title also shines with its physical interactions. Like today’s games, we can, thanks to our multi-tool pliers, manipulate almost all the objects present in a very realistic way. It’s a real pleasure, but also quite simply what we are entitled to ask for in our virtual reality experiences today.

If the first episode was undoubtedly a success, it is true that its major flaws were its environments empty of life and its slow progress.

Red Matter 2 introduces the FPS style to please as many people as possible and open up its gameplay to new perspectives.

As Lone Echo, the title is an interstellar narrative adventure based on exploration and puzzles, and the rhythm suffers. The studio took the gamble of breaking the codes by integrating multi-tool pliers, a blaster laser to unlock in the second part of the game. level design and the gameplay have therefore been redesigned to make the course of the story and our progression less monotonous. RedMatter 2 introduces in particular turrets and drones responsible for protecting the secrets of red matter, and which you must get rid of. It’s a welcome addition brings pep and an extra rung in the overall difficulty of the game, which should be suitable for the majority of players. The presence of these hostile robots, to say the least, makes us feel less alone in the immensity of the complexes that we have to cross. They are tough to say the least and we had to use tricks to overcome it. Do not panic though, if the title is more dynamic than before, comfort options are present and satisfy even the most sensitive to motion sickness.

At least as good as its big brother, RedMatter 2 continues to prove that it is possible to combine top notch graphics with gameplay and top-notch interactions against an ingenious and gripping story backdrop. We once again salute the studio Vertical Robot who knew capitalize on the achievements of the first episode by offering something even biggerdynamic and worked, while comforting the majority of players in a captivating game, full of details and winks of all kinds (keep an eye out), à la difficulty mastered and which will make amateur gamers thinkescape room. The immersion is there, and the soundtrack takes us where the game takes us. The story, its stringing, its mechanics, the multi-tools, as well as this famous substance, will surely remind you of the excellent Lone Echo II (read the review). In any case, it is a demonstration of the know-how of the developers who, if they take the trouble and the means, are able to offer experiences approaching what the PC offers. VR. Upon its release, the title is entirely in English for voices and subtitles, but the French translation should arrive in the next updates. The game is cross buy with PC version VR Oculus Rift and the only difference is to be found on the graphics side.

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