The primary time I performed Arizona Sunshine 2, I left feeling a bit nauseated, however I quickly realized this was as a result of my time spent away from taking part in VR video games. The second time I performed Arizona Sunshine 2, I used to be shortly overwhelmed by its hordes of undead and left feeling like the sport was maybe unbalanced. By the third time I placed on my Quest 3 headset, I might rediscovered my proverbial sea legs, I might mastered the artwork of zombie crowd management, and I loved the sport for what it’s: an arcadey trek by means of the apocalypse.
Within the VR-exclusive first-person zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine 2, you may tackle the position of the unique sport’s hero for one more tour by means of an undead hellscape of airports, sewage tunnels, and rooftop parking heaps, every of them loaded with ammo and “Freds”–the too-jokey protagonist’s phrase for zombies–in related portions. The sport’s intentions are clear instantly: This is not the form of sport the place you may want to fret about ammo reserves fairly often. It is a energy fantasy, although not with out loads of rigidity, too.
Arizona Sunshine 2 shines brightest is in these moments whenever you’re tasked with clearing out intimidatingly massive hordes of zombies. As talked about, at first I discovered this so tough that I assumed I didn’t account for something–a ability transfer, or a management choice, or one thing. It seems I simply wanted a little bit observe. Like plenty of VR shooters, you are able to do your self enormous favors by mastering the reload animation. Initially I fumbled round with that mechanic, which precipitated me to take various bites to the jugular, nevertheless it did not take lengthy earlier than I mowed by means of undead like a John Wick Halloween spin-off.
That is thanks largely to the nice taking pictures mechanics. Lining up photographs and clearing rooms is a constant pleasure as a result of it is dependable and highly effective. Strewn about most ranges are completely different weapons with their very own firing patterns. At first, I traded one pistol for one more barely completely different one, or a revolver. However later ranges add SMGs, shotguns, and the kind of selection you’d count on from a sport that hangs its hat (headset?) on dispatching Freds a dozen at a time. On a better issue, the weapons come outfitted with crimson dot sights, too, which I truly loved as an added mechanic. I discovered myself switching between that and regular issue simply to raised respect the occasions I had such a bonus, whereas nonetheless making an attempt to enhance my intention with out that support. I discovered that this observe truly did assist me just do that, too, which wound up feeling actually satisfying.
However the gunplay was already good within the first sport, so what does the sequel add? The reply to that query shortly turns into apparent–and it’s two-fold. The extra typical addition comes within the type of melee weapons, that are simply breakable however often serve effectively as an alternate assault mode for just a few mushy craniums at a time earlier than they have to be deserted. Not like one thing like The Strolling Useless: Saints & Sinners, which tends to skew towards realism to the extent that your screwdriver can get jammed within a zombie’s cranium, in AS2, melee assaults are extra arcadey, as soon as once more fulfilling that energy fantasy. Right here, beheading zombies feels extra like Fruit Ninja than a punishing lesson in sharpness and physics.
However the change that stands tallest truly stands on 4 legs. Buddy the canine turns into your sidekick during the sport, and the well-trained good boy is a lifesaver–literally–quite typically. Getting previous these early hordes that gave me hassle mainly got here all the way down to studying to belief Buddy and sending him leaping for the decaying faces of the zombies heading my method. Buddy’s instructions behave virtually like a Swiss military knife for the protagonist. You may have him assault zombies, thus slowing them down and even killing them so you do not have to. He may fetch gadgets you in any other case could not attain like ammo or keys, and he may assist remedy puzzles, often utilizing an identical fetching mechanic.
These puzzles by no means transcend simplistic, however they assist fill within the ranges with greater than taking pictures galleries, breaking apart the pacing and giving me much-needed breathers from time to time. It was by means of Buddy that I discovered learn how to tame a horde and enter my John Wick move state, sending him to the left whereas I might headshot just a few zombies on the best, chop off just a few limbs with satisfying direction-based melee fight, and transfer by means of the now opened path. I might then flip round within the doorway upon my exit to immobilize the remaining few whereas Buddy would bark and return to me like he deserved a treat–and clearly he did, primarily based on the scene we would left in our wake.
The inclusion of Buddy means extra sophisticated assault patterns with extra lessons of zombies are doable, and that selection turns into a energy of the sport, particularly when paired with the ample set-pieces that tended to restrict my freedom of motion to be able to promote a key second of the motion, like driving throughout an airport on a raise, or performing one thing akin to a live performance for followers who, regardless of their undeath, appeared fairly energetic within the second.
Even with loads of ammo, rock-solid taking pictures mechanics, and the assistance of Buddy, these scenes managed to be tense as a result of as soon as a zombie does get in your face, it may be very arduous to beat. I discovered myself counting bullets as I fired them off so I all the time knew when to reload, which fulfills the form of zombie fantasy I search for in each sport that includes the undead.
If ever this setup is not sufficient, you’ll be able to as soon as once more play the complete story mode in on-line co-op with one different participant. Nothing basically adjustments, for higher or worse, although it does profit from my common perception that the majority all the things in video games is best in co-op. There are exceptions, however AS2 is not one among them. The arcade-like shooter is a pure match for a buddy, at the same time as the sport already supplies one on 4 legs. The one concern co-op creates is a story one; you are the “sole survivor” in response to the plot, which is already rudely dismissive of Buddy’s existence, however this moniker is additional nonsensical when you think about the co-op pal that may accompany you.
Nonetheless, this is not doubtless a sport most play for the story, which is an efficient factor because the story is its weakest side by far. Like within the first sport, the protagonist is a wise-cracking, foul-mouthed dude whose whole persona is revealed by the use of dangerous jokes that aggravated me all through the sport. That drawback is exacerbated by simply how regularly he speaks. AS2 is a sport that suffers from the very video-gamey factor of getting a personality speak to themselves far too typically as a method to information the participant. If he both spoke much less or did not make me cringe, I might have discovered this much less distracting, however these points as a pair soured a number of the good occasions I used to be in any other case having. The story can also be devoid of any surprises. I mentally jotted down the place I believed the story would go from the primary degree, and it primarily performed out simply as I anticipated. Given the sport needs to be an journey greater than an precise taking pictures gallery, the shortage of stakes and gorgeous moments winds up dampening the degrees in a method the gameplay by no means does.
Arizona Sunshine 2 will not be the legendary killer app that may lastly get individuals to imagine in VR. Nevertheless it’s actually the sort of sequel that goes larger than its predecessor and is best for it. It virtually looks like a tall order to ask individuals to nonetheless care about zombies and VR in 2023 when so many appear to have shrugged them each off years in the past. However I am not such an individual, and if you happen to’re like me, you may discover Arizona Sunshine 2 is an fulfilling, albeit predictable, highway journey by means of the apocalypse.