Cold VR [Meta Quest 3] | REVIEW

Cold VR has seen a lot of comparisons to Superhot VR ahead of its release, and after spending time with the game, it’s easy to see why – even if it does flip the game’s unique ‘time moves when you do’ premise on its head. However, whilst Cold VR does freshen things up with some interesting ideas, it falls a little short when it comes to the delivery.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Cold VR offers a pretty straightforward sci-fi tale, with the player having to take down a vicious rogue AI that’s wreaking havoc in the virtual world, all whilst being led by a quirky employee of the company that built the AI in the first place… stop me if you’ve heard this one before. It’s a simple narrative that won’t really hook players in too much, but it does add an enjoyable bit of context to the action that ensures that Cold VR never feels too one-dimensional with its world-building.

You know how I mentioned that Cold VR flips the whole ‘time moves when you do’ premise on its head? Well, it does that by having time slow down when you move, meaning players who stay static for too long are likely to find themselves in greater danger than those who keep pushing forward through levels. You’re given little time to process your actions and decide what you want to do, with players instead having to think on their feet and constantly track each enemy’s location and incoming threats whilst blasting away at everyone around them. It’s action-packed and non-stop, with the player constantly kept on their toes as they fight to survive through each tense situation.

“Cold VR has some cool ideas, but the iffy level design and unfair difficulty spikes can see it falling short when compared to similar VR titles.”

On paper, it sounds like a great idea, and you know what? Cold VR can have some really cool moments, with the slow-mo nature of the game’s action reminding me a lot of the speedy slow-mo sequences from the Sonic the Hedgehog or The Flash movies. Using a mixture of firearms and melee weaponry brings a decent amount of variety to each showdown, whilst watching your foes smash into pieces around you always feels stylish.

So where do things go wrong? Well, the level design is very hit-and-miss, with unfair encounters with enemies making for some frustrating moments and some dull level layouts leaving the action feeling repetitive. Whilst the pressure to keep moving works well as the game’s main hook, it also puts players in moments where they’re constantly improvising – it’s something that can be neat, but when you feel like the odds are constantly against you, it can also get a bit tedious. Simply avoiding enemy attacks could be inconsistent too, and whilst I’ll happily admit there were plenty of occasions where kills were fair, there were also plenty of times where I simply KNOW that I avoided an incoming bullet only to find myself suffering a death.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The visuals are also a bit bland, and after checking some comparison videos, it’s clear that the Meta Quest 3 version of the game had to make a lot of sacrifices with its graphical detail. The simple yet stylish aesthetic of Cold VR does mean it gets away with it a lot of the time, but there were also a lot of sequences in the game that could feel a little messy. Of course, the limitations of the hardware will affect this, but when other titles on the platform manage to offer impressive visual fidelity, it’s hard not to feel a little underwhelmed.

It’s clear then that Cold VR is far from perfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s a complete disaster. The moment-to-moment gameplay can be really enjoyable when you start to string together kills in satisfying fashion, whilst the intriguing locales you venture across do bring some variety to your surroundings. The game even adds a horror-like twist to some levels, and whilst I’d be lying if I said these moments didn’t feel a little out of place, I still found them to be a creative addition to the experience. It’s just a shame that Cold VR doesn’t always nail the execution, because it has some really good ideas – it just never feels consistent with the delivery.

Developer: ALLWARE
Publisher: Perp Games
Platform(s): Meta Quest 3 (Reviewed), Meta Quest 2, PC VR
Website: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/cold-vr/27465772306403518/