Deep Cuts [Meta Quest 3] | REVIEW

Ever wondered what it’d be like to star in every movie genre imaginable? Well, Deep Cuts hands you the script and lets you run wild, blending physics-based gameplay with the magic of the big screen. It’s creative, chaotic, and often hilarious – but some clunky mechanics and frustrating boss fights do hold it back a little.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The game’s story sets the stage effectively, with Elise working as a film producer at Lights, Camera, Faction, a once-thriving but now decaying movie studio. The premise is simple yet bizarre: Malcolm, Elise’s partner at the studio, has gone missing, and the only way to find him is by using a piece of technology called the Neurareel to enter the different movies that the studio has created over the years in order to track him down.

The movies that the studios produced span a wide range of genres, including westerns, sci-fi adventures, and even horror, with each bringing with it its own distinct visual and narrative style that helps make them feel unique, with Deep Cuts exploring a wide variety of tones and gameplay styles throughout your adventure. One moment you might be involved in a tense Wild West shootout, whilst the next, you’re stuffing down virtual hot dogs in a goofy eating contest. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously, leaning into the absurdity and humour that come with its movie-inspired settings, with this playful tone ensuring there’s always something quirky and fun to do.

At the core of Deep Cuts is its physics-based gameplay, which is where the game really shines. Almost every object in the environment can be interacted with (or used to batter enemies), and the game encourages creative problem-solving and experimentation in order to progress through the adventure. It’s really satisfying and gives the game a Bone Labs-like feel in how you interact with the world, whilst it plays into the strengths of virtual reality perfectly. The game measures the force of your actions, so swinging a heavy object at an enemy feels impactful, whilst putting a low amount of effort into your strikes can feel equally weak. In fairness, it’ll only take a few hits to take down most enemies anyway, but knowing you have to put that bit of effort into each of your strikes makes the experience all the more immersive.

“Deep Cuts delivers an entertaining and creative virtual reality experience, packed with movie-inspired chaos and satisfying physics-based combat.”

Don’t worry though, you’ll also get your hands on a creative arsenal of weapons that play into the theme of each movie nicely. You also have access to The Bodegun, a portable device that lets you spawn weapons, ammo, and even enemies, which not only enhances the sense of creative freedom offered when playing across each movie but also ensures you’ve always got a hefty arsenal to play around with. Additional powers are also introduced as you play, ensuring players can always have silly little tricks up their sleeve that enhance the gameplay experience

Each movie set is made up of a variety of distinct scenes to play through, each of which you’ll need to complete to move the story forward. The variety in these scenes helps keep the game feeling fresh, whether that’s when venturing through a haunted house, pulling off a bank heist, battling clowns in an oversized clown car (I always wondered how they all managed to fit inside), or having a tommy gun shootout in a noir gangster flick. Some of the more unusual missions – like the aforementioned hot dog eating contest – add a touch of humour that keeps the tone from becoming too intense, but if I’m being honest, it’s clear that Deep Cuts never takes itself too seriously anyway.

This variety extends to the game’s boss fights, which feature some creative designs but are a bit of a mixed bag in execution. Take the battle against the giant kaiju-style sloth for example, which is a visually impressive encounter, but just felt overly drawn out and tedious. Hit detection issues and repetitive attack patterns make some of these battles more annoying than satisfying, which detracts from the overall flow of the game. It’s not always a problem, but when it is, it can really slow the pace of Deep Cuts down. It’s a shame, because presentation-wise, they make for some of the game’s coolest moments.

Check out some screenshots down below:

While the physics and variety of gameplay are highlights, Deep Cuts does have a few problems. It’s a bit lacking on the accessibility side of things, so if you’re not fully comfortable in virtual reality yet, you might find the lack of vignettes and seated play a little disappointing. The climbing mechanics feel inconsistent and awkward too, with it sometimes difficult to grab onto ledges properly, leading to frustrating moments when you’re trying to navigate the environment. The holsters that hold your weapons feel clumsy too, with it never feeling quite natural to grab at your weaponry.

The physics in general could also feel iffy when interacting with some objects, and whilst it’s not a big problem for the most part, it could be tedious when it’s tied to clearing an objective. There are a few little visual glitches too, though they don’t affect the gameplay at all, but rather just look a little weird more than anything.

Developer: Scythe Dev Team
Publisher: tinyBuild
Platform(s): Meta Quest 3 (Reviewed), Meta Quest 2,
Website: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/deep-cuts/6888594277865616/