Stride Review For Oculus Quest // Buy or Pass??

The Review:

Ask anyone who's played STRIDE what it's like and they'll all tell you the same thing:

"It's like Mirrors Edge but in VR"

And honestly, it sums up this game perfectly! In fact, there's not much to differentiate the two games in reality... But that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Gameplay: 8.9

I've never played the PCVR version but from what I've heard, they've really focused on perfecting the game mechanics on this one.

Running, jumping, crouching. shooting, zip lines, wall riding, and swinging across large gaps all feel AMAZING!

The variety also makes this gameplay never feel stale!

Story: 0

What's a little disappointing is we know there is in fact a campaign mode over on the PCVR version that did not make it over to the Quest port.

Hopefully, we'll see it make its way to the Quest but nothing is promised or set in stone at the time of writing this review.

Graphics: 7.8

Everything looks great... but "business casual" is the best way to describe the vibe you get in this game. Lot's and lots of just different shades of grey and not very inspired.

Pops of color could have gone a long way here. The bad guys gave cool futuristic helmets but nothing in this world matches this style.

It could do with a heavy injection of "CyberPunk" into this world. But as it stands, it's a very forgettable generic environment.

Sound: 7.7

Everything sounds as it should and as you would expect. Drones flying overhead, firing off your gun and zipping from ziplines.

And that music track that plays in the arena mode - Well, it SLAPS!!

There is some room for improvement and missed opportunities, however.

A good example of this is in one game mode where the world behind you goes dark and you have to outrun the darkness before it consumes you.

This would have been an incredible experience with the right use of spatial audio had they implemented it. For now, you only have visual cues.

Replayability: 8.9

With no campaign at all, you have to be the type of player that competes for the best times or longest runs.

Compete against your personal best, your friends times or try and dominate the global leaderboards!

If they added collectibles or easter eggs in a future update it would go a long way.

Immersion: 9.2

The motion of running with your hands in real life and making jumping motions really can trick your mind into thinking you're performing incredible parkour moves for real!

Jumping from one building to another and coming within inches of missing can get your heart pounding.

I've felt airtime when jumping and falling in this game I have yet to experience with any other VR game to date.

Because the game mechanics feel so good and satisfying it allows you to enter in a flow state where your mind blanks out all thoughts and your only focus is landing your next jump.

Motion Options: 9.4

This is a physical game! You move your arms to run, reach out for ledges to grab onto and if you don't crouch in the real world... Face meets wall in the game world!

Because your body is so in tune with the motion of the gameplay... It all feels very comfortable! I suffered no motion sickness with only a tiny bit of disorientation.

Yes, this is not a title to immediately jump into if brand new to VR!

With the physicality this game requires, it's hard to play seated and the future of VR needs to start implementing some sort of best practices so it can be accessible to all!

Learning Curve: 9.5

They've added a tutorial that does a perfect job walking you through all the motions and mechanics of this game.

They tell you that movement to focus on, show you the movement and then let you do the movement. This appeals to every player and their preferred way to learn.

With that said I found myself stuck on some mechanics such a running on walls... However, once you get it, it "clicks" and not much thought gets put into it in the future when playing

It all feels instinctual and satisfying after completing the tutorial!

Value for Money: 10

You'd think with missing a campaign mode and multiplayer when compared to its PCVR version, some points would be knocked off its value?

NOPE!

They actually priced this game $5 LESS than I would have expected to pay for it!

The three game modes paired with the satisfying experience of attempting daring parkour moves in VR makes this an easy full-price buy.