The Game Awards 2022: Predicting the Best VR/AR Winner - GameRant

2022 is yet wrapping up, and that tin lone mean 1 happening for the gaming industry: it's Game Awards time. Every year, manufacture seasoned Geoff Keighley takes a fewer hours to observe the champion titles of the past 12 months, and this twelvemonth the categories are perfectly stacked. While Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok are acceptable to duke it retired successful a whopping full of 7 categories, the different contenders look to marque their people successful different ways, and though this year's VR/AR entries aren't rather arsenic good known arsenic those 2 juggernauts, it's inactive acceptable to beryllium 1 pugnacious competition.

With 5 entries coming from crossed the year, 2022's Best VR/AR Game Awards class is overflowing with innovative titles that pushed the boundaries of VR to their limits this year. Though astir of this year's contenders don't boast the aforesaid marque designation arsenic the anterior 2 winners Half-Life Alyx and Resident Evil 4 VR, they each merit their spot connected the list, though 1 oregon 2 whitethorn person a wide borderline implicit the competition.

After the Fall

Technically released successful December 2021, After the Fall has made the chopped for 2022's Game Awards. From the developers down the deed zombie VR rubric Arizona Sunshine, After the Fall puts a much realistic rotation connected the zombie apocalypse, dropping up to 4 players into a snowy co-op adventure. Taking wide inspiration from Left 4 Dead and its galore spiritual successors, After the Fall reviewed reasonably good connected launch, with critics praising the game's visuals, gameplay fluidity, controls, and its intensity. As acold arsenic co-op VR games are concerned, they don't get overmuch amended than After the Fall.

That being said, After the Fall isn't a cleanable game, and reviewers inactive had plentifulness of criticisms. The biggest disapproval revolved astir the game's deficiency of assortment and deficiency of contented astatine launch. After the Fall suffers from immoderate precise same-y looking and feeling environments, and lone offers a fistful of antithetic zombies types for players to stroke to bits. On apical of this, After the Fall did endure from immoderate show issues wrong its archetypal fewer weeks, peculiarly the PSVR version, and with a reasonably hefty archetypal terms tag, After the Fall failed to summation the traction a rubric needs to basal retired for the champion VR rubric of the year, contempt having a coagulated core.

Among Us VR

One of the biggest contenders of the year, Among Us VR released connected November 10. Despite releasing conscionable a fewer weeks ago, Among Us VR has already made its people successful the wider gaming ecosphere, managing to thrust connected the coattails of its large member close retired of the gate. As acold arsenic the existent gameplay goes, Among Us VR perfectly nails what it acceptable retired to do, translating the accepted Among Us acquisition into virtual world seamlessly to supply an acquisition that feels familiar, yet marque new. And acknowledgment to the implementation of proximity chat, Among Us VR has managed to seizure immoderate viral moments. Social media relevancy doesn't ever impact the Game Awards, but it does assistance a crippled to basal retired from its peers, particularly erstwhile it released truthful recently.

Bonelab

The successor to the revolutionary Boneworks, Bonelab besides released conscionable a fewer weeks ago. When Boneworks released backmost successful 2019, it changed the VR landscape, introducing physics systems that conscionable hadn't been seen before. Admittedly though, portion the exertion was astounding, Boneworks' existent gameplay was a small disappointing. Bonelab tries to amended connected its predecessor successful each way, but it stumbles successful the process.

On paper, Bonelab is simply a measurement up from Boneworks. Bonelab improves its physics engine, adds a afloat campaign, and adds immoderate further modes. However, successful trying to beryllium much ambitious, Bonelab ends up being adjacent much unpolished than its predecessor, with an excessive magnitude of bugs astatine launch. To marque matters worse, Bonelab's existent gameplay tin besides beryllium a tad boring and adjacent frustrating astatine times. While the physics strategy is surely much realistic, that doesn't needfully pb to large gameplay, with Bonelab's climbing mechanics being peculiarly arduous. The crippled besides lacks limb variety, force variety, and its puzzles tin beryllium incredibly obtuse. It's a shame however Bonelab turned out, due to the fact that earlier merchandise fans were definite it would instrumentality the apical spot this year.

Moss: Book 2

The long-awaited sequel to 2018's Moss, Moss: Book 2 released backmost successful March of 2022. While players won't find immoderate groundbreaking, boundary-pushing gameplay from Moss: Book 2, they volition find an unthinkable sequel to 1 of the astir beloved VR games of each time, that manages to bash what Bonelab couldn't, and amended upon its predecessor successful each conceivable way. Where the archetypal Moss was a choky action-puzzle platformer wherever the subordinate took power of an adorable small rodent called Quill, Moss: Book 2 opens things up significantly, providing a Metroidvania-like world wherever players tin instrumentality to erstwhile areas and usage recently recovered tools to unfastened up concealed pathways and hidden areas. One of the champion aspects of the archetypal game, the player's quality to interact with the situation arsenic an omnipotent spiritual force, has besides been greatly improved, with the subordinate being fixed much methods of manipulating their environment.

The lone existent downside to Moss: Book 2 is that immoderate parts of the crippled tin consciousness constrained by the level it's on. Being a PSVR crippled archetypal and foremost, Moss: Book 2 tin consciousness a small outdated successful presumption of its visuals and performance, and it's wide the developer tried its champion to propulsion the tech to its limits. Still, with a ton of variety, a amusive and airy story, large puzzles, improved action, and plentifulness of VR-specific features, Moss: Book 2 whitethorn conscionable beryllium the tightest VR crippled of the year.

Red Matter 2

Another sequel, Red Matter 2 takes players to a dystopian alternate world wherever the Cold War took the struggle to space. Picking up aft the events of the archetypal game, Red Matter 2, much similar Moss 2, is different illustration of a VR sequel done right. While its puzzle and enactment gameplay is simply a definite betterment implicit its predecessor, it's Red Matter 2's visuals and method show that enactment it successful the moving for champion VR crippled of the year. Built from the ground-up for the Meta Quest 2, Red Matter 2 is wide considered to beryllium 1 of the champion crippled for the platform, pushing the headset's visuals further than anyone thought possible.

Final Prediction

When it comes to predicting the victor of the Game Awards 2022's Best VR/AR category, determination are truly lone 3 games that are successful the running. While Bonelab's physics motor continues to beryllium impressive, its unpolished and frustrating gameplay leaves a batch to beryllium desired, and though After the Fall is simply a large co-op VR experience, it's a small excessively same-y to basal retired from the crowd. So that means it's down to Among Us VR, Moss: Book 2, and Red Matter 2.

For a start, Among Us VR has relevancy bias connected its side. Clips from the crippled are inactive being circulated astir societal media, and its player-base is inactive increasing steadily. Among Us VR besides has contiguous marque recognition, which has been proven to enactment for the Game Awards successful erstwhile years. However, astatine its core, Among Us VR is simply a beauteous elemental game, and some Moss: Book 2 and Red Matter 2 person the borderline implicit it erstwhile it comes to gameplay and method features.

Both Moss: Book 2 and Red Matter 2 connection compelling stories, though Red Matter 2's much weighty taxable substance could springiness it the edge. Gameplay-wise, Moss: Book 2 is simply a small much analyzable than Red Matter, with its action-puzzle platforming being immoderate of the champion successful each of VR. And portion some games person large visuals, Red Matter 2 intelligibly takes the cake. It truly could spell either way, but it would look arsenic though Moss: Book 2 offers the much implicit bundle of the 2 games, and is much apt to instrumentality location the Game Award for Best VR/AR rubric this year.

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