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Review: MEMOREUM
When MEMOREUM was revealed, two aspects sparked my enthusiasm for the game’s launch. First, this marks the debut title from Patient 8 Games, the creators of the fantastic Half-Life Alyx mod, Return to Rapture. Secondly, the trailer exuded those thrilling Dead Space vibes.
Game Details
Release Date: October 9th 2025
Developer: Patient 8 Games
Publisher: 2080 Games
Price: £24.99 / US $29.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
Spreading Infection
You are Dr. Otto Hudson, abruptly awakened from your stasis pod in the year 2311, only to discover that the UCT Century Dawn is vastly changed from the ship you once knew before entering stasis. The Inchor Infection has ravaged the ship, leaving its inhabitants devoid of any trace of humanity. Your sole chance for survival lies in a distorted voice on your radio, guiding you through the shadows in an attempt to uncover the mystery of the outbreak, even as your own grasp on reality begins to falter – the pressing question remains: is this truly reality, or merely another manifestation of your deteriorating mind?
Captures That Survival Horror Feel
As mentioned earlier, the trailers definitely evoke the essence of Dead Space, and it’s evident that MOMOREUM draws inspiration from that franchise. However, this is not a negative aspect; if there’s a series that deserves to be experienced in VR, it’s Dead Space. Patient 8 Games has delivered that experience while also creating a game that distinguishes itself as an intellectual property.
Keeping the survival horror genre in focus, your gameplay loop adheres to that style of gaming. The primary objectives involve exploring the UTC Century Dawn in search of items that will aid you in progressing to different sections of the ship while completing tasks along the way. You will need to locate essential items such as key cards, data banks, and tablets to obtain passcodes and items like handles that will allow you to access the necessary areas. This gameplay is intertwined with light puzzle elements, including activating switches in the correct sequence, locating panels to shoot with your pistol that shoots electrical charges, turning valves to stop burst pipes, and shooting out fuses to disrupt electrical currents.
You will also need to search for voice logs and various data pads that provide additional lore about the events that transpired on the ship during your stasis. Given that this is a survival horror game, it’s crucial to gather ammunition and health supplies to ensure your survival. You can discover these items scattered throughout the ship or purchase them at vending point on the walls using the currency you find along the way. However, you’ll have to weigh the decision of whether it’s worth spending your currency at that moment or saving it for weapon upgrades.
You have access to two categories of weapons. First, there are the basic weapons, referred to as Chimera guns in the game. These Chimera guns include an SMG, Rifle, Sniper, Shotgun, and Auto Shotgun. You can enhance these weapons using your currency at work benches, which provides a total of thirteen variants across all five types, allowing you to customise a gun that fits your gameplay style. The second category consists of exotic weapons, but I won’t reveal anything about them; I encourage you to find out about them on your own. Both Chimera and exotic weapons utilise different types of ammunition, which can be discovered throughout the ship and purchased at vending points.
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The last component you need to survive is the backpack for your suit. This backpack is used for storing tools that you have discovered and integrated into your suit, including items such as a power screwdriver, a blow torch, and an electrical current detector. Additionally, it will hold your secondary weapon on one side, while the other side features a pouch that serves as your inventory for any essential items. Your suit is also equipped with a flash light; however, in MOMOREUS, you lack control over it. This design choice enables the team to manipulate the scares slightly, enhancing the sense of dread and creating the feeling that not everything is entirely within your control, much like it would be in a real-life scenario. Consequently, you may find yourself navigating through dimly lit areas with minimal illumination from the surroundings – perhaps only revealing something like a person’s leg and intestines, with a crucial item lying nearby, which truly sends your mind racing with possibilities.
Which makes it’s unfortunate that the combat feels somewhat easy, as the standard enemies don’t pose much of a challenge. While there’s a decent variety of standard foes, you can often just back away and shoot them until they fall. For the projectile-based enemies, simply hiding around a corner or crouching behind objects allows you to pop out and shoot them—most of the time, they won’t even fire back. This strategy lets you conserve your Chimera and exotic ammo quite effectively. Although the combat is acceptable and won’t deter you from playing, it would be great to see some improvements after launch. Reflecting on Dead Space, which inspired this game, the enemies there instilled a sense of fear as they relentlessly pursued you and were tough to defeat. Nevertheless, the game does feature six boss battles throughout the roughly nine-hour campaign, which provide a significantly greater challenge and are enjoyable to take down.
Full Of Atmosphere
I was somewhat disappointed by the visuals, as it was clear that the game was designed for the Meta Quest 2. While the visuals aren’t game breaking, there are instances of low-quality textures scattered throughout the ship. On the positive side, I was quite impressed with the game’s lighting. However, I hope to see some enhancements for the Meta Quest 3 in the future, as I believe that with better textures, the game could truly shine up there with some of the greats. There are moments when some areas look great, yet they are frequently juxtaposed with parts that distinctly reveal the shortcomings of Quest 2’s visuals. This is why I believe that enhancements would be advantageous.
Combining visuals with a touch of general jank in the world, I encountered a specific type of enemy that occasionally clipped through walls. They didn’t get trapped, but it did detract from the immersion. Additionally, you might notice that your hand can sometimes get caught on interactive items. However, I was quite impressed by the sheer number of items available for interaction. These small details highlight that this game was developed by a small indie team, yet what they have accomplished is truly remarkable, ranking it among the best indie games out there.
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Despite these shortcomings, what the game truly exudes is atmosphere, which is arguably the most crucial aspect of a survival horror experience. For me, the combination of this atmosphere with the superb lighting, along with navigating intentionally dark spaces and vents, makes this game compelling. It successfully creates an ambiance reminiscent of Dead Space blended with Alien Rogue Incursion, both of which are products of well-known and reputable companies – so hats off to Patient 8 Games for achieving this.
The overall visual atmosphere is significantly enriched by the effective use of sound, where the constant hum of the ship blends seamlessly with subtle details like the squelching gurgles of the infection spreading throughout the vessel as it breathes. Additionally, the distant sounds of monsters, combined with the hissing of pipes and the crackle of electrical currents, can be just as unsettling. This tension is further heightened by the original score composed specifically for the game.
MEMOREUM also features outstanding voice acting that truly brings its excellent story to life. It’s important to give credit to the team for this, as indie studios often overlook this aspect due to budget constraints, particularly when it’s their fully fledge game.
Comfort
The Verdict
MEMOREUM delivers a solid survival horror experience crafted by a team that initially developed the remarkable Return to Rapture mod for Half-Life: Alyx. While the game does exhibit minor flaws in combat and visuals, I am optimistic that the team could make enhancements for the Quest 3 and improvements to enemy AI post-launch. However, what it excels at is instilling a profound sense of dread and unease through its immersive atmosphere – a crucial aspect of any game in this genre. This is achieved through great lighting, the intentional design choice of relinquishing control over the flashlight, and the masterful use of sound and music. Coupled with a narrative that compelled me to return and uncover the unfolding events, along with superb voice acting that keeps you invested in the story, the potential for three different endings provides ample motivation to replay the game. This marks a very strong debut from Patient 8 Games, and with a few adjustments, it has the potential to elevate the experience even further from what is already an impressive title.
Copyright / The VR Realm / 2016 -