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Review: Reach
The moment Reach was unveiled and nDreams labelled it their most ambitious VR game yet, it immediately caught my interest. Given their previous titles like Synapse, I found myself curious about how they could surpass that. The real question is, have they succeeded with Reach?
Game Details
Release Date: October 16th 2025
Developer: nDreams Elevation
Publisher: nDreams
Price: £32.99 / US $39.99
Reviewed On: PC VR / Playstation VR2 /Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
An Ancient Civilisation
After visiting a Church that you cherished during your childhood, an unexpected earthquake strikes, causing you to fall and awaken underground, where you begin to follow a small drone. Before long, you realise you’ve stumbled upon an ancient civilisation. The pressing question arises: why are they underground? As you delve deeper into their world, you uncover a sinister plot that intertwines with your own journey.
Become A Reluctant Hero
nDreams had a clear vision with Reach: to push the boundaries of action-adventure games in virtual reality. In some instances, the game achieves this goal, although many elements may feel familiar from other action-adventure VR titles. However, this isn’t necessarily a drawback, as they have skilfully combined these aspects to create a high-quality experience.
What concerned me at first about the game was the teams’ implementation of a full-body avatar. When executed properly, this feature can create a truly immersive experience; however, not many developers succeed in achieving this, which often results in a clunky feel. Nevertheless, after playing through the initial chapters, I realised they had executed it exceptionally well, and by the end I couldn’t envision the game without this aspect.
The most remarkable feature of the gameplay, in my opinion, is the fluidity of movement, which truly draws you into the experience. Initially, you can only run, jump, climb, and use zip lines, but as you advance, more elements are introduced, enhancing that fluidity even further. This design choice has enabled the team to create inventive ways for you to navigate the underground city and reach your next destination in the fractured world. By incorporating new movement and climbing mechanics, nDreams has also integrated puzzle elements into your traversal of the vast environment, showcasing the game’s impressive scale. There were moments when I found myself gazing around, puzzled about how to access the platforms or doors I needed, marvelling at just how high they truly were.
The game does involve some backtracking; however, this is because certain areas of the world cannot be accessed with your current abilities or those of your gauntlet. This purposeful backtracking ensures that it feels meaningful rather than merely added to prolong gameplay, a pitfall in some games.
As you delve into this underground city, you’ll encounter various types of enemies to confront. The standard enemies differ mainly in their weaponry or having a shield, yet each boasts a unique visual design, allowing you to identify the types you’re up against. Battles with these foes typically occur in rooms designed to leverage the game’s fluid movement system, enabling you to navigate and reach advantageous positions – encouraging you to stay in motion and demonstrating how seamlessly everything integrates.
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Your primary weapon in this world is a bow and arrow from this ancient civilization, featuring four distinct types of arrows. You have an unlimited supply of standard arrows, but for the other types, you’ll need to gather and crush bugs scattered throughout the environment to replenish your stock – these bugs can also serve as grenades when necessary. One of the unique arrows is the shock arrow, which can be used to stun unsuspecting foes and seize their weapons; however, these are single-use and must be discarded once depleted. Additionally, you’ll possess a shield for self-defence, though it has a limited durability before requiring regeneration. The arrows and shields are not merely for combat; they can also assist in navigating the terrain and solving puzzles. As previously mentioned, this system integrates seamlessly, making it incredibly intuitive, but easy to get used to.
The last component, equally enjoyable as the combat, consists of the action scenes that essentially urge you to sprint and fully utilise the fluid movement and traversal system they’ve crafted. These action sequences truly immerse you in the experience of an action film, enhancing the overall action-adventure vibe of the game.
I encountered a few problems with the PlayStation VR2 version of the game, which were not present in the other versions. To begin with, it failed to save my comfort settings, requiring me to adjust them each time I launched the game. Additionally, in one of the later chapters, the game crashed every time I reached a save point due to an error. This issue exacerbated the settings problem, although it only occurred in one of the shorter chapters. However, since this is a pre-release build, these may be addressed in the day one patch.
Furthermore, it’s important to mention that currently, if you are using a Meta Quest for PC VR, it does not work with Virtual Desktop, so you will have to rely on Meta Link.
A Stunning Yet Fragmented World
One aspect where the nDreams team truly excels is in ensuring that the visual presentation remains impressive, regardless of the platform you choose to play on. Having experienced all three versions of the game for this review, it’s clear that the PSVR2 and PC VR versions stand out visually when compared to the Meta Quest. However, it’s worth noting that the Meta Quest holds its own quite well against these versions, especially given that it operates on a mobile chip.
What never fails to amaze me in virtual reality is when the team fully utilises scale, and Reach definitely achieves this. You truly feel diminutive in the expansive settings of this underground civilization, especially when facing off against the enemies. While certain areas may begin to seem monotonous in their design, the stunning textures and lighting infuse vitality into each space, keeping you fully engaged in the world created by the team.
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This stunning yet fragmented underground city is vividly brought to life through its exceptional audio design. The environmental sounds, such as the crumbling debris from the earthquake, constantly keep you alert and remind you of your precarious situation. You can hear the distinct noises of lasers as you near areas that harness power, along with the sounds of enemies and weapons firing during combat. This is beautifully complemented by a soundtrack that aligns perfectly with the game and its current circumstances, with the music intensifying during combat and action sequences, effectively setting the mood for each scene. To top it all off, the outstanding voice acting plays a crucial role, especially in a game rich with story and lore; it’s essential to get this right to maintain player immersion – and Reach certainly excels in this aspect.
I experienced a loss of audio while playing on the PlayStation VR2, usually during combat situations. In these moments, the music and environmental sounds would cut out, although I could still hear movement, enemies, and weapon sounds. Again, it’s important to mention that this is a pre-release version, and these issues may be resolved in the day one patch.
Comfort
The Verdict
nDreams claimed that the Reach is their most ambitious project to date, and they were indeed correct. They have crafted not only a decent action-adventure game but also one of the most fluid movement and traversal systems I have experienced in virtual reality – which is even more impressive given how smooth it feels with a full-body avatar. The narrative, graphics, and sound design keep you captivated throughout the entire game. Although some of the settings can feel a bit repetitive, each version of the game is visually impressive, with the Meta Quest version nearly matching the PSVR2 and PC VR versions in visual quality, showcasing the dedication the team has put into the game. Nonetheless, there are a few ongoing issues that require resolution through patches, but hopefully the team will have addressed them with a day one patch, or if not, shortly after the release. Now, would I claim it has pushed the boundaries of action-adventure games in VR? I’m not entirely sure, but what it has accomplished is the development of an enjoyable game that you should think about adding to your collection.
Copyright / The VR Realm / 2016 -