Red Matter 2 Review

May 16, 2023

Red Matter 2 released August last year on Meta Quest 2, and was widely well received by the VR community – especially how nice it looked on the standalone device. It has now made its way to the PSVR2 and the team have made improvements using the power of the PS5 and PSVR2 features. I have now played through this version, what did I think?

STORY

The story continues from where the first left off, after you have broken free from the simulation that kept your mind hostage and you are trying to escape the Atlantic Union base. However, you receive a distress signal from an old friend, the question is can you rescue him?

GAMEPLAY

If you played the first, you will instantly be used to the tool used for the majority of the gameplay. These tools looks like controllers in your hand, and have the layout of the buttons on your controller. Where you may think having the controllers in your hand in the game might be immersion breaking – but for me it brings some extra immersion as you feel like you are holding them in your own hands.

On this tool, the claws to pick up items, the scanner to translate notes and give you information on objects littered around the station and the torch return. But, they have brought in new uses for the tool and introduced a node to hack terminals and a projectile weapon.

With this in mind, the game continues to carry on the with the puzzle elements from the first – which is not a bad thing. But, the new tools and even the weapon bring new levels to the puzzles – and some will certainly leave you scratching your head. Then the weapon also brings combat into the game, but, this is about half-way through and the puzzles still take the centre stage.

PRESENTATION

One thing that had me really excited for going into this version of the game, was the mentioned upgrades to the visuals – as it looked fantastic on a standalone device. These mentioned improvements are 4K textures, improved lighting and bloom and the use of foveated rendering – all allowing for a smooth native 120hz.

As soon as you get into the game your jaw will hit the floor with how nice it looks, and that’s only in a pod – so just imagine what heading into the more open station for the first time feels like. The improved textures and foveated rendering allowing for details to really stand out, heading into later stations and seeing the effect of the red matter really shows the full extent of the lighting and bloom improvement as well. I feel this is one of the best looking VR games available to date and really keeps you immersed in every setting you are in. Its hard to put into words how nice it really looks and the 120hz native makes it all look so smooth performance wise.

Adding to this a fantastic use of audio, as they did in the first from the environmental sounds, the general ambience, the voice acting and the sounds of interacting, throwing and breaking objects are great.

With all of this put together, and it is really hard not to get dragged in and fully immersed in the settings and world of Red Matter 2.

COMFORT/CONTROLS

When it comes to comfort, as this is coming from a VR studio with plenty of VR experience, they have covered all areas. This includes seated and standing modes, and all the locomotion settings to keep it comfortable for all users.

As mentioned in the gameplay, it looks like you have the controllers in your hand, and this really makes it easy to remember and memorise the controls. They are really simple to use and works for every element of the game and switching through the uses of your tool.

The team at Vertical Robot have made a great use of the controller and headset haptics, making sure these activate at the correct time. This really adds to the games immersion, as you feel like you are experiencing every rumble of the planets and elements of the environments – along side that beautiful presentation.

LONGEVITY

The playthrough on PSVR2 took me around three and half hours, but my original playthough on Quest 2 took me around five-hours, with getting stumped on some of the puzzles. This is nearly double the length of Red Matter – which was a nice surprise. So, I was impressed that they have also increased the playtime on top of how nice it all looks – bringing a double bonus. This is my second time playing through the game, and I enjoyed just as much as first – showing that after a break it’s certainly a game you can fully enjoy again.

REVIEWED USING PLAYSTATION VR 2

For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a review code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a press code does not affect my judgement of the product.

REVIEW OVERVIEW

Red Matter 2 continues from where Red Matter left off and improves on every aspect, with the introduction of new elements in the puzzles made possible with the new tool additions. With the projectile weapon also bringing in combat about half way through the game – however, it seems like they could have made more use from the combat. With the PSVR2 updates made to the game, it makes this the best version available. With the updated textures, lighting, bloom, use of foveated rendering and the native 120hz – make it look better than it ever has, all while running some smoothly inside of the HMD. This is something you have to experience yourself to understand how beautiful it all looks and how immersed you are in the game – especially with the added haptics.