Saber Interactive’s World War Z VR takes the familiar zombie outbreak formula and pushes it into the claustrophobic intimacy of virtual reality. On paper, it’s everything you’d expect from a VR adaptation of the popular co-op shooter – swarming undead, familiar locations reimagined, and weapons that feel satisfyingly heavy in your hands. In practice, it delivers many of those thrills, but also feels like it’s carrying a noticeable limp. Here are our thoughts on the Meta Quest version.
The premise is straightforward: pick an operator, tweak your loadout, and wade into the chaos. The campaign is fully single-player, with two AI squadmates tagging along to help you survive escalating hordes. That change from the original’s co-op focus is both the game’s most divisive decision and its biggest missed opportunity. While the AI companions can be surprisingly competent in a firefight, they can also display baffling lapses in self-preservation, running into hazards or idling in danger zones. It’s hard to shake the feeling that the whole structure was built with multiplayer in mind – and that we’re playing a stripped-down version of what could have been a more dynamic and social experience.
When the game works, it really works. VR gives the swarms a physical presence that’s hard to convey in flat-screen shooters. Dozens of zombies spill over rooftops, crash through fences, and rush you with terrifying speed, recreating the panic of the film’s most famous set-pieces. Combat feels meaty, with weapons that kick convincingly and a reloading system that can be tailored to your preferred pace. The “realistic” reload setting adds tension, but the quicker “arcade” option better suits the frantic nature of large-scale encounters and avoids any immersion-breaking tracking issues.
Level design is fairly linear, but the pacing within those spaces can be intense. Missions typically alternate between moving forward, holding an area while waves crash in, and completing light objectives. The latter are less “puzzles” and more “find this object” or “activate this switch,” and the game makes no attempt to hide the solutions. It’s not deep, but it keeps the action flowing.
Visually, World War Z VR is polished for a Quest release. Weapon interactions are smooth, environmental detail is respectable, and performance holds steady even when the screen fills with undead. Zombie animations can occasionally break immersion with stiff transitions, but the sheer density of enemies often distracts from these flaws. Audio design is equally effective – from the snap of rifle fire to the guttural howls of incoming hordes, it all sells the sense of panic.
Over the course of its five-plus hour campaign, repetition does creep in. Variants of enemy types do help mix things up, but most encounters boil down to unloading bullets into waves of very similar targets. That sameness, combined with the absence of co-op, makes it a game best consumed in shorter bursts rather than marathon sessions.
If your VR cravings lean toward high-energy gunplay and you’re happy to go it alone, World War Z VR scratches that itch with confidence. It’s intense, responsive, and, at its best, chaotic in all the right ways. But if you were hoping for the shared tension and banter that defined the original’s co-op experience, you may find yourself wishing you could bring a few real friends along for the ride.
Score: 7.5/10
Press Play Media 