Still off the high of our last group virtual reality experience, the Curriers and I drove out to Richmond to try Zero Latency, a new VR arcade. And we couldn’t help but to compare it to our first and previous experience.
Located in an industrial area, this garage is transformed into an arcade with dark lights and a neon glow. You check in at the counter, but there is a large living room area for your group to lounge in. This is ideal for parties or a pit stop for in between games.
They have a selection of games to choose from between point and shoot, horror, trillers, action, or a combination of any of the two. We would try three different style of games to be able to report on it for you today.
What sets them apart from other VR gaming options is the ability to free roam. The room is large and we found ourselves running around it. I was amused to find out that we would use the expanse of the space and that all our walking around in had us taking over 3k steps at 2.3km
(as per my watch pedometer). All this just by playing three 30 minute games across 2 hours. Thus making this a great option for those looking to be more active. Not only to you get to play video games, but you are also getting a workout, of sorts.
I liked how their controller is shaped like a gun so you feel more in character with the weight and hand positioning, as if you were holding an actual assault rifle.
Each game has you watching an introductory video that not only goes over safety rules like watching out of “red” fenced off areas in the game as it signifies a wall or another player, but how to play the game, what the controls are, and your objective in it.
Our first game was a triller where you try to escape a zombie infested, abandoned mall by shooting your way out. There weren’t any puzzles you had to solve, but you do have to “walk” your way through the “mall”. Our five players were split into two team, each taking a different path, only to come together at several points. This ensured that we had plenty of room to maneuver.
I liked this game the most as it was easy to pick up. It proved challenging when the swarms of zombies came at you, but beginner friendly enough that you could succeed with teamwork. I also enjoyed the upgrades available and the jump scares for fun.
Our second game was pure horror. We didn’t need our guns for this one, just the head set. Meaning that what ever was going to happen to you in virtual reality was out of your control and you had no way to defend yourself against it. This was basically a virtual haunted house. Both myself and Lisa are giant scaredy cats and hate being scared, so held hands the entire time. This definitely helped to take us out of the experience as being so close to one another meant that the “red barrier” indicating that we were near another player was consistently “on”. However we both found this just the right about of “cover” to have us not completely immersed in the horrific scenario. We were still scared, as we knew something would be coming, but we just didn’t know what and where. So the jump scares were real due to the fact that it felt like we were in the “room”.
The premise is that you and your group are trapped in a haunted house and are trying to get out. The house warns you to not get separated, but somehow you all do anyways. Each room is a new horror from a room of mannequins to one of bugs. A child’s play room with eerie rocking horse. The one thing in common is a ghostly woman chasing you. In the end you learn that all your efforts are moot, because she was never going to let you escape anyways. Thankfully this only lasted 15 minutes and comes with a more friendly game after it.
This one is also 15 minutes and requires your gun. It is straight arcade style shooting. Where you are in an arena trying to kill as many zombies as you can without dying. Although if you do you don’t have to worry about respawning. After a short countdown you are back to where you last left off. The goal is to compete with the other players and see how many zombies you can kill. There are environmental traps you can utilize and headshots are worth more points.
The third game is a lot more friendly with no surprises. You are a warrior in armour, armed against alien monsters. Similar to the first game but in a celestial setting. You too have to walk around to move from room to room, killing all that stands in your way. You also get split up and meet back up for the boss battles, with the ability to upgrade weapons.
There is a hard mode that requires you to reload your gun and more enemies are drawn to you. How this one differs is that it tracks your score and the top of the leaderboard gets a marker above their avatar, in which everyone playing can see.
This game also has more elemental and environmental influences. This one wasn’t scary, but you felt the most sensations, like when walking up and down “stairs”. Your stomach drops when going up in an “lift”. And you even feel a breeze against your legs when riding on an open window “sky train”. It was surreal, and it was hard to trust my knowledge that we were in an open room with a flat floor, and not what my mind was telling my body.
Overall this was a great experience and a great way to spend the afternoon moving and bonding with friends or family.
Zero Latency Richmond
9111 Beckwith Rd #1070, Richmond, BC V6X 1V7
(236) 235-1815
zerolatencyvr.com
