Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable succeeds in its most important promise - making players feel like a Scout zipping high above the city
Attack on Titan, to me, has always felt like a natural fit for virtual reality. The anime and manga is renowned for its intense action sequences and vertical mobility, with characters maneuvering effortlessly through cities using Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. Now, we all can experience what it's like to be a Scout in the Survey Corps thanks to Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable from developer UNIVRS.
As a new scout, you join the fight against the seemingly unstoppable Titans that haunt what remains of humanity. Using you own ODM Gear, you will swing high above the city streets and zip between buildings in pulse-pounding battles against the giant naked humanoids. Taking down these terrifying yet graceful creatures requires perfect precision, slicing through their legs tendon to cripple them before going in for the lethal strike to the nape of the neck.
From the short time I've spent with the early access version of Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable, it's clear that developer UNIVRS has translated the series' signature fluid movement system beautifully to VR. Grapping onto structures and zipping forward feels incredibly responsive. With each pull of the triggers, you feel your body launch through the air at breathtaking speeds. It's exhilarating to soar above the city as Titans loom below, weaving between buildings to build momentum for aerial attacks.
Mastering the ODM Gear's mechanics is key to surviving encounters. You can rapidly change direction in mid-air by angling your body and grappling other anchors. It's thrilling but intimidating to perfectly time maneuvers to swing past a Titan's grasping hand or swaying kick. When grabbed, you must hack away at the giant's fingers before freedom can be regained. It puts you directly in the boots of a Scout, demanding quick thinking to outmaneuver relentless predators many times your size
Combat against the Titans themselves is also impactful. Different blades can be equipped that each deal varying amounts of damage. Slicing away at limbs and necks feels meaty using VR's physical feedback, just be careful to not hit anything in your room while you are swinging your arms like crazy. It's intensely visceral to watch your blade carve flesh or sever a leg clean off a Titan. Their roars up close are absolutely bone-chilling too. Mastering takedowns through practice is deeply satisfying, especially perfecting maneuvers like zipping behind a distracted Titan to deliver the killing blow.
In the early access version, only the game's first two story chapters are available consisting of mission-based levels totaling around 2-3 houurs of gameplay. Objectives vary from simply killing a set number of Titans to collecting supplies or defending locations from waves of attackers. This last one, defending a location for a set time, definitely borders on frustrating as the amount of Titans that spawn and do damage to the buildings feels kinda unfair. Hopefully they tweak this type of missions in the future to make them more pleasurable.
Presentation-wise, there is room for improvement. Character models are decent but environments feel sparse, with flat textures and repeating assets. Performance dips were noticeable in bigger fights as well. However, it's encouraging to see a roadmap outlining plans for improved visuals, additional story chapters, and cooperative multiplayer by the full version's launch later this year. With more polishing, Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable shows strong potential as one of the best anime adaptations on Quest.
For fans of the series eager to experience ODM Gear combat in virtual reality, Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable succeeds in its most important promise - making players feel like a Scout zipping high above the city. While rough edges remain at this early stage, its high-octane movement and visceral melee combat provide thrilling moments that other VR titles have yet to achieve. With continued development, UNIVRS could deliver the definitive Attack on Titan experience for virtual reality. But even in its present state, it offers an enjoyable slice of gameplay for any anime enthusiast looking for their Titan-slaying fix. Yeah, I do recommend giving the early access a try. Thanks for reading!
The game was previewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the developers. Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable is available on Meta Quest.
