Augmented Empire is a testament to how modern VR technology can enhance classic gaming concepts while maintaining their core appeal
In the neon-drenched dystopian city of New Savannah, where society is ruthlessly divided by a rigid class system, Augmented Empire weaves an intricate tale of rebellion, betrayal, and social commentary. This Quest 3 remastered version brings the tactical RPG to life in mixed reality and the results are quite compelling.
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New Savannah is a city straight out of a noir thriller, where the elite live in opulent luxury while the unfortunate masses struggle in the slums of Detritum. The game's narrative doesn't shy away from heavy themes, exploring class warfare, poverty, and the human cost of maintaining a supposedly perfect society. Through its roughly 10-hour campaign spanning 26 missions, initially you'll start by recruiting five distinct characters as the main job is a heist. But, of course, it's never just a heist, and the events that unfold after you complete that are quite interesting.
The writing is sharp and mature, avoiding common cyberpunk clichés while building a world that feels both familiar and unique. The character development is particularly strong, with each member of your team facing personal demons while contributing to the broader narrative. The high-quality voice acting that features some Hollywood talent brings these characters to life, making even smaller moments between missions feel meaningful.
At its core, Augmented Empire is a turn-based tactical game that will feel familiar to XCOM veterans. Combat takes place on a grid-based system where positioning and cover are crucial to survival. Each character brings unique abilities and specializations to the team, requiring thoughtful squad composition for different mission types. After each successful mission, you'll be able to level up your characters, improving their stats and unlock new abilities that will make the next mission easier. But fret not, as the game is not XCOM level hard, nowhere near that difficult. You can play it very casually, kick ass and still enjoy the story.
The combat system's standout feature is its timing-based action mechanics. When attacking or defending, a meter appears that requires precise timing to execute actions effectively. Landing in the sweet spot results in critical hits, while poor timing can lead to misses or failed defenses. This active element adds a layer of skill and engagement often missing from pure turn-based combat. But you also the ability to turn this off, and the game will auto-resolve all combat, but that takes away some of the challenge and fun.
When you are not in combat you can roam around the levels, talk to NPCs and interact with different signs, statues and whatnot that help with the worldbuilding. You can also find and pick up different items such as health packs, grenades and other useful items that you can use to buy additional gear or upgrade your characters' abilities.
The Quest 3/3S version truly shines in its mixed reality implementation. The level appears in front of you and you can place anywhere in your room. You can choose between Room mode, where the game board floats in front of you at an angle which makes it the perfect option if you play slouched on a couch like I did, or Floor mode, which projects the level parallel to the floor or a table in front of you.
At any given time you can grab the level and enlarge it, allowing you to seamlessly transition from a strategic overview to detailed close-ups of individual units and environmental details. This feature not only serves the gameplay but also showcases the impressive attention to detail in the game's environments cause these levels are visually stunning. It's also worth mentioning that you can play the game in full VR too, but the mixed reality presentation, seeing the game happening in front of you in real life, is just so much better.
The art direction successfully marries cyberpunk aesthetics with a distinct noir atmosphere. Character designs look quite cool close-up even though they have a lowpoly aesthetic, and the environments tell their own stories through detailed visual storytelling. The mixed reality presentation adds a new dimension to the experience, making the game feel like a high-tech board game come to life. The sound design deserves special mention, with a moody soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere without overwhelming the excellent voice performances. Environmental audio cues help bring the digital diorama to life, especially when experienced in mixed reality.
The game offers multiple control schemes, including hand tracking and traditional controllers. While hand tracking works surprisingly well for pretty much everything like menu navigation and unit selection, the haptic feedback from controllers provides a more tactile and precise experience during combat sequences.
Each of the control schemes has some additional control style options. For example you can use a laser pointer style that shoots out of your hand or controller to select different options. Or you can use a pointer style where your hands or the controllers kinda become like a "3D mouse" allowing you to just tap directly on the map tiles or objects to select and interact with them. The pointer system is absolutely fantastic and it's the method I used to play the game and while generally intuitive, it often presented some frustration with accidental inputs when moving controllers.
Like I would select my character to go somewhere or interact with something and then I would just rest my hands on the couch waiting for the interaction to finish and during that movement, the controller would select something else overwriting my intended action. It might seem like a small thing, but over long play sessions it can get quite annoying. A simple press-and-hold mechanism for confirmations could have provided more precise control, and I really hope they add that in a future update.
Augmented Empire on Quest 3/3S is a compelling tactical RPG that successfully marries deep storytelling with engaging gameplay mechanics. The mixed reality implementation feels natural and adds a new layer of immersion to the tactical genre. While some minor control issues exist, they don't significantly detract from what is otherwise an excellent package. If you are someone who enjoys a story-rich experiences and tactical combat, but at the same time you are prepared for a narrative-heavy experience that requires investment in both time and attention, then this game is definitely worth a shot. Augmented Empire is a testament to how modern VR technology can enhance classic gaming concepts while maintaining their core appeal. Thanks for reading!
The game was previewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the developers. Augmented Empire is available on Meta Quest.
