Chernobyl Again presents a fascinating premise and an intriguing time-travel narrative that's unfortunately held back by technical limitations and a lack of polish
Chernobyl Again boldly tackles one of history's most infamous nuclear disasters, offering you the unique opportunity to prevent the catastrophic meltdown through the lens of virtual reality. As a child of gifted nuclear physicists, you're tasked with traveling back in time to stop the reactor explosion in Pripyat, Ukraine. It's an intriguing concept that immediately piques interest, especially for those fascinated by the Chernobyl incident or time-travel narratives.
The game's strongest asset is undoubtedly its premise and the way it leverages time travel to explore Pripyat before and after the disaster. Visiting iconic locations like the power plant, Pripyat, the massive Duga radar, and even a Soviet-era household offers a fascinating glimpse into a pivotal moment in history. There's a palpable sense of tension as you work to alter the course of events, knowing the devastating consequences that await if you fail.
In terms of gameplay Chernobyl Again centers around puzzle-solving and exploration. As you navigate through different time periods, you'll encounter various challenges that require manipulation of the environment and careful observation. The puzzles themselves are generally well-designed, striking a balance between being engaging without becoming frustratingly difficult. The game does a good job of providing subtle hints through dialogue if you're stuck, ensuring that the narrative momentum isn't derailed by overly complex obstacles.
The time-travel mechanic is cleverly integrated into both the story and gameplay. Using your futuristic suitcase to input coordinates and dates feels appropriately sci-fi, even if the actual process can be a bit finicky at times. This mechanic allows for some interesting narrative twists and environmental changes as you hop between pre- and post-disaster Pripyat.
Unfortunately, Chernobyl Again stumbles in its technical execution, particularly on the Meta Quest platform. Visually, the game fails to fully capture the eerie beauty and desolation of Pripyat. Textures often appear flat and lacking in detail, some of the models and environments look kinda ugly. I kinda get it though. The Quest headset, even though I've seen some pretty spectacular looking games like Red Matter 2 for example, is not powerful enough to run the game well if the developers used the high quality version of the photogrammetry assets they captured in the actual exclusion zone. Still, I believe they could have spent a litte more time improving and optimizng these subpar models since this is a game that relies heavily on the autenticity of these IRL models to create a sense of place and atmosphere. Luckily the audio design is generally solid, with atmospheric sound effects that enhance the sense of being in an abandoned, irradiated zone and helps mitigate the visual problems. The voice acting, while not groundbreaking, is competent enough to carry the story without breaking immersion.
The most significant issue plaguing Chernobyl Again is its janky object interaction. In a VR title, smooth and intuitive manipulation of the virtual world is crucial for maintaining immersion. Here, even simple actions like turning a valve or picking up an item can feel frustratingly imprecise. This becomes especially problematic during timed sequences or when solving puzzles that require precise movements.
Speaking of puzzles, while generally well-conceived, they're occasionally marred by technical glitches. It's not uncommon to encounter situations where a puzzle simply breaks, forcing you to restart the entire level. It happened to me, quite a few times I might add, and since the game doesn't have a proper "save/load" feature where you can load previous checkpoints, I had to restart the level if I wanted to progress through the story. This is incredibly frustrating and while they have improved the game with recent patches, you might still encounter some of these pesky bugs.
The inventory system, accessed via a futuristic watch interface, is another area that feels clunky and outdated compared to more streamlined VR experiences. Navigating through menus to access items breaks the flow of gameplay and can become tedious. There's a puzzle where you have to correctly place some cogs and gears into a mechanism and each time you need to place one of them, you have to look at or hold your finger on the watch for a couple of seconds, carefully select the Invetory then carefully pull out the item you need. Once you get the item, the inventory closes and you have to do all of that again if you need another item. And in that specific puzzle, you need like 5 different gears plus a lever... why can't the Inventory stay open and if I move my hand away, it goes away?
Despite these technical shortcomings, Chernobyl Again is a good game at its core, with ambitious ideas and a compelling premise. The story unfolds at a steady pace, with well-written dialogue and voice acting that helps to flesh out the world and your character's motivations. With some additional refinement and bug fixes, it could become a standout VR experience. As it stands, it's a flawed but intriguing journey through one of history's most infamous disasters.
The game was reviewed on a Meta Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the developers. Chernobyl Again is available on Pico, PSVR2, PCVR and Meta Quest.
