Haymaker VR is a surprisingly deep and physical VR brawler that already feels special even in alpha
Haymaker VR is the kind of game you boot up thinking you will poke around for ten minutes, throw a few punches, maybe laugh at a goofy ragdoll, and then move on. Instead, you blink and suddenly your arms feel like you just went three rounds against a fridge. It is still an alpha build, the menus are bare, the modes are rough, and there is barely anything resembling a structured campaign, yet it already feels like something special. This thing has real potential, the kind of potential you notice the moment you hit someone in the face and their skull snaps back in a way that makes you go, wait, why does this feel this good?
The game drops you in a small and simple tutorial that teaches the basics. Block the punch by moving your forearm. Throw your own punch straight into the guy's jaw. Nothing fancy. And honestly, at first I thought that was all the game had in the tank. Block, jab, hook, haymaker, repeat. But even that tiny loop feels great because the physics carry everything. When you land a solid punch you feel the weight and timing in your arm. Your target does not just slide backwards like a mannequin, they react like a guy actually getting smashed in a bar fight. If you hit hard enough they start to bruise and bleed. If you keep at it, they drop limp and ragdoll onto the floor. It sounds weird to say but there is a very satisfying physicality to it that most Quest games fail to nail, especially standalone ones.
After punching dudes until my shoulders burned, I hopped into the experimental rogue-lite mode. Calling it experimental is generous, but that is fine, because you get the sense the devs are playing around with systems and seeing what sticks. You go through small barebones levels, fight a couple of guys, and then choose a buff or power up at the end. You also get simple melee toys like a hammer, a baseball bat, or a bottle. Fun to swing around, fun to break across someone's head, but the mode still feels like a test lab rather than a game. The sandbox mode was the same story, just you and a handful of enemies that endlessly respawn so you can keep practicing uppercuts until you question your life decisions.
Honestly, at that point I thought I had seen everything the game had to offer. Then, by accident, I noticed a Tutorial mode in the menu. I selected it. That is where things changed.
This game has a full combat system. What? Punching and blocking are basically the tip of the iceberg. Haymaker VR quietly stuffs a whole martial arts playground under the surface. If you hold both triggers and move your hands a certain way, you can throw front kicks, side kicks or even knee strikes. You can grab an enemy's arm as they swing and twist them into an arm lock. You can shoulder lock them. You can knee them in the face while holding their head. You can snap their neck if you grab it like in the movies and twist. You can judo chop the back of their neck to knock them unconscious. You can even judo throw them by grabbing their wrist and rotating your body like you would in real life.
When I realized all of this was already implemented, inside an early access alpha, my brain kinda melted. Sure, you have to exaggerate the movements a bit to get the moves to activate, but this is already one of the most ambitious physics based hand to hand systems I have seen on the Quest. It feels like the devs took every fantasy you ever had after watching a Jackie Chan movie and actually tried to recreate it in VR.
Of course I immediately went back into sandbox mode, grabbed the first guy I saw, spun him around, and sent him flying on the drums set like a sack of potatoes. Then I hammered a dude across the skull, judo chopped another one, side kicked someone into the pool table, and three days later my arms are still sore. Haymaker is one of those games that tricks you into working out because you are too busy having fun beating the hell out of digital thugs.
There is still no real game wrapped around these mechanics. The modes are thin, the structure is not there yet, and the world is more prototype than product. But even now, Haymaker VR is absolutely worth checking out if you enjoy physical VR games that make you sweat and smile at the same time. The physics system alone is strong enough to stand on its own legs.
Plus, if you are into making ridiculous VR clips, this thing is basically a TikTok clips factory. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Meta Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by PR. Haymaker VR is available on Meta Quest.
