Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2 has incredible gun handling, but recurring control problems hold it back
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2 has the best gun interactions I have ever experienced in a standalone Meta Quest game. That is a big statement, but the first time I picked up a weapon, held it in different places, and started messing with its parts, I knew this was something special. Add a compelling extraction-style mode, a generous sandbox, and impressive Quest 3 performance, and you have the makings of one of the year's landmark VR releases. But recurring problems with my controls kept interrupting the action, and they had a real impact on my experience.
If you are unfamiliar with the series, you are a hot dog shooting other hot dogs with an absurdly detailed collection of firearms. The original built its reputation on PCVR with a massive arsenal and a dedication to making those weapons feel convincing. The sequel does not have nearly as many guns as its predecessor, but there is still a lot here, and the attention paid to each one is incredible.
You can go from a tiny Dillinger to old pistols with unusual loading mechanisms, single-shot rifles, a Glock, an M4, or an AK-47. Some weapons ask you to slide an entire barrel forward to reload, while others have controls and routines that will feel more familiar. There are also plenty of attachments to experiment with. Picking up an unfamiliar gun and working out how it operates is fun in itself.
Talking about it only gets you so far, though. The weight of a weapon in your hands, the different places you can grip it, the kickback, the reloads, and the sound all come together beautifully. The closest comparison I can make is Into The Radius 2, another game whose physical weapon handling I love. Somehow, H3VR2 feels even better. There is an almost real quality to the way its guns respond, even when the thing on the receiving end is a sausage.
The main attraction is the Facility, a procedurally generated megastructure where you fight Sosigs, collect loot, and try to extract it. Its extraction loop has a roguelike flavor: every trip gives you another chance to scavenge resources and improve your prospects for future runs. You can take what you have found and call it a day, or push on for more and risk losing the opportunity to bring it home.
That decision becomes interesting almost immediately because your extraction box starts small. You cannot just scoop up everything you see, so you have to think about what deserves the limited space. Back at the hub, items can be fed into a recycler for resources including Meat, Mustard, and Metal. Yes, you are a hot dog recycling the spoils of killing other hot dogs. The game knows exactly how ridiculous it is.
Those resources go toward upgrades that make future trips more manageable, and gradually building up your options is satisfying. You can also find recycler and spawner machines in different rooms as you explore the Facility’s levels, letting you break things down or buy supplies during a run. One useful strategy I found was turning materials into small one-slot canisters that are easier to extract, then spending those resources back at the hub. It gives even a run without an exciting weapon find a potential purpose.
The early game can be tough, though, even on the lowest difficulty. You cannot bring powerful equipment down with you at first, and the starting weapons can be pretty crappy. A tiny Dillinger is not exactly reassuring when you know what is waiting around the corner. If you are lucky, you might get a Hi-Point instead, but you are still going to have to make those early shots count.
Ammo is relatively easy to come by thanks to machines in the walls that refill empty magazines or provide loose rounds you can stash on your back. Better guns, on the other hand, can be sparse. Part of me likes that finding one feels meaningful, but another part would appreciate getting my hands on something more powerful a little sooner. Things sold by the spawner can also be expensive, and I am not entirely convinced the economy is balanced where it needs to be.
Then there are the Sosigs. Regular guards are manageable once you get the hang of your weapon, but set off an alarm and more of them come looking for you. Armored enemies are a different story entirely. They can take a lot more punishment, and if you are caught with a weak gun or fumbling through a reload, they will absolutely mess you up. The silly enemies do not stop these encounters from getting tense. You will also come across scientist and office Sosigs, and you can mess with them in all sorts of ways. Punch them, stab them with a knife or box cutter, or bash them over the head with a hammer or crowbar. It is ridiculous, a little brutal, and completely in keeping with the game’s sense of humor.
That tension is what makes the loop so intoxicating. You are juggling an awkward weapon, deciding which loot to keep, and wondering whether the next room will give you the resources you need or end the run. The sense of physical survival has something in common with Cryodeath VR, even if H3VR2 swaps horror for armed sausages and puts its exceptional guns at the center of every encounter. I can easily see people sinking a ridiculous amount of time into the Facility.
There is more to do when you want a break from extracting. Shooting challenges let you test your skills on courses reminiscent of real-world Taran Tactical challenges, while the sandbox lets you mess around with everything for free. The latter is a great place to appreciate the variety of weapons and attachments without worrying about what they cost or which angry Sosig is about to interrupt you.
It all looks fantastic on Meta Quest 3, too. The weapons are packed with detail, the environments look great, and the game ran smoothly throughout my time with it. Even while recording gameplay, which can cause some Quest games to struggle, it stayed smooth. I honestly do not know how the developers managed to squeeze this much out of the headset, but the result is impressive.
The biggest problem I had was a recurring loss of control, and it happened often enough to seriously affect my time with the game. Sometimes a pistol in my right hand would suddenly stop responding. I could not fire or reload it until I released the grip button and grabbed it again. That workaround usually got the gun working, but having to do it in the middle of a firefight is a terrible feeling when a group of Sosigs is shooting at you.
I also repeatedly ran into a movement issue. If I was moving forward with the left stick and force-grabbed an object with that hand, my character would sometimes keep walking forward even after I had let go of the stick. In a difficult extraction game, losing control of where you are going or whether you can use your weapon is more than a minor annoyance. These issues contributed to more deaths than I could count, and they kept getting in the way of a game that otherwise feels brilliant to play.
I want to be clear: I have no idea if this is happening to anyone else, or whether the game or my Touch controller is responsible. I cannot say for certain that it is a game bug. I can only describe what happened during my time on Quest 3, and it happened constantly enough that I cannot overlook it. I hope the cause can be identified and, if it is an issue with the game, fixed. The Facility's economy could use another balancing pass, too.
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2 is still a fantastic standalone VR shooter. Its weapons are a joy to handle, its Facility loop keeps pulling me back, and its sandbox gives me room to play with all that brilliant detail. If the control problem is sorted, I could see this being a 9.5/10 game for me. Right now, those repeated interruptions have too much impact on the experience to ignore. Thanks for reading!
