While relatively short, the experience is so polished and absorbing that multiple playthroughs could certainly be warranted to catch anything missed the first time.
Red Matter is a fairly short, but quite memorable, stunning and atmospheric VR puzzle game with a sprinkle of horror thrown in just for good measure.
In Red Matter you take the role of an astronaut who arrives at an abandoned brutalist research base on one of Saturn's moons. As you explore the intriguing facility, you'll slowly uncover what happened to the previous crew through notes, audio logs, and clues left around the environment. As is usual with these types of games, not everything is as it seems, and strange supernatural events begin to unfold the deeper you venture into the USSR retro-futuristic mysterious base.
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One of the first things that stands out about Red Matter on Quest 3 is the visual polish. Now while I haven't played Red Matter 2 which I've heard is the best looking game on the Quest 3, the original game is kinda stunning too although it originally came out in 2019. Vertical Robot clearly know what they are doing.
Walking through the abandoned corridors and domed rooms of the research base is a consistently incredible experience, as every texture and material have a fairly large amount of detail. The same can be said about the lighting and reflections that make the somewhat eerie spaces feel that much more convincing.
In terms of gameplay, Red Matter follows a traditional puzzle adventure formula. You'll explore each section of the base searching for clues and using contextual puzzles to further the story. Examples include powering up defunct systems, decoding logs in a fictional language, and manipulating massive machines through a series of button presses and lever pulls. While the puzzles aren't particularly brain-bending, they feel natural extensions of the environments and help flesh out the mysterious narrative.
One of Red Matter's strengths is how well it controls and utilizes VR. Manipulating objects with two grip-controlled hands feels intuitive, while bigger interactions like operating control panels are a satisfying spectacle. Different locomotion options are available like teleportation and smooth movement, both of which work well.
In terms of game length, a single playthrough of Red Matter will take around 2-3 hours for most players, depending on how quickly you solve puzzles. While it could be considered short compared to flatscreen games, for the price it's a respectable runtime for a well-polished VR adventure title. Alternatively, Red Matter is also available via the new and improved Meta Quest+ subscription which is how I got to play the game.
Red Matter is easily one of the best puzzle adventure games that I've played so far on my Quest 3. From its impressively detailed environments and objects, to the smooth controls and intriguing story, it feels like a benchmark title for story-driven VR games. While relatively short, the experience is so polished and absorbing that multiple playthroughs could certainly be warranted to catch anything missed the first time. This is an essential game for any Quest 3 owner. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Quest 3 via the Meta Quest+ subscription. Red Matter is available now on Meta Quest, PSVR and PCVR.
