Tunnels VR is an ambitious attempt at creating a claustrophobic adventure that largely succeeds in delivering an engaging experience despite its flaws
In Tunnels VR for Meta Quest 3, you play as Jim, a demolition expert hired by a small town to seal off an abandoned gold mine with a dark history of disappearances. What starts as a routine job quickly spirals into a fight for survival as you find yourself plunging deeper into the mountain's depths, facing both natural and unnatural threats.
The narrative, while relatively simple, creates an effective foundation for the adventure. The mine's history of missing teens and gold diggers sets an ominous tone, and your only connection to the outside world is through intermittent radio communications with your colleague. The voice acting delivers convincing performances that help sell the increasing tension as you delve deeper into the mystery.
The story could have benefited from more depth, perhaps exploring conspiracy elements, some visual storytelling or delving deeper into the mine's history through notes and documents. However, what's there serves its purpose in driving the roughly two-hour campaign forward.
Tunnels VR offers a variety of gameplay elements that keep the experience fresh. You'll find yourself crawling through narrow passages, swimming in underground lakes, scaling rock faces, and ziplining across chasms. This variety prevents any single mechanic from becoming stale and maintains engagement throughout the adventure.
The zipline sequences stand out as particularly well-executed, offering exhilarating moments as you traverse vast underground spaces. The climbing sections also work well, providing a good sense of physicality and danger, especially when navigating above deadly hazards like stalagmites.
The core tunnel-crawling mechanic, however, presents some issues. While the concept of physically pulling yourself through tight spaces is immersive, the implementation falls short. Your hands clip through surfaces rather than resting on them, making it difficult to gauge proper hand placement. This becomes particularly problematic since when you crawl through the tunnels it is so dark that you can't even see your hands.
The game's creature design is noteworthy, featuring unsettling monsters that resemble a cross between a dog, a lobster and alien face-huggers. Your primary defense against these creatures is your flashlight, which can temporarily stun them with a quick flash. There are also some creepy looking worms that chase you underwater, but much like the other mutant creatures, they are not a big threat.
The flashlight mechanic feels underdeveloped. The battery drain is extremely aggressive, with power depleting in seconds, and there's no clear indication of remaining charge. Finding batteries scattered throughout the supposedly abandoned mine stretches credibility, and I think this system would have benefited from a more innovative approach, such as a manual charging mechanism like the handcrank generator from Metro Awakening.
After initial encounters, the monsters lose some of their impact, becoming more of an annoyance than a genuine threat. A quick flash sends them scurrying away, reducing what could have been tense encounters to predictable interactions.
The game's presentation is a mixed bag. The underground environment effectively creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, and the sound design deserves special mention. The echoing of distant creature sounds, and the general acoustic properties of the cave system contribute significantly to the immersion.
Visually, the game shows its indie budget with simple textures and basic environmental detail. I have to say though that the tunnels themselves have a really unique look to them. The way the devs have modeled the tunnels and the light tealish color fog really add to the whole "I have no idea where I am and how long this tunnel is" feeling.
There are several areas where small improvements could enhance the experience significantly. Adding luminescent elements to the player's gloves could help with hand visibility during crawling sections. Hey, just strap some of the glowy crystals that are already in the game and that's it, lore friendly too. Also implementing some sort of a limited collision detection around the player during tunnel sequences could massively improve the grabbing and crawlingmechanics without overtaxing the Quest 3's resources.
The game includes a free multiplayer mode where you can explore tunnels cooperatively, buy hats and cosmetics via in-app purchases or using currency earned in-game. However, as many new VR games, the online community appears limited, making it difficult to find any active players. This feature feels more like a bonus addition rather than a core component of the experience.
Tunnels VR is an ambitious attempt at creating a claustrophobic adventure that largely succeeds in delivering an engaging experience despite its flaws. While not particularly scary, it offers genuine moments of tension and some truly exciting sequences, particularly during the zipline sections. At its price point, it offers enough unique experiences to justify a purchase, especially for those interested in claustrophobic adventures or physical VR interactions.
With some refinement to its core mechanics and perhaps a more developed narrative, Tunnels VR could evolve into something truly special. As it stands, it's a flawed but interesting addition to the Quest 3's library that shows promise despite its shortcomings.
The game was reviewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the developer. Tunnels VR is available on Meta Quest.
