With its realistic gunplay, cinematic set pieces and campaign meant for solo or co-op play, military shooter fans will find much to love in Zero Caliber 2
The original Zero Caliber was praised for bringing a polished and realistic military shooter experience to VR. Unfortunately, I have not played that original game, yet, but I've read on it and seen some gameplay. Anyway, I got access to Zero Caliber 2 and after finishing the 8 hour-ish campaign, it's clear this sequel aims to raise the bar graphically while keeping everything fans loved about the gunplay and progression intact.
In the Zero Caliber universe, resources like drinkable water have become scarce, fracturing what remains of civilization into warring factions. You take on the role of a soldier fighting to protect your people and crucial supply lines. Over the course of a dozen story missions, you'll battle across diverse environments from dense urban streets to sprawling landscapes.
While the story serves to loosely connect the action set pieces, Zero Caliber 2 shines brightest when you're in the thick of battle. Do not expect the same level of engaging storytelling or badass characters like you might get in Call of Duty. Although Zero Caliber 2 tries to be Call of Duty, it unfortunately fails to reach those crazy cinematic and emotional highs. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't try to do so.
Some of the missions feel like they would be right at home if Activision ever did Call of Duty VR. You'll engage in intense combat across suburban landscapes, breaching and clearing houses with tactical precision. Adrenaline-pumping sequences have you mounted on Humvees, manning .50 caliber machine guns as you traverse war-torn villages. One particularly memorable mission involves a covert operation in a snow-covered environment. Armed with a suppressed sniper rifle and an SMG, you infiltrate and sabotage an enemy base. The mission culminates in a thrilling escape aboard a hovercraft, where you fend off pursuing foes while racing down a mountainside. Sounds familiar?
Gunplay feels responsive and weighty, with each firearm bringing a unique experience. Assault rifles kick firmly in fully automatic mode while shotguns devastate up close. Reloading is manual and engaging, requiring you to carefully eject magazines and slot in new ones. You will also find lots of attachments for your guns as you make your way across the levels and you can modify your guns in a really simple and intuitive way. If you find a grip, for example, you can just move it next to your gun and it will snap to the correct place. Then if you find another grip, you can either "slap" and change that first one with the new one or you can move the gun sideways for a couple of seconds and it will enter a "modify gun" mode, very similar to how the Crysis games did it, and now you can customize your gun to your liking. With dozens of guns available and full modding support, you'll find countless ways to customize your loadouts.
Oh, I almost forgot about this, but a standout feature in Zero Caliber 2 is its innovative grenade mechanics. The game allows you to pull grenade pins with your mouth before throwing, adding a new layer of immersion and tactical options. This mechanic enables one-handed grenade deployment, evoking the feeling of being an action hero in the heat of battle. The intuitive nature and added realism of this feature make it a welcome addition that I'd love to see implemented in other VR shooters moving forward.
Enemies behave somewhat intelligently too, taking cover and attempting flanking maneuvers. On higher difficulties especially, firefights become frantic heart-pounding affairs. Just a few well-placed shots is often all it takes to fall, urging you to take a more tactical approach. In fact, the Veteran difficulty in Zero Caliber 2, feels extremely similar (borderline punishing) in terms of the challenge to how it feels in Call of Duty games.
Visually, the game looks really good and runs extremely well for a standalone VR title. Environments feel lush and extensive, aided by long draw distances allowing you to spot enemies from afar. The same can be said about the gun and character models. The only part that kinda sucks and takes you out of the immersion are the explosions, especially when you shoot an RPG to a tank or chopper and they just disappear from existence with no visual effects whatsoever. Through it all, a dense soundscape envelops you with rich spatial audio. Guns bark deafeningly close while explosions rumble in the distance. It raises the tension to fully convince that you're taking part in an intense live-fire conflict.
Comfort remains a priority too on Quest 3. Several control schemes are on offer including snap and smooth turning along with options to tweak speeds to taste. While full locomotion is required, movement never felt untoward during my time with it. Brisk pacing also ensures you stay grounded in the action instead of causing discomfort.
Outside the Campaign, Co-Op and Competitive Multiplayer provide excellent ways to extend replayability. Taking on missions cooperatively with friends transforms the experience, requiring tight coordination to overcome tough challenges. If you plan to play this with your buddies, definitely go for the Veteran difficulty as in the other modes, you would just steamroll through the enemies. Meanwhile, PvP pits players against each other in traditional deathmatch and team modes. I tried playing a couple of matches and since the game just released, at least in Europe, I didn't really find many players to play against. Usually the 5v5 lobbies had more bots than real players. Maybe once everyone finishes playing through the campaign, they'll jump into the multiplayer, but that remains to be seen. The ongoing mod support promises to fuel community creativity for a long time to come as well, but again, what the community creates remains to be seen.
In summary, Zero Caliber 2 looks primed to deliver a really cool and satisfying self-contained VR shooter experience. With its realistic gunplay, cinematic set pieces and campaigns meant for solo or co-op play, military shooter fans will find much to love on Quest 3. Briskly paced action paired with satisfying progression aim to provide many hours of high-octane entertainment. Zero Caliber 2 is a must-own for anyone looking to their next VR blockbuster. I do recommend this game. Thanks for reading!
The game was previewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the developers. Zero Caliber 2 is available on Meta Quest and PCVR.
