Between us is one of gaming’s seminal success stories about the pandemic, hitting mobile, consoles and PC while introducing a great twist in the often stagnant world of online multiplayer. When Innersloth announced they were bringing the game to VR, a vague sense of suspicion was probably warranted nonetheless. As it turns out, the results are not at all sus, and Among Us VR will likely prove to be one of the main go-to VR multiplayer games.
The immediate question is: How does it work Between us work in VR? The game has been translated into a first-person experience, and while it definitely looks like a fully 3D version of the source material, the sense of place in VR is stunning. Rather than looking down at the action in a more abstract third-person view, you’re the actual crewmate (or imposter) facing the three to nine other players.
The level of detail that went into turning the Skeld spaceship map into a fully realized location is impressive. While the visuals in it are great Between us Cartoon style, the sound design is the real star. Among Us VR uses voice chat primarily to keep players connected (which is a double-edged sword), taking into account player distances.
Players’ voices grow quieter as they move farther away, the sounds of the ship hum all around you, and emergency alarms blare loudly. For such a relatively simple game and premise, the atmosphere here has been nailed perfectly. You can also choose to use quick text replies for communication (especially during crew meetings), but voice chat is likely to be an integral part of gameplay for many players.
That confidence in communication can be great in a good game with players invested in the overall experience. Alternatively, you may find yourself surrounded by people who make you mute the sound. Not a big deal as an adult, but it could definitely be a problem for children at play. To alleviate some issues, the game asks your birthday upon launch, but all it really does is say you can’t play if you’re under 13.
Having played in games without voice chat, simply using the readily accessible canned messages and body language (there’s plenty of hilarious finger pointing) works surprisingly well. What would help a lot is a simple option to only allow text matches, which is currently missing.
Among Us VR tries to be accessible to everyone in its actual control. Using Quest 2’s controllers, the left stick moves you around while the right stick rotates your character. The game defaults to a tunnel vision-like view when moving to mitigate motion sickness, but it can be turned on in the menu options. New players will need to play through the tutorial, which is a good idea as the controls still take some time to get used to, as simple as they are.
Mini-game tasks are geared towards the VR medium, so expect a lot of button pressing, tapping things, and lever pulling. There’s a Simon Says-like game, other consoles that require you to enter the correct code, and even a whack-a-mole sequence. The mini-games here generally feel more intuitive than in the original game.
Among Us VR Review – The Bottom Line
Advantages
- Excellent atmosphere and sound design.
- Looks great in 3D.
- Gameplay only gets better in VR.
Disadvantages
- Only one map and no advanced crewmate options.
- Limited Customizability.
- Needs more options to customize in-game communication.
Simple is a common theme for Among Us VR. At launch, the game lacks most of the core game’s advanced modes and options and comes with only one map. That said, when the original was released it was just as limited in scope, and we expect regular updates in VR to make this version just as robust. Even with just the single card, this is excellent Between us Experience.
[Note: Schell Games provided the copy of Among Us VR used for this review.]
