Highlights
- Asgard's Wrath 2 offers a content-rich open-world VR RPG experience, breaking new ground for the future of VR gaming.
- The combat system in Asgard's Wrath 2 is diverse, with players having the option to possess different heroes and choose between various playstyles.
- The game features immersive VR dungeon crawling with unique mechanics, such as the godscale perspective mode, and offers a true open-world experience with quests, crafting, and exploration.
Sanzaru Games had an ambitious goal in mind with Asgard's Wrath 2: create a content-rich open-world RPG that can stand toe-to-toe with the best flatscreen games and break ground for the future of VR gaming. The depth of its systems and the amount of content on offer is unparalleled among made-for-VR games, and it's mind-boggling that the team has managed to cram a fully featured, 60-hour campaign along with an endless roguelite mode into standalone Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. One of the most common gripes among VR gamers is a lack of "full size" gaming experiences, as most of VR's greatest hits are limited to highly focused single-room offerings like Beat Saber or short-but-sweet AAA titles like Half-Life: Alyx. Sanzaru hopes that Asgard's Wrath 2 will prove that this doesn't have to be the case.
Game ZXC recently spent a few hours playing Asgard's Wrath 2's early game, and in that time, we caught a glimpse of many of the game's features. We crept through booby-trapped dungeons, faced off against a massive bird-like fire-breathing boss, solved physics-based puzzles using the game's unique omniscient godscale mode perspective, and deflected incoming projectiles with our sword while riding full speed across the vast open world. To sum it up, it feels like a real, full-blown game in VR rather than a series of disjointed "VR experiences."
Asgard's Wrath 2 Interview: Producer Talks Bringing Epic Rogue-Lite Dungeon Gameplay to VR [EXCLUSIVE]
In an exclusive interview, Asgard's Wrath 2 producer Mari Kyle talks about the rogue-lite mode and other details about the upcoming open-world VR RPG.
Asgard's Wrath 2's Combat System Is All About Options
All that content wouldn't mean much if the moment-to-moment gameplay wasn't up to par, and thankfully, Asgard's Wrath 2's combat is one of its strongest points. Players can "possess" several heroes throughout the game, but our preview was focused on Abraxas and his loadout consisting of a sword that doubles as a grappling hook and a throwing axe that can be thrown and retrieved with the flick of a wrist—although the axe can also be used in melee as well. Immediately, this opens up several playstyles. Players can opt for an axe-centric approach by kiting enemies and repeatedly chucking the axe at them, or moving up close for some more traditional sword fighting.
There are a variety of enemy types working in tandem in most encounters, and players will need to split their attention between shield-bearing melee opponents while airborne insects lob projectiles from afar. These projectiles can also be deflected right back at enemies with the swing of a sword, and playing baseball with projectiles quickly became our favorite combat mechanic. The boss encounter we experienced used this projectile mechanic to great effect, and we also had to make good use of the game's short-range dodge ability to quickly maneuver away from area attacks and close the distance to jab at weak spots.
Asgard's Wrath 2's VR Dungeon Crawling Ticks All The Boxes
Before venturing into Asgard's Wrath 2's open world, we first had to make our way through a massive Egyptian-themed dungeon. Initially, this involved navigating through corridors full of traps while gleefully smashing every box and urn along the way for bits of loot. There are swinging pendulum traps that require a little careful timing to navigate, along with some spike traps that involve light puzzle solving to open up the path. Asgard's Wrath 2 also includes many treasure chests that are either somewhat hidden or involve going the extra mile with puzzles to make them accessible.
One standout feature is Asgard's Wrath 2's godscale perspective mode. In certain rooms, players will have the ability to freely switch to a godscale mode and view the area from the perspective of an omniscient being. These massive rooms then feel like small toy sets, allowing players to manipulate the environment and move heavy objects. Solving these rooms involves switching back and forth repeatedly, calling for players to step onto a platform as Abraxas and then switch to godscale to operate the mechanism that lifts the platform. This shift in VR perspective is a lot of fun to experience, and it's an undoubtedly effective way to shake up dungeon crawling and puzzle gameplay.
Asgard's Wrath 2 Is a True Open World
Once we made it out of the dungeon, we were finally introduced to the open world. A nifty map of the area can be brought up at any time to survey nearby objectives or fast-travel points, while a compass on the wrist also points toward nearby markers. In typical open-world RPG fashion, we could either pursue the main quest or aimlessly venture around looking for loot, side quests, or more things to throw axes at. There are wild animals to hunt for crafting materials, roaming enemies, tucked-away combat rooms with challenging encounters, and quests that will introduce new NPCs and functionality to the player's hideout. Although we only made it as far as The Great Sand Sea of Egypt, there are other locales to explore as well such as the Norse-themed Lands of Fire.
The player's numerous summonable companions can also transform into mounts, and figuring out the right companion for the job plays a major role in solving environmental problems. One avian companion, for example, can be sent high up in the air and then grappled onto to glide across gaps, while a faster mount companion can help cross regions of quicksand. Outside their animal forms, companions assist in combat and can be upgraded in several ways with the game's skill points system. Of course, players also benefit from skill points, and there are numerous paths to spend these points that emphasize various playstyles. We continued to focus on our axe throwing by spending points on a skill that increased the axe's damage when it's thrown in rapid succession, and points can be refunded for a price to try out other builds.
There's plenty more to the game that we barely scratched the surface of in our preview, particularly Asgard's Wrath 2's endless roguelite mode with asynchronous multiplayer. This game-within-a-game has its own progression system, and players can send either friendly or harmful specters of themselves to invade or assist other players on their roguelite runs. The roguelite mode also features a leaderboard specific to each loadout so that players can compare their progress.
In just a few short hours, we saw more gameplay in Asgard's Wrath 2 than we ever thought possible in a VR game, and that's promising for its upcoming launch.
Asgard's Wrath 2 releases December 15 on Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Quest Pro. Game ZXC was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.