After the Fall

When virtual reality gaming is done right, it can bring gamers into the experience unlike anything else. In After the Fall, you can almost feel the chill of the snow hitting your skin as you race through the streets to find some semblance of cover in an abandoned storefront. Your heart starts to race as you see the hordes of shambling creatures make their way towards you from the fog of a snowstorm or the shadowy corners of a dimly lit warehouse. Each of the game's various weapons even feel distinct and natural as you aim, reload, and shoot each of them at the Snowbleed swarms. When everything's going right, it's almost easy to forget that you're even playing a game. Almost.

There are a few unavoidable cracks in the seams of After the Fall's immersive experience. For starters, there's the game's repetition and lack of depth. Each mission feels like every other one. Players start in the snow-covered streets, end up in a building, fend off a few sporadic waves of grunts before facing off an even bigger "boss." Hit the base, upgrade your tools, wash, rinse, and repeat. There's not much variety in the enemies, as even the bosses simply seem like regular Snowbreed that spent a little extra time in the gym. The game's also best played with other people, as the AI companions are pretty bad. But unless you've got a team of friends with you, joining with random players can often lead to frustration as strangers intentionally sabotage matches just to troll each other. Despite these issues, After the Fall is still an impressive outing, moving the genre of online VR shooters in the right direction.