The Epic VR Sequel: Unravel the Immersive World of Asgard's Wrath 2

Highlights

Asgard's Wrath 2 offers a content-rich open-world VR RPG experience, breaking new ground for the future of VR gaming.

In Asgard's Wrath 2, the combat system is extensive, allowing players to embody multiple heroes and select from a range of playstyles. The game offers a captivating VR dungeon crawling experience, complete with distinctive mechanics like the godscale perspective mode. Additionally, it provides a truly immersive open-world adventure, where players can embark on quests, engage in crafting, and explore the vast world.

Sanzaru Games set out to achieve an ambitious goal with Asgard's Wrath 2: to create a content-rich open-world RPG that rivals top flatscreen games and pushes the boundaries of VR gaming. The game's depth of systems and abundance of content is unparalleled among VR titles. It is astonishing that the team has managed to fit a complete 60-hour campaign, along with an endless roguelite mode, into the standalone Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. One common complaint among VR gamers is the lack of expansive gaming experiences, as most popular VR games are limited to smaller, single-room experiences or short AAA titles like Half-Life: Alyx. Sanzaru aims to prove with Asgard's Wrath 2 that this limitation is unnecessary.

During a recent play session on our website, we had the opportunity to experience several features of Asgard's Wrath 2's early game. We navigated through booby-trapped dungeons, confronted a colossal bird-like boss that breathed fire, solved physics-based puzzles using the game's unique godscale mode perspective, and skillfully deflected incoming projectiles while riding at high speeds across the vast open world. Simply put, it genuinely feels like a complete and immersive VR game, rather than a collection of disconnected VR experiences.

Asgard's Wrath 2's Combat System Is All About Options

The moment-to-moment gameplay in Asgard's Wrath 2 is crucial. And fortunately, its combat is one of its strongest aspects. In the game, players have the ability to possess multiple heroes. In our preview, we focused on Abraxas, who carries a sword that also acts as a grappling hook, and a throwing axe that can be thrown and retrieved effortlessly. This diverse loadout allows for different playstyles. Players can either rely on the axe, constantly throwing it at enemies while keeping their distance, or they can engage in traditional sword fighting by getting closer to the enemies.

Most encounters in the game feature various types of enemies working together. This means that players will have to pay attention to shield-bearing melee opponents while also dodging projectiles launched by aerial insects. Interestingly, these projectiles can be deflected back at enemies using the swing of a sword. This became our favorite combat mechanic, resembling a game of baseball. In a boss encounter, we witnessed the effective use of this projectile mechanic, where we also had to utilize the game's dodge ability to quickly avoid area attacks and close the distance to attack weak spots.

Asgard's Wrath 2's VR Dungeon Crawling Ticks All The Boxes

Starting with an enormous Egyptian-themed dungeon, our journey through Asgard's Wrath 2's open world began. We encountered a series of traps-filled corridors, all the while gleefully smashing boxes and urns in search of valuable loot. The dungeon boasted swinging pendulum traps that demanded precise timing to maneuver past, as well as spike traps that required clever puzzle-solving skills to unlock the route. Moreover, Asgard's Wrath 2 treated us to numerous treasure chests, some cleverly hidden and others only accessible after solving intricate puzzles.

One particularly remarkable feature was the godscale perspective mode in Asgard's Wrath 2. In select rooms, players could seamlessly switch to this mode, offering a divine viewpoint as if they were omniscient beings. This transformative experience turned the vast chambers into miniaturized sets, enabling players to manipulate the environment and effortlessly move heavy objects. Overcoming the challenges within these rooms demanded frequent shifts between playing as Abraxas and reverting to godscale, utilizing the platform to elevate and operate mechanisms. This refreshing change in VR perspective added an exhilarating layer to the dungeon crawling and puzzle gameplay, resulting in an immensely enjoyable encounter.

Asgard's Wrath 2 Is a True Open World

After successfully escaping the dungeon, we were finally introduced to the expansive open world. An intuitive map is readily available to locate nearby objectives or fast-travel points, while a wrist compass directs us towards important markers. In the classic style of open-world RPGs, we had the choice to either follow the main quest or explore aimlessly for treasure, side quests, and other targets to fling our axes at. The environment is teeming with wild animals to hunt for crafting materials, roaming enemies, hidden combat rooms with challenging battles, and quests that unveil new characters and features in our hideout. Although we only managed to reach The Great Sand Sea of Egypt, there are other exciting locales to venture to, such as the Norse-themed Lands of Fire.

Our invaluable companions, whom we can summon at will, also double as mounts. Determining the right companion for each task is crucial for solving environmental obstacles. For instance, we can send one of our avian companions soaring high in the sky and then latch onto it with a grappling hook to effortlessly glide across gaps. Additionally, a fleet-footed mount can assist in traversing quicksand-infested regions. These companions not only aid us in combat but can also be enhanced through the game's skill points system. Naturally, players can also accumulate skill points and choose from a variety of paths to specialize their playstyle. We continued to focus on honing our axe-throwing abilities by investing points into a skill that augmented the axe's damage during rapid succession throws. However, if desired, points can be reallocated at a cost to experience different character builds.

We only touched the surface of the game in our preview, but there's much more to Asgard's Wrath 2. One exciting feature is the endless roguelite mode, which includes asynchronous multiplayer. Within this game-within-a-game, there's a unique progression system where players can send friendly or harmful specters of themselves to invade or assist other players during their roguelite runs. Additionally, there's a loadout-specific leaderboard so that players can track their progress and compare with others. In just a few hours, we experienced more gameplay in Asgard's Wrath 2 than we could have imagined in a VR game, showing great promise for its upcoming launch.

Asgard's Wrath 2 releases December 15 on Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Quest Pro. Our website was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.