Recent reviews by *OAKES*

THE QUEST 1.8 UPGRADE SAVED THE GAME

(Skip to "How Does Onward Feel Now?") for a current review on the game)

The State of 1.7
I began playing Onward about 3 months before the infamous 1.8 update, about two years ago, using a Rift S. It was an
entirely different VR experience for me, as I'd only played things like Superhot and Beat Saber. It felt like a totally new take on FPS to me, even without the VR experience. When it came to PvP, between the more casual Assault games, and the more competitive Uplink games (which I'll talk more about later) there was more than enough content to explore, (There was also Escort mode, but no one really plays that, so I won't touch on it in this review) and if you're a Co-op fan, the AI bots were a serious challenge, and felt as if you were playing against real enemies. The player base was small, but dedicated. It wasn't uncommon to find yourself playing against people with thousands of hours. It was also extremely welcoming at the time, so as long as you didn't teamkill or be intentionally annoying, the more experienced players usually didn't mind giving you a helping hand. Unfortunately, the game wasn't exactly thriving at this time. Due to how many modes there were, Co-op, Assault, Escort, and Uplink, the games average of 80-110 players was spread quite thin. You ended up seeing the same players every night. While this wasn't a bad thing, it meant that the new players who bought the game, including me, ended up getting destroyed until they figured out how to counter these veteran players. While I personally thought this was a fun challenge, it probably made a lot of new players quit after they got stomped too many times. The game had been on steam since 2016, and gone though a ton of upgrades since it's original release, but they were running out of people who wanted to play the game, and I'm sure without the Quest 2 upgrade, the game would be in a miserably empty state today.

The 1.8 Release
I'm not going to lie. The first day of 1.8 felt like a slap to the face, and some people have never truly gotten over it. I remember being beyond pissed when I saw the graphical changes. The game had gone from looking absolutely gorgeous, to looking like an in-browser title you'd play in middle school. The textures were wonky, the audio was bugged, but after I had gotten over my original anger I had to admit, it really added life to the game. THOUSANDS of new quest players poured in on day 1, and they all seemed to have a great time. We'd gone from having almost no lobbies, with the last Uplink lobbies dying out around 1am, to dozens of lobbies in every game mode, all times of the day. Downpour promised they'd fix the game for PC players, and while I have to admit, while the graphics haven't quite gotten totally there yet, everything else feels much better than 1.7. The gun play is smoother, we've gotten most of the maps back, along with dozens of amazing custom maps (shout out to Hook 2.0 and Arctic), and the audio system (after a few tries) is back to it's former glory.
IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK AND PLAY 1.7, IT'S POSSIBLE. If you ask around in the Onward Discord, you'll be able to find groups that do almost weekly 1.7 games, and you can always access it at anytime if you look in the Betas.

The Co-op Experience
While the PvP may have been restored to it's former glory, I don't know if I could say the same about the Co-op. The AI doesn't feel awful, it just seems kind of soulless. Bots slowly walking toward you and shooting. It's great for a warmup, or for picking them off at longer ranges, but if you compare it to 1.7 it sadly doesn't come close. If you're looking to play this game only as PvE shooter, and not touch PvP, I honestly don't recommend you buy it. That said, I still recommend trying it out for an hour or so, and refunding it if you don't like it. Just because I think the bots aren't fantastic, doesn't mean you will.
Once again, you can always revert the game to 1.7 and play there, if you don't mind doing it by yourself/with a friend.

How Does Onward Feel Now?
The game feels fantastic. I play on average about 5-10 hours a week. I'm absolutely addicted to this game. I will give up sleep to play this thing, and it's worth feeling tired in the morning. The community is currently 20% steam VR users, and 80% Quest users. It's crossplay between the two systems, and other than minor changes (and the PC having better graphic) they're functionally identical. They've fixed most of the major bugs, and the game is in the best state it's ever been in. There's enough players for even a VR newbie to jump straight in and have a good time without getting blown away.
The maps don't get stale, since there's between 6-10 objectives on each map, so you can play them over and over again without getting bored. Each map and each objective offers something completely different, from the lightning fast rush plays on Cargo, where the round can be over in 45 seconds, to the long ranged campout that is downfall, where every peak out a window could have your head blown off by a sniper, and just full sprinting to the objective could take a minute+.

Guns, Attachments, and Equipment
This game's loadout system is very similar to the Insurgency series. You get 9 points to make your loadout, picking from different gear on each side. Take your pick of Rifles, SMGs, LMGs, Pistols and Snipers, along with a handful of smokes, flashes, and grenades. Personally I love the Tar-21, the Ak5c, and the M249. You also get your pick of scopes, with five types of 1x scopes, along with 2x, 4x, and 6-12x. While most of the gear is pretty similar, just with small changes, there are side based items. VOLK(the defenders) get C4, Molotovs, and RPGS, while the MARSOC(the attackers) get Underbarrel grenade launchers, riot shields, and tasers. Night maps and Night Vision Goggles also add a whole new element to most of the maps.
Ak5c (1 point) + Foregrip (2) + Holographic Site (2) + Flash Grenade (1) + Smoke Grenade (1) + Body Armor (2) = 9 points

The Uplink Gamemode
This is the best FPS gamemode ever invented, hands down. Nothing else is anywhere near as fun, not even Bomb Plant/SnD. The basics are simple, the Satellite Dish spawns in one of 6-10 location around a map. Both teams know where it is before the round starts. There's three ways to win. The defensive team, Volk, wins by either running out the clock, or killing the enemy team. Both of these actions reward them one point, and it's first to 4 points win. The offensive team, Marsoc, wins by killing the enemy team or by sending the Uplink Code. To send this code you have to be standing within 5 feet~ of the dish, and type in a seven digit password on your tablet. The password changes every round, so getting good at remembering it is it's own skill. Sending the Uplink Code awards the Marsoc team TWO points, so it's extremely important for the defenders to not give up the dish. You play both sides of an objective before it changes to a different point on the map.
The reason I think this might be the best gamemode ever created, is because of the way it makes you look at the map. As the OBJ moves around, it forces you to look at the map in a different light. What may have once been just a randomly placed box you ran past, is now something you're hiding behind, listening carefully for the right time to pop out and blow the enemy away. It makes every part of the map feel important and needed. Each objective provides a different challenge, and makes even the same map feel totally different. Let's take Snowpeak as an example. A snowy, mountain base with a tunnel system and a frozen over lake. One round, you can be deep in the tunnels, clearing hallway after hallway for enemies, knowing they could be around every corner. The next, you're breaching into an open courtyard, using anything you can for cover as you look for the defenders in the snow.

💯
(I have an additional 300~ hours on Quest 2 Native)