I cleared this game from my backlog back in January of 2020. Arizona Sunshine was (and honestly still is) pretty good for a VR game. For the time, this was a really big deal and rightly so: It was basically one of the first VR exclusive games with a fully fleshed out campaign that wasn't an endless cartoony wave shooter, and had the backing and funding of an AA studio behind it.

It's worth noting that the more recent zombie VR games (and just better designed VR games that came out after this in general) have spoiled me, and made it hard to go back to this game. The reloading mechanics are almost comically simplistic even when compared to the "simpler" reloading mechanics found in Pavlov, you just drop the magazine and move your gun to your chest to reload. You can't do any melee attacks, but you can throw rubber ducks to kill zombies (and get an achievement for it). In my last playthrough, I had no access to two-handed weapons like rifles or assault weapons. The main character talking to himself as you play can be annoying, and personally takes me out of the experience since it kind of tells me how I should feel or think at the moment instead of thinking and feeling it for myself organically.

It's easy to complain, but I want to make sure praise is given where it's due. I think the game really shines in its pacing and level design. The game is a roller coaster going between tense moments of ammo management and crowd control to resource gathering to cathartic minigun/sniping/grenade launcher sections. It sprinkles these sections across the campaign in a way that just feels fun and knows when to mix it up right before you think you get bored. Weapon upgrades feel consistently placed, and the game keeps you from getting too overpowered so the difficulty is consistent from beginning to end.

Even though the game isn't up to modern VR standards, the game itself is still very playable and very enjoyable. Personally, I would buy the game at $10 or lower just because Saints and Sinners has essentially replaced this game as the "definitive" VR zombie campaign. I wouldn't purchase this game at full price, so consider this a "barely" positive review. It's good when it's on sale, but will feel like a total ripoff at the MSRP of $40 US dollars. If you don't have this game yet when it goes on sale, and can't afford to pick up Saints and Sinners instead, then this is a solid buy and will net you a classic, if slightly flawed, VR experience that's still very enjoyable today.

I cleared this game from my backlog back in January of 2020. Arizona Sunshine was (and honestly still is) pretty good for a VR game. For the time, this was a really big deal and rightly so: It was basically one of the first VR exclusive games with a fully fleshed out campaign that wasn't an endless cartoony wave shooter, and had the backing and funding of an AA studio behind it. It's worth noting that the more recent zombie VR games (and just better designed VR games that came out after this in general) have spoiled me, and made it hard to go back to this game. The reloading mechanics are almost comically simplistic even when compared to the "simpler" reloading mechanics found in Pavlov, you just drop the magazine and move your gun to your chest to reload. You can't do any melee attacks, but you can throw rubber ducks to kill zombies (and get an achievement for it). In my last playthrough, I had no access to two-handed weapons like rifles or assault weapons. The main character talking to himself as you play can be annoying, and personally takes me out of the experience since it kind of tells me how I should feel or think at the moment instead of thinking and feeling it for myself organically. It's easy to complain, but I want to make sure praise is given where it's due. I think the game really shines in its pacing and level design. The game is a roller coaster going between tense moments of ammo management and crowd control to resource gathering to cathartic minigun/sniping/grenade launcher sections. It sprinkles these sections across the campaign in a way that just feels fun and knows when to mix it up right before you think you get bored. Weapon upgrades feel consistently placed, and the game keeps you from getting too overpowered so the difficulty is consistent from beginning to end. Even though the game isn't up to modern VR standards, the game itself is still very playable and very enjoyable. Personally, I would buy the game at $10 or lower just because Saints and Sinners has essentially replaced this game as the "definitive" VR zombie campaign. I wouldn't purchase this game at full price, so consider this a "barely" positive review. It's good when it's on sale, but will feel like a total ripoff at the MSRP of $40 US dollars. If you don't have this game yet when it goes on sale, and can't afford to pick up Saints and Sinners instead, then this is a solid buy and will net you a classic, if slightly flawed, VR experience that's still very enjoyable today.