I was invited to test and review the latest release of the Meta Quest 2. I had no previous experience with the Virtual Reality (VR) platforms currently available, so I was quite intrigued to see what the latest technology had to offer the masses.
A few days after accepting the invitation, the Quest 2 was delivered. Instantly, I was impressed with the packaging as it was designed with long life expectations for future storage and protection of the contents. In the box was the headset, two hand held controllers (with batteries supplied), charger and charging cable, a spacer for headset use with glasses, adjustable elasticised head bands and a Silicone cover for the face contact sponge. All the items had a quality feel and look to them and attaching the headbands, Silicone cover and glasses spacer was easy.
My enthusiasm to get the headset on was curbed slightly as the unit required charging before use, which took around two hours, however this time was used to set up the Quest App on my mobile phone and register a payment method for obtaining content from the Meta Quest store.
With the headset charged and the hand held controllers secured to my wrists with the safety cords, i powered on the system, where the headset required the latest software to be installed. This didn’t take too long and before long the headset was ready to use. Instantly I felt immersed into a digital world. The product was supplied with a free game, which required downloading and saving to the headset, which took around 4-5 minutes. I was able to let this download in the background as I did a little exploring of the onscreen menus and features available from the home screen.
After a brief view of the menus, settings and home pages, I opened the game which was called “Beat Sabre”. At this stage, I had to set up a “play area” which the head unit remembers for future uses, which can be reset at each use if using the headset in different spaces/places. There is also an option for setting up a seated play area for game play. Use of the hand controllers was effortless. These had been well thought out and ergonomically designed for ease of use.
The object of the game is to cut boxes in order of the colour and direction shown on the boxes as they travel toward you in a 3D immersive environment which is speed driven by the music which accompanies each level. The game play was something I’ve never experienced before as it was quite physical and enjoyable. Each level completed left me wanting to complete the next and the next, to the point where I played through to the last but one song on the accompanying playlists supplied with the game. At this point in game play, around two and a half hours, the low battery warning message got displayed, which wasn’t a bad thing as I felt like I’d had a mini-workout by this time.
Further use of the headset was equally amazing, even after the “first experience amazement” had worn off. The capabilities of this system feel endless. Browsing the internet, accessing my social media accounts, watching movies, playing free online VR games etc. The inbuilt speakers provide good clear quality sound, which can be diverted to earphones if needed. The feature of being able to connect the headset to a TV so others can see what the headset user is seeing adds inclusion to family and friends.
After browsing the huge library of downloadable game content, I opted to purchase the “Marvel Iron Man” game. This took around 8-10 minutes to download and save to the headset. In game play, the onscreen instructions were clear, easy to follow and again I was taken to a world of wonder and amazement. The game play is smooth, consistent and the graphic visualisation truly puts you centre of the game. This is surly testament to the headsets capabilities and process performance.
As with all things there is always room for improvement and for me this would be in the form of comfort, as I found on most occasions from using the headset, it left me with a headache. I believe this is from the weight of the headset on the head bands, rather than the possibility of being from eye strain. I find the headset weight requires the head bands to be relatively snug or the headset moves on my head causing the visuals to become out of focus. I appreciate this could simply be a personal issue, however a number of family members and friends did also feedback of slight discomfort after using the headset for around one hour.
Another issue myself and partner frequently experience is motion sickness when playing, let’s say, a flying around style game. Again this is most likely a “personal to some” experience due to the immersive experience of the headset.
Overall, I’m completely blown away by this technology. Having been a conventional games console player for all my gaming life, this to me is the future, without doubt. The content available right now is vast and will only increase over time, the VR capabilities will grow beyond this already amazing precedent and I personally envisage this technology will be adopted by the masses. I look forward to where the future will take this.