[Special feature]Experience horror with Meta Quest 3! Comparing 3 “MR games to fight zombies at home” | Game*Spark – Domestic and international game information site

Do you readers like zombies? I don’t like it, but it’s fun to shoot zombies in games. I’m not good at fast shooting, but zombies move slowly so you can shoot them as you like (I’m too naive).

The much-talked-about “Meta Quest 3” lets you play multiple games that use MR (Mixed Reality) to express the experience of “fighting zombies at home.” However, it is interesting to note that the prices are quite different. I tried playing each to find out the differences in game content.

◆Why are the prices so different?

If you scour the official Meta Quest 3 store or SideQuest, you’ll find multiple zombie games. All of them look pretty fun when you watch the trailers. I will also defeat the hordes of zombies and monsters! With great enthusiasm, I played the following three games this time.

『Drop Dead: The Cabin HOME INVASION』2,490円

“Zombie Noir: Mixed Reality” 990 yen

『Hauntify Mixed Reality』490円

When you look at them side by side like this, there is a huge difference in price: 2,490 yen, 990 yen, and 490 yen. Is “Drop Dead” really worth about 2.5 times as much as “Zombie Noir”? Is Hauntify half as valuable as Zombie Noir? Or is it a bargain? The reason why the prices differ so much is due to the difference in game functionality and complexity.

◆“Drop Dead: The Cabin HOME INVASION” can be played in MR as an extension of the VR game

When you watch the trailer video, it looks like the main focus is on fighting in MR, but in reality, it feels like it’s more like a bonus, or more like a part of the game. As the title “The Cabin” suggests, the objective of the game is to survive by fighting hordes of zombies in a VR cabin.

To play “Home Invasion” where zombies attack your home, select from the main menu “location of walls in your room”, “location and size of doors and windows”, and “location and size of furniture such as desks”. must be drawn in advance using a controller. The three-dimensional definition of this room is not a unique feature of this game, but is performed using a common feature included in the Meta Quest 3 (hereinafter referred to as Quest 3) OS.

Before playing “Drop Dead: The Cabin HOME INVASION”, first set up the room. Use the default functions of Meta Quest 3 to recognize the walls of the room.

Doors and windows are entry points for zombies. It doesn’t necessarily need to be defined as real doors and windows, so you can create them in positions that are advantageous to you. On the other hand, to make it more stimulating, you could try placing it in front of you and behind you.

Set the door where the zombies will attack. If you set a window, zombies will also invade through there.

However, there was one pitfall when setting it up: it was necessary to specify one “real table”. At first, I cleaned up the futon in my bedroom and tried to play there, but since there was no table, I couldn’t start the game, so I moved to the living room and tried again. It seems that you can’t draw a virtual table in an empty space in the real world.

Next, set the position and size of the table. One table is required.

When the game starts, there are three six-shot revolvers and three spare magazines (a speed loader that can load six bullets at once) on the table. Also, an ax is provided.

When the game starts, a creepy and rustic door will appear at the position you set! On the table are a broken and malfunctioning receiver, a hatchet, a six-shot revolver, and spare ammunition. The box says 357 Magnum. The revolver is loaded with bullets using a speed loader. Equipped with an ax in his left hand in case he runs out of bullets.

Eventually, zombies will come outside the room (by setting, everything outside the door is outdoors) and break through the door and windows. I try to repel them with a revolver and an axe, but I can shoot out six shots from the revolver in no time. And even though there is a speed loader, it is difficult to reload calmly when there are zombies in front of you, and it takes extra time. In fact, the ax can be used more quickly, but it’s not perfect either…

Zombies are on the other side of the door! But then I realized that they had broken in through the window first! Immediately repel it with an axe. Keep it up, keep coming! The door was also kicked in, so I blasted it away with my revolver. The door on the other side was also breached! Kill this one with a revolver as well.

The ax attracts enemies and defeats them, so it’s incredibly tense. Defeat the zombie in front of you, then turn around and before you know it, another zombie is right in front of you, and you rush to cut it down! What a series of close calls. Moreover, the ax cannot be used indefinitely, and it broke while killing zombies. Eventually, he can’t keep up with the increasing number of zombies, and is in a hurry to reload his revolver…

The intrusion continues through the window, but I can’t reload the bullets in time! Wow, I was defeated! disappointing. I died.

If you are attacked by zombies and your HP runs out, you will die, but if you follow waves of zombies, the number of zombies will gradually increase, the difficulty will increase, and the grade of your weapon will also increase. You can also set the revolver to automatically reload by simply moving your wrist up and down. However, choosing manual reload will allow you to accumulate experience points faster.

◆“Zombie Noir: Mixed Reality”, which focuses on MR zombie battles

This one has “Mixed Reality” in the title, so I thought I’d be able to fight zombies as soon as I started it up, but it turned out that I needed to set up a room. It seems that at least two entrances and one shop must be installed. picture? What is a shop?

The entrance setting has a unique interface unlike “Drop Dead”. Take out something that looks like an instruction manual and design book from your waist, spread it out, and place it on the floor facing the wall, and the door will be installed in that direction. Since the size of the door is fixed, you will need something on the wall that is flat in the direction in which it will be installed. The “passage between the living room and kitchen” that was set in “Drop Dead” was not allowed to be installed. The glass window facing the balcony couldn’t be set as a door either, so it was a bit of a struggle.

Zombie Noir: Mixed Reality sets doors with unique controls. When you set the door, a wooden frame will appear. There wasn’t enough wall space for the second door, so I ended up setting it at the top of the stairs.

Next, find a space of a little less than 1 tatami mat on the floor, spread out the instruction manual and design document, and set up the shop in that location. Once the settings were complete, we decided to learn the basics of shooting by targeting wooden dolls. Then a shop (weapon shop) will appear.

After setting up the door and shop, a target doll will appear and learn the basic operations of a handgun. First, get rid of the practice target.

There is a zombie father in the shop, and you can buy and sell weapons, select reinforcement cards, and strengthen weapons. You earn coins by defeating zombies, and each turn you get stronger weapons from the shop to fight more and more powerful zombies.

When practice is over, Zombie Dad’s shop = weapon shop will appear. You can also choose cards to strengthen your weapons. Next, select the scenario and difficulty level.

After selecting the scenario and difficulty level, you can finally face off against the zombies. Fight the first zombies with an automatic pistol. Since this time it’s automatic, you might think it’s easier than the revolver in “Drop Dead,” but that’s not the case. The number of bullets will quickly run out after 10 rounds, and you will not be able to fire a bullet unless you release and install the magazine one by one, and then pull the slide properly and cock it! In reality, the empty magazine is automatically released before you know it (do you do it unconsciously?), and cocking is as simple as running your left hand along the slide, but it’s still as frustrating as a revolver, if not more so.

When the game starts, zombies will come rushing in from outside, so shoot them! Get coins by defeating zombies. Collect coins and strengthen your weapons. If you don’t get used to it, you’ll end up eating bubbles and panicking when replacing the magazine!

In the next phase, you’ll be able to use a Tommy gun (submachine gun) and you’ll feel lucky, but this Tommy gun is less powerful and will quickly run out of bullets. I tried to switch to a handgun, but I didn’t know how to switch, so I ended up running away between the zombies that filled the room, and ended up dying.

At the end of one turn, Zombie Dad’s shop will come back to buy new weapons. I tried using a submachine gun, but it wasn’t very powerful and the bullets ran out quickly! Wow, I can’t switch to a handgun properly! Failure…

The atmosphere of the game, including the design of the zombies, is a bit comical. It didn’t really scare me, and in the beginning, defeating zombies wasn’t that exhilarating. You might not understand the appeal until you try it a little more.

◆It’s scary anyway “Hauntify Mixed Reality”

It seems that Meta’s official store has a very strict screening process. Apps that can’t be listed there can be used by the general public as early access as they are still under development. This is also operated by Meta, and if you purchase it from the web version of the Meta store (although you will be warned that it is an App Lab and you use it at your own risk), you can install it on your Quest.

SideQuest allows you to search for apps distributed by App Lab that are not listed on the official Meta store, or even apps that are not even listed on App Lab.

Hauntify, which I found on SideQuest, where you can install stray apps other than App Lab, is not a zombie shooter, but a game where you explore the inside of a house and fight and run away from ghosts and monsters (some of them zombie-like). is. There is no shooting element, and the basic idea is to avoid and run away to avoid serious encounters. If you are attacked from behind, you will die instantly.

Similar to “Drop Dead” and “Zombie Noir,” you must first map the inside of your house, but the biggest difference is that you must turn off the border feature of the Quest 3 OS. Go to Settings → System → Developer Features and turn off borders even if you get a warning. This will automatically stop the OS’s color passthrough (the game’s passthrough will still be active).

To play “Hauntify Mixed Reality” you will need the forbidden (?) Boundary Off.

The reason for turning off the boundaries of the OS is that it is possible to set up a vast map that exceeds the boundaries of the OS and spans multiple floors, up to 500m x 500m. The essence of this game is a giant haunted house creation simulator.

Therefore, when playing, you must set up multiple rooms to play the game. However, our house is small. The second floor only has the living room, kitchen, and children’s room, so we will map all of those rooms. However, the AI ​​recognizes the wall to a certain extent, so you can complete the process by going around the wall. You also have to set the points where ghosts and monsters spawn, but this time I tried using the simple mode.

Detailed explanation of settings before starting. And only in English. The setup procedure is a little complicated. There are also some guide videos on YouTube. It’s dark and I can’t really tell, but the CG wall is actually set up along the wall of the real room using MR.

When the game finally started, the inside of the house became pitch black even during the day. Scary background music plays from the speakers, and a sudden sense of fear slowly creeps in. It had just been a relaxing Sunday afternoon! Explore your home in the dark with a flashlight. On the way, I found a cross floating in the air and got it.

It was dark and I couldn’t see anything, but the walls were set and the game started. “Will you survive?” (Will you survive?) Get the cross that will be your only weapon (?)!

I was horrified when I saw a white shadow floating outside the window (the curtains were closed)! and a chill. Then, they encounter a ghost that looks like a girl’s doll. At this time, I was able to successfully exterminate it using a cross, but unfortunately I was not able to record it (hohoho).

After that, my relief was short-lived, but when I looked behind me, a terrifying zombie-like ghost appeared. The game ends when you fall down on your knees and say, “Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]aaaaaaaaaaa]). The surrounding area became brighter. I tried several times after that, but it seems difficult to escape if you are attacked from behind. It might be different if the play environment allows you to run and escape.

It was dark and I couldn’t tell, but I was attacked by the ghost of a good-looking woman (I think I could only make out her bust area) and died… Try again. It was dark and I couldn’t tell, but the strange flames were flickering in the room, making it really creepy. When I tried to turn on my flashlight, I discovered a cross. Let’s get it! Just then, I encountered another skeleton-like monster! The last view the explorer saw…

◆Horror lovers should try it out!

My first impressions of all three were mild, but in order of scariness they were “Hauntify” > “Drop Dead” > “Zombie Noir.” “Hauntify” is extremely scary. “Zombie Noir” isn’t that scary, so it’s probably suitable for people who don’t like horror. The most exhilarating experience was “Drop Dead” > “Zombie Noir” > “Hauntify”, but my impression may change once I get into it.

None of the games are that expensive, so I don’t think you can go wrong no matter which one you choose, but if you want to play a quick zombie shooting game, I’d say Zombie Noir. For those who want to play seriously, “Drop Dead” may be better.

“Hauntify” is not a shooter to begin with, but has a very different feel, but the feeling of fear is quite addictive. I love horror! Those who say this should definitely experience it. It’s 490 yen, so I don’t think it’s a loss. Meta Quest 2 users may also be able to enjoy the benefits of Hauntify’s black and white low-resolution pass-through, which is actually more scary.

◆Why there is a ritual before battle, why it has to be Quest 3

The “room setting function”, which is common to all three games, is not that difficult once you get the hang of it. However, trial and error is required until you get the hang of it. It’s a little frustrating to have to draw the structure of your calm room before you can get excited about fighting zombies as soon as possible. I’m a short-tempered person, so for a moment I wanted to throw it away and say, “Oh, stop being such a pain!”

The mini MR game “First Encounter” that comes with Meta Quest 3 does not require such work; just look around the room and the AI ​​will understand the structure of the room and automatically map it. In addition to the depth sensor installed in Meta Quest 3, it seems to use the AI ​​function of “Snapdragon XR2 Gen2” to perform classification (semantic segmentation) that recognizes the meaning of objects in space. On the other hand, all of these games can also be played on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro. To do this, users will probably have to draw their own rooms and furniture.

However, all three of these games should be played with Meta Quest 3. The color pass-through and MR functions, which are at a very high level for games, and the excellent sound quality create a sense of realism and fear.

『Drop Dead: The Cabin HOME INVASION』

Price: 2,490 yen

Capacity: 2.01GB

Japanese: Available

Version at time of article writing: 2.0.2

Release date: 2023/02/16

“Zombie Noir: Mixed Reality”

Price: 990 yen

Capacity: 656.48MB

Japanese: Available

Version at time of article writing: 1.0.1930

Release date: 2023/06/15

『Hauntify Mixed Reality』（App Lab）

Price: 490 yen

Capacity: 949.36MB

Japanese: Not supported

Release date: 2022/02/22

Version at time of writing: 1.4

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