This game is unique from the very beginning. The game’s unique premise will make you stand out from the start. You won’t be playing your typical FPS hero, instead learning how to maneuver around the world in a weaponized motorized wheelchair. Professor X would probably even envy this. The roguelike aspects of the game ensure that each session is unique, with new enemies, loot and challenges. Quantum Threshold allows you to keep your progress after death. Instead, your Hate Corp credit can be used to upgrade your chair and weapons. You can then test out your new firepower at the range to improve accuracy over time and get longer runs. The wheelchair’s ability to wheel around and kill enemies with cool upgrades and weapons shows it is more than just a tool for mobility. The wheelchair is an extension of yourself and your key to survival. It’s a design that forces you to adapt and overcome limitations. It was hard for me to let go of my traditional FPS muscles after 40 years. I had to learn to play this game in a different way. It took me a while to reprogram my brain to accept that I couldn’t strafe quickly or move around corners precisely. Why would this be different? These movements are impossible to perform in a real wheelchair, why should it be differently here? Vaki Games has done a great job with this VR experience. I felt like they did, for just a little while. It made me appreciate the thoughtfulness of their design. Now I’m seeing the need for more wheelchair ramps almost everywhere I look.
Visually, Quantum Threshold’s cel-shaded graphics look great on Quest 3 and 3S, and the game presents a good sense of depth and scale. The 8-bit style explosions and pixelated hunter-killer hovering above me is mesmerizing. It looks like a scene from James Cameron’s Terminator films. It seems that Vaki Games made compromises with Quantum Threshold, similar to other games released for Quest 3. This limits the visual polish and performance Quantum Threshold might have had. That is, if it had been solely designed and optimized for the Quest 3, and not held back by compatibility with the now aging, but still market-saturated, Quest 2.
One complete loop – 8 minutes of gameplay.
In a storefront crowded with many typical first-person shooter style experiences one would expect, Quantum Threshold stands out by bringing a fresh take on the shooter genre while shining a light on accessibility through high-stakes and action-packed VR roguelike FPS gameplay. Vaki’s subtle integration of accessibility has made me see this title as much more than a video game. Quantum Threshold, by transforming seated VR to a virtual wheelchair, uses this as a weapon of destruction. This isn’t just clever gameplay. This also illustrates how VR developers are able to bridge the worlds in creative ways by using limitations.