Space Marine VR: War Calls You.

Brothers! War calls you. Will you answer?

Codex: Adeptus Astartes 

Take position for firing rites, and receive the holy sacrament of ammunition.  Keep your aim true, and your bolt rifle charged with death.

Ultramarines Chaplain, Defenders of Avarax

Without ever considering myself a virtual reality fan, I've had a surprising number of VR experiences - VR light at Gundam Front in Japan; touring the International Space Station, first in New York and more recently in Vancouver; as well as owning a entry-level Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.  I don't know where that places me comparatively in the VR marketplace, but it certainly indicates the degree to which virtual reality has been quietly establishing itself as an entertainment option.

My latest and perhaps most enjoyable VR encounter took place this week, when I joined four other team members in playing Defenders of Avarax, a 30-minute Warhammer 40K Space Marine VR gaming experience, hosted by Zero Latency, an international free-roam virtual reality gaming franchise with over 100 locations in 26 countries around the world. 

Defenders of Avarax debuted in September of 2024 in conjunction with the release of Space Marine II by game developer Saber Interactive. The original Space Marine game was a fun third-person shooter with spectacular art direction, and I mentally took note of the new version and its VR companion for future reference.

A couple of months went by without really giving it any consideration, but some conversations over the holidays about gaming reminded me of the Space Marine VR option, and I decided to do a bit of research and perhaps give it a try.

The first challenge was to find three other people with an interest in a Warhammer 40K VR adventure to make up the minimum four-person team requirement. For example, my wife was honest enough to confess that she would be too intimidated to function in an immersive gaming experience that involved being attacked by gross aliens, guns or no guns.*

Fortunately, I knew that my co-worker David is a bit of a gamer, and he was eager to give the VR experience a shot as well (no pun intended). He was able to find two other players (one from his Tuesday Dungeons & Dragons group, which provided some extra gaming cred), and Karli's friend John, who came to Disneyland with us last year, was also interested. We picked a mutually agreeable time, made a private reservation for five at a cost of $61.60 each, and we were good to go.

The appointed evening came this week, and we assembled at the Zero Latency location at Main and Broadway.

Zero Latency gets full points for how well they managed the experience.  They suggest that you all arrive 15 minutes in advance so that your group can start its one-hour booking on time; they provide free lockers for storing personal possessions; there's a detailed orientation on how the experience will proceed; and they provide a staff member to act as a game master for the 30 minutes of the actual VR portion.  The game master sets you up with your gear, gives pointers on how to navigate things like ramps that aren't actually sloped, and monitors your group throughout the game in case of VR problems or other issues. Post game, Zero Latency provides player scores and side-by-side in-game and game-space videos of the experience, along with a link to their Twitch channel.

Each player is equipped with a custom high end HTC VIVE Focus 3 headset and a generic light gun that stands in for a variety of weapons throughout the game. Headset comfort can be an issue in VR, but I found the Focus 3 to be completely comfortable, to the point where I largely forgot that I was wearing it. The pre-appointment guide suggested that users with glasses wear contacts if possible, but I had absolutely no problems with fogging or focus throughout the game.    

According to the Zero Latency web site, the actual gaming space is about 1500 square feet - I'd estimate that the room was about 25 x 60 feet. However, full points to the game's developers, who use a multitude of tricks to create the illusion of a detailed and extensive environment. Over the 30 minute duration of our mission to the hive city of Fervastium, we travelled by train, rode multiple elevators, climbed ramps, and at one point floated in the void as reality literally broke into pieces around us, without experiencing any discomfort or disorientation.  

Even more impressively, the game splits you into two teams that perform tasks at separate locations at different levels - the illusion was so convincing that it never occurred to me that the other team must still be in the same room with me, regardless of the fact that they seemed to be hundreds of feet away.

The MacGuffin of the experience is a powerful dormant artifact hidden in the depths of the hive city, a relic that could change the tide of the struggle against the invaders.  You and your squad are tasked with securing the relic, and successfully reaching the rooftop extraction point for pickup by an Ultramarine Thunderhawk gunship. Your opponent: the insectoid Tyranid hordes, an army of specialized bio-sculpted organisms controlled by a distant hive mind.

The Tyranid aliens attack in hordes, very much in the Starcraft "Zerg Rush" approach to combat, which creates a target rich environment - perhaps too target rich, I would have enjoyed the opportunity to get a better look at my opponents.  In order to help even the odds, the game is equipped with weapon upgrade points, where you can temporarily trade your standard bolter/grenade launcher for a melta gun, storm bolter or flamethrower to give your firepower a boost.

Overall, the game is notably well executed. The environments are detailed and varied, the Tyranid attackers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all of which blow up impressively under a hail of grenades and bolter fire, and my fellow Space Marines were well rendered and animated.

I only have two trivial criticisms of the experience.  First, automatic fire would be an enormous boon - after a while my hand got tired from repeated triggering. Second, I was disappointed that I had no visible body. All that I could see of myself was my weapon, when what I really wanted was more feedback on where my feet where, especially when it came to climbing the non-existent ramps.**

But those are just minor points - the consensus of opinion was that all five of us really enjoyed the experience, and would happily do it again. David is already recruiting more players from our department at work, using the game recordings as promo material.

And finally, full credit to my Ultramarine brothers in arms, as below:  Connor, Aidan, David, (myself) and John - we fight for the Emperor, and we will know no fear! 

- Sid

* When we did the Doctor Who: Time Fracture event in London, Karli did not enjoy being chased by Cybermen AT ALL.

** Pro tip: shuffle your feet to avoid losing contact with the floor when attempting to climb a slope that's actually flat.

A BRIEF SIDEBAR: SPACE MARINES

In the Warhammer 40K gaming universe, the Adeptus Astartes, more commonly known as the Space Marines, are the elite of the elite, heavily armed and genetically enhanced warriors in massive suits of powered armour.  Acting as the spearhead for the armies of the Emperor, they face foes such as the  expansionist alien T'au, the monstrous Orks, the twisted entities of Chaos, the enigmatic Eldar, the swarming Tyranid hives, the undead robotic Necron, and the Traitor Legions - former Space Marines possessed by Chaos.  The Space Marines are divided into monastic Chapters such as the Ultramarines, the Blood Angels, the Space Wolves, and the Iron Fists, each with their own heraldry and traditions.