We Only Sort of Review Assassin’s Creed Nexus, and Here’s Why

I am honestly terribly disappointed that I don’t have more to tell you about Assassin’s Creed Nexus, and that I can’t give you all my feelings on the full 20-hour experience that some are saying has elevated their VR gaming expectations to new heights.

The reason? I have only played Assassin’s Creed Nexus for around an hour total, in attempts of approximately 15-minute segments – because I just physically can’t handle it. I did manage to get some impressions together based on my limited time, and I’ll still share them with you.

Wait, that’s not right?

Now firstly, it’s not that I didn’t want or appreciate this opportunity to play. I have loved Assassin’s Creed since its Ezio Era. I also have a Meta Quest 2 and enjoy VR gaming. Shoving these two together felt like an absolute pleasure for me, but the game just made me so terribly motion sick, I was almost physically sick. Every time. No matter what I did, or how I played, I just felt awful.

It was unplayable for me. I am just recovering from a bout of Covid, but I tried and successfully played three other games that require movement (similar to that found in AC: Nexus) and I was fine.

The game gives you different levels of comfort to choose from, and I tried to play on each level offered, even teleporting from place to place rather than walking with my analogue sticks. It just didn’t compute in my brain and 15 minutes was the max amount I could spend in the world.

A glimpse into the Animus

So based on my short time with the game I can see why people who were able to play enjoyed it so much. It immerses you in a world that you love. You get your own hidden blade; you make the motions the Assassins do to jab it into an enemy and then calmly walk away. The world is alive, you are surrounded by the sound and the look of history. It’s as close to living a game as we’ve ever been.

On my Quest 2 the game looked amazing for a VR game, and I can only imagine it looks better on the new Quest 3. There are some uses of passthrough, which makes you feel like you are really in the animus and interacting with a holographic display right in front of you. You can play sitting or standing. If you’re worried about the heights that Assassin’s generally find themselves at, there’s a setting that helps with that as well. The developers really tried to be very accommodating in this title, and I commend them for that.

Verdict

I can’t tell you what it was for me that made me feel so ill while attempting this game, and I wish I could have played and enjoyed it for all it was worth. I do think though, that if you are a highly experienced VR gamer, you should be fine. I have not read of many other people suffering as badly as I did, and I think that this is a game meant to be played and enjoyed by the VR faithful.