THE CLIMB Review for Oculus Quest

Have you always wanted to go rock climbing but have never had the chance or maybe you didn’t want to risk your life just so you could climb a mountain? Then The Climb by Crytek is the game for you. The Climb on Oculus VR is a rock-climbing simulation game built for beginner and master climbers alike. Playing this game on the Oculus Quest makes it feel as realistic as a VR headset can be and that could be a good thing, a bad thing, or both. It could be a good thing because if you are seeking the thrill of being a rock climber in the real world and still like a good scare or adrenaline rush you definitely get that when you fall off in some of the levels.

Unlike me, some people have a fear of heights and don’t like the adrenaline rush associated with doing dangerous stunts, which in that case I do not recommend this game if you have a fear of heights because it does feel real to some extent. The only exception would be if you are trying to get over your fear of heights than The Climb might be for you. In the game, when you look down or fall, it does feel like you are miles away from the ground and this is why I don’t feel like my friends or anyone with a fear of heights would particularly enjoy this game.

The Climb has good graphics for an Oculus Quest game but still not as good as a console like the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4. In the game, you start off in a beginner climbing course with a tutorial to explain all of the controls – for example, how to chalk your hands, so they are tacky and grip the rocks better. Every now and then it makes you chalk your hands because in climbing in real life your hands will hurt and will blister if you don’t properly chalk them. This I thought was a really unique feature to the game that made me feel like I was really climbing. Crytek could have easily missed this and made this game without the feature of chalking your hands and it would not have done the same justice for those who don’t climb much in real life.

Once you have climbed the first mountain, it is all uphill from there because there is so much you can do with The Climb besides climbing the mountains leisurely. First, once you have completed a course you can always try and improve your time to top the charts of the fastest climbers in the VR world. Second, there are so many difficulties available ranging from beginner to expert which once you get good enough you can try the hardest difficulty “which honestly doesn’t take too long.” Lastly, the game doesn’t technically have an end – besides, if you get bored of climbing all the same routes, which is nice for people who enjoy playing games for a long time.

I would rate The Climb 8.5/10 because this game is very unique in ways that I had not seen before for Virtual Reality. Most of the games in VR that I play are either sports games, casual arcade games, or shooters so this was a nice mix to throw in there. I also liked being able to feel like I’m actually climbing while also not having to go anywhere or leave the house. My favorite part of the game though was the challenge of competing and improving your time up the mountain because as an athlete myself I am very competitive, and I am always looking for ways to improve in sports and in life.

Check Out The Climb Video:

The Climb is available for $29.99 in the Oculus Store and supports cross-buy, meaning players who already own The Climb on Oculus Rift will receive a copy for Quest for free (and vice versa).

Matthew Mead

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I have been interested in video games ever since I was little boy watching my older sister's open there presents on Christmas Day. They ended up getting a Nintendo 64 and the first game that I can remember learning how to play was Pokemon Stadium on Nintendo 64 in 1999. Although at the young age of 3 I was not able to play video games very well, I would watch my sisters play all of the time. This was very influential on me and is the reason why I love video games still today. Some of my favorite games vary from Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards, most of the main series Pokemon games, and Rocket League to Arena of Valor and Call of Duty. I am a student and am currently finishing my degree of environmental science at Chapman University and when I am not playing video games you can find me playing tennis or volleyball. I love sports and I played 4 years of Division 3 college tennis.

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