Beyond Blue: After The Storm is a short-lived adventure that educates about marine conservation, and it's out now on Quest.
VR can be a powerful method for raising awareness. Whether that's through games, films, or something else, placing you inside these virtual worlds often leaves a more lasting impact. With the ever-increasing threat of climate change threatening our oceans, seeing VR media address such topics is a welcome sight, though I never expected a VR-only sequel to 2020 flatscreen game Beyond Blue.
While The Sea We Breathe explores similar grounds with a WebXR documentary, Beyond Blue: After The Storm takes a dual approach reminiscent of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. A series of unlockable mini-documentaries complement the experience well by exploring the science behind Beyond Blue, though the campaign remains the main draw.
Playing as the marine biologist Mirai, voice actor Erika Ishii gives her some welcome personality, and you're investigating the damage after a tropical storm hits your research base. Disappointingly, you can't swim via motion controls; movement's restricted to either the analog sticks or hand propellers activated by the A/X buttons. Though I understand this is for comfort reasons, I wish After The Storm would let you turn off the propellers' vignette that kicks in as you speed up.
Tools like a scanner and cutting device assist Mirai's journey, letting you scan local fish species/faunas or clear different obstacles. The storm's environmental impact soon becomes clear as you find ill creatures and plants, and seeing sick sharks trapped underneath metal grates illustrates After The Storm's themes well. There's a welcome bluntness that feels especially potent in the current political climate.
You'll frequently switch to another playable character called Kanaloa, a robot who mostly handles the heavy lifting while Mirai handles more technical work, like fixing cracked tubes with sealant or replacing a power source. Even though you're working with yourself, there's a nice degree of co-operation here between these two, and it's moments like this solo adventure could've benefitted from co-op support.
What's particularly disappointing is how After The Storm stops right as it gets going. My journey ended after roughly 100 minutes, and that includes completing various side missions without completely exhausting them. To its credit, the well paced narrative is successfully holding my interest, but the optional tasks like assisting any sick creatures aren't particularly fun when all you're doing is shooting healing gel at them. There's no time to introduce more complex mechanics, leaving VR interactions feeling relatively basic.
Still, After The Storm's presentation holds up well on Quest 3: at least, it does while you're stationary. Taking in these aquatic environments can feel rather pleasant. Unfortunately, that's hindered by consistent visual pop-in that gets distracting once you start moving. Since your avatar is portrayed by floating hands, it's often confusing picking up a tool since you can't see them off your “body,” and I keep accidentally choosing the wrong item by hovering over the wrong area.
If you're hoping for something like Subside on Quest, you won't find it here, though Beyond Blue: After The Storm has its moments. Despite the presentation issues and shallow gameplay, E-Line Media and Chaos Theory Games show clear dedication to the game's environmentalist themes, ultimately delivering a decent narrative adventure.
Beyond Blue: After The Storm is out now on the Meta Quest platform.
