In space, no one can hear you scream. But in VR, everyone can hear you mutter under your breath as you fumble around, trying to grab an electric pistol from your hip holster or pull a submachine gun off your shoulder. Memoreum is wonderfully tactile, forcing you to physically engage with every mechanic.
The immersion is top-tier and with manual weapon reloading, you're also likely to botch a critical reload when zombified monsters are charging at you, cranking up the tension. Much like Dead Space or Alien: Isolation, Memoreum is set on a derelict spaceship. Almost everyone is dead, turned into monstrosities, and it's your job to fix everything and figure out what went wrong. Luckily, you've got an arsenal of weapons and tools to hand.
Gamescom 2024 - Memoreum demo gameplay clip
It blends action and survival horror with puzzles and exploration, so nothing feels stale during the demo. One moment, you're turning a valve or figuring out the combination to a keypad; the next, you're backing up as you shoot a once-human abomination in the face. It's exciting and tense, and the preview hour flew by.
Memoreum also strikes the perfect balance between user interactivity and difficulty. As you'd hope for with a VR game, getting a tool from your backpack requires physically reaching over your shoulder, taking the pack out, and grabbing the tool you want. Likewise, your pistol with unlimited ammo is on your hip, and your main firearm is on your other shoulder. Magazines are in a chest pouch.
Everything has its place and the controls are incredibly responsive, so there are no accidental grabs or misclicks; if you make a mistake, that's on you. Those mistakes are also where the game shines, and Memoreum excels in its controls' physicality. The submachine gun requires you to hit the magazine eject button and pull the mag out, grab a new one from your pouch, insert it the right side up at the right angle, and then reach over the barrel and pull the cocking handle back. It's simple enough when you're stood still in a brightly lit storeroom, but it's much trickier when you're in a dark, cramped hallway with monsters breathing down your neck.
The double-barreled shotgun is similarly physical. You have to snap the barrels down to let the shells eject, then insert new ones before you can fire again. It packs a punch, but the slow reload makes it a risky boomstick to use. Master the art of reloading these weapons, though, and you feel like a true space marine, cutting down any enemy who gets in your sights.
While Memoreum's story and setting felt like the standard sci-fi survival horror we've all become used to over the years, there's a friendly voice on the radio guiding your actions and keeping you company as you explore. The preview took place toward the end of the game, and most of the ship was filled with what appeared to be a biological growth, perhaps responsible for transforming the inhabitants. It was a colony ship destined to seed new life, but it looks like new life seeded it instead.
Memoreum will reach the Meta Quest platform and Steam in 2025.
