Zero Caliber 2 Review: A Thrilling VR Action Romp

Following the success of the original Zero Caliber and its subsequent Quest reworking, Zero Caliber: Reloaded, developers XREAL Games have set about improving its action-packed military shooter in the latest entry. Read on for our full review.

Zero Caliber 2 is a linear, narrative-driven action game that follows the events of the first game. Although there is a story, there is a more significant focus on action—which is just as well because action is what this game is all about.

Once More Into the Breach

The story in Zero Caliber 2 is somewhat perfunctory, so don't worry if you've never played the original game; you will catch up quickly. It's the not-too-distant future, and drinkable water has become the only real commodity. Society has all but crumbled as people fight to survive. This essentially translates to some heavily accented bad guys attacking some American-accented good guys while trying to seize precious water supplies.

Thankfully, you and your buddies are the paragons of military might, and it’s up to you to save the day. Oorah!

There are a few twists and turns along the way, but for the most part, the story exists as a vessel for cinematic action sequences, which Zero Caliber 2 delivers in spades. From fighting house to house through an overrun suburban setting to calling in airstrikes while clearing enemy trenches, Zero Caliber 2 delivers action hero power fantasy fresh out of a mid-90s action movie.

The campaign consists of 12 missions, each lasting roughly 20-30 minutes, depending on skill and difficulty. It delivers around 6 hours of high-quality adrenaline-fuelled escapism.

Call of Shooty

Zero Caliber 2 is a pure action shooter at its core, and the beating heart of this is the extremely well-delivered gunplay. All the main weapons you would expect to see are present, from handguns to rocket launchers and everything in between. These guns are all fully customizable, with stocks, barrels, mags, and sights littered around the battlefield for you to snap on and off at a whim.

Weapon caches are plentiful, and enemies drop a plethora of weaponry on the ground once dispatched. Once collected, they can be used or stripped for parts. This allows players to switch play styles multiple times within a single mission, keeping the combat approach feeling fresh.

Guns have distinct characteristics that handle well. Aim and recoil feel balanced and responsive, hitboxes feel fair, and the action is frantic as you advance through these hostile locations. Enemy AI isn't exactly genius level, but it is enough to create some real tension in the heat of battle. Enemies will advance on you using cover, try to flank you, or even hide in cover, waiting to shoot you in the back.

Whether you’re pushing through houses using smoke bombs and grenades to clear rooms or ducking behind debris as you advance down a war-torn street, everything feels exciting and consistent. Depending on the difficulty level you choose, you can tailor your experience considerably. Playing on normal sees abundant ammo drops, powerful weaponry, and a robust health bar that regenerates quickly. This provides an accessible, arcade-like version of the game with a focus on big, dumb fun.

Ratchet the difficulty up a notch or two, however, and you have a completely different game on your hands. Enemies can take you down quickly with a few well-placed shots, and suddenly, the action gets far more tactical and relies more on skillful headshots.

Get To The Chopper!

Zero Caliber 2's level design is broadly linear. Despite seeming expansive and offering the occasional illusion of choice, there is no real exploration here. The game guides you easily through what to do next, which means you never find yourself out of the action for longer than a minute or two.

My only real gameplay criticism is that all of the missions are variants of “go over there and shoot those bad guys, then move on to the next area.” Outside of a small attempt to introduce a stealth element in one mission, there is minimal variation in the mission structures to mix up the gameplay. This can make the game feel a little repetitive when playing in longer sessions.

For all its many positives, Zero Caliber 2 is not without a few quirks. I encountered disappearing/reappearing enemies, occasional dips in the framerates, and a glitch that required me to restart a level, but nothing that took me out of the game to any real degree. There is, however, a certain clumsiness to how the guns interact with walls and cover that does impact gameplay, and this took some getting used to.

I appreciate the realism of not allowing guns to clip through solid objects, but the implementation feels slightly off, like how the walls’ hitboxes are slightly too large. Doing my best action hero “swing around the corner and blast the bad guy" move, only to find that the barrel of my gun caught on the wall as I began eating bullets, isn't ideal.

The More The Merrier

Much to my delight, Zero Caliber 2's whole campaign is playable in co-op multiplayer with up to three other people. As with many games, playing with friends adds considerable replay value. Completing the campaign alone is great fun, but going back through it with a squad adds a whole new dimension. Coordinating attacks with your buddies, particularly when playing the harder difficulty levels, enhances the tactical elements of the combat in a thoroughly engaging way.

There is also a PvP mode available at launch, though we haven’t spent enough time in that mode to comment fully yet. This review will be updated soon to include our thoughts on how Zero Caliber 2 stacks up against the pantheon of online multiplayer shooters, though we're confident in scoring the game now.

Additionally, Zero Caliber 2's campaign and PvP modes also include native mod support. That allows for a pleasing level of customization that will continue to give players options for community-made content, which should provide even more reasons to keep returning.

Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

Graphically, Zero Caliber hits a pretty high standard.

The world feels extensive and detailed, and you really feel immersed. Some great cinematic sequences deliver superb fire and explosion effects that sell the fantasy of living through a classic action film. Draw distance is also pretty impressive; picking out (and hitting) enemies from improbable distances is surprisingly easy and entirely satisfying.

Character models and animation are also good. Watching enemies fall convincingly to the ground after a headshot goes a long way toward immersing the player in the combat.

Things That Make You Go Boom

Zero Caliber 2 also hits a high bar with its audio design. Gunshots are clear, crisp, and hugely intrinsic to the success of the gunplay. XREAL Games has done a great job creating a cacophonic soundscape that sells the chaos of inhabiting an active warzone. The ambient audio is beyond tumultuous in larger combat pieces, though the spatial audio never loses focus. You can clearly pinpoint gunshots and character voices within a battle, and following these audio cues is an essential part of navigating the action.  

Zero Caliber 2 Review - Final Verdict

Zero Caliber 2 is an excellent follow-up to an already decent game. Offering a six-plus-hour campaign complete with four-player co-op, PvP, and native mod support, XREAL Games has delivered an experience that will undoubtedly thrill fans of the genre and keep them coming back for more. If you enjoy linear campaign shooters, this is an easy recommendation.

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