Review: Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR Could Be a Quest Staple 

While each Assassin’s Creed entry may vary in terms of performance, quality, and appeal, you tend to know what you’re getting into and the sort of experience to expect. With Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, we get the staple gameplay of Assassins versus Templars in historical settings, but executed in such a way that it’s accessible, offers an array of scenarios, and is more comfortable than I expected.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR begins with players taking on the role of a hacker who works alongside the modern day Brotherhood of Assassins. They’ve been contacted by Abstergo, the Templar agency, to enter the Animus to explore past scenarios to gain data from artifacts found in scenarios starring Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed II in Italy during the renaissance, Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey in Greece around the Peloponnesian War. and Connor from Assassin’s Creed III in America during the revolution. Each one has their own brief storyline and objectives, which all feel like they could have easily fit into their original games as part of the campaign.

It’s an ingenious setup. Never played Assassin’s Creed before? Your character is new to the whole conflict as this entry begins, you’re given a general idea of what’s going on, and you get to enjoy the experience of exploring, being stealthy, running and parkouring around, and fighting foes from a first-person perspective. Already a fan or familiar with the series? You’re getting to step into the shoes of three of the most well-known and, in some cases, appreciated characters. I sort of felt like the Ezio portion was handled best and felt like the most traditional of the experiences, with Kassandra’s being the more combat-heavy one. But they’re all well executed.

I honestly believe part of why Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR works so well and is so fun to play is the original series’ gameplay lends itself well to that sort of experience. When I was stealthily sneaking around, investigating, and ambushing enemies, it felt fantastic. The motion controls that were context-sensitive felt intuitive, and I so appreciated when there were also optional button-based controls for if I needed to sit down during a long session. Combat works well when it happens. Plus any parkour-moments really focus on delivering the sort of “experience” that allows you to do something you normally never could in VR in an extraordinary way. The environmental and character direction also helped minimize any uncanny valley moments too.

Though I was impressed by how Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR worked, I will admit that initially it can be a lot to deal with. During my first session, I could only play for about a half an hour, I felt a little queasy, and I found myself sweating due to the VR experience. It is a game with the potential to make you motion sick. However, I didn’t experience this in future sessions because of the accessibility options built into it. Ubisoft created it in such a way that you have certain defaults you can go with, showing your degree of comfort with VR experiences, and changing the movement options and other elements as a result. The nature of the game does mean I still only always play on “Most Comfortable,” which is the most accommodating, but it is great to see the effort made. Comfortable, Moderate, and Immersive are also preset options. However, you can also go with custom settings that include options that account for things like fear of heights, turning adjustments, and movement alongside accessibility controls you can turn on.

I was also playing Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR on the Quest 3, which felt like the optimal experience in yet another way. The game looked absolutely gorgeous. While I’m a new headset owner, previously piggybacking on friend and family members’ PlayStation VRs or HTC Vives, this is the first one I’ve owned and the improved visuals and controllers felt like they made a huge difference. The weight and design of the headset meant I was playing for longer sessions once I got comfortable, and the execution ensured Ubisoft’s game was at its best.

I feel like Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR is one of the essential Meta Quest 3 apps now. It’s a real showcase of what the headset is capable of, and the array of accessibility options makes me feel like this is the action game that could maybe be the one anyone, even those who previously had issues with motion sickness, could easily play. The premise also makes it incredibly accessible, since you can go in with any level of familiarity with the series. It feels like a solid staple for the standalone VR headset.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR is available now on Meta Quest headsets.