My journey through Labo VR compatible games has been a fascinating ride, with way more variety on offer than I had ever thought possible. However, none of the titles that I have played thus far have really shown off the potential of VR on Switch as much as Reflex Unit 2, a pretty obscure twin-stick shooter on the console that is not only compatible with the cardboard goggles but is also a fantastic game in its own right.

Many thanks to the publishers for the review copy.

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There’s not a huge amount of plot at the heart of Reflex Unit 2, as it mostly revolves around a war between humanity and an onslaught of robots. They tried to conquer Japan but the Reflex Unit managed to fight them off; however, they have returned and in greater numbers in an effort to take over the cities of the world.

As the commander of the Reflex Unit, you’ll need to travel the globe in order to fend off this metallic threat and locate their main base to drive them away. The story never really evolves beyond this setup, but it’s still a solid way to frame the game and encourage you to keep fighting.

The game started off as a mobile title that got ported onto other platforms, including the Switch, but you’d be forgiven for not realising it from the screenshots. Whilst most mobile games tend to show their roots either through the basic menus, visual presentation, or just through the minimalistic gameplay, Reflex Unit 2 doesn’t show any signs of that. Everything looks great and really feels like a gritty war title on an indie budget.

The game can be played across either a solo campaign or with a friend online, as you guide your mech through each stage completing an assortment of objectives. This could involve things such as taking down shields or hacking computers, but regardless of your task it will be clearly marked on your map to give you an idea of what lies ahead.

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To get there, your mech (or soldier if on foot) needs to traverse the environments taking out enemies along the way. The perspective is very reminiscent of RTS games such as Command and Conquer, even if the game plays out as you’d expect from a twin-stick shooter. This perspective works really well as it makes it seem like you’re in charge of ordering the mech around, especially when played with the VR mode active which works incredibly well. Even though the text is understandably harder to read with the goggles on, I still found it readable and a small tradeoff for the added immersion that the VR brings. Sure, playing with the Joy-Cons attached to the screen (if using the official Labo goggles at least) may not be comfortable, but I was willing to play the game in shorter doses just so I could keep playing through that way.

Whilst the gameplay loop is relatively simple, it also packs a great deal more challenge than you may have expected from a game that originally released on mobile. With unit drops acting as a way to provide a limited number of lives, you’ll need to take care in order to make it through to the end of each stage. Utilising your special abilities and managing your ammo carefully will be paramount to your success, and defeating enemies may also result in drops that can keep you alive. Going in guns blazing will not help you in this game, as I quickly found out after using numerous lives on the first level.

VERDICT
Don’t let the game’s humble origins put you off as the game’s excellent presentation and fluid gameplay hides its mobile origins well. The real icing on the cake is just how well the Labo VR is integrated into the experience and I’d argue that if you had to own just one to play on your cardboard peripheral then it should be this one.