7 Best VR Games for Sniping on the Meta Quest 2
Sniping has long been a sacred art among those who enjoy first person shooters. Sniping well takes skill, speed, patience, and great map knowledge to do well. Being a sniper also requires precision in singleplayer and multiplayer games. For an enthusiast of Virtual Reality gaming or the Meta Quest 2, you may be wondering, what games give you a great sniping experience? Well here they are, broken down from not so good, to the best on the platform for an aspiring sharpshooter. Staring with number 7.
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7. Resident Evil 4 VR
You may not think of Resident Evil 4 VR as a sniping game, and you’d largely be right. It is full of tight corridors, twisting hallways, and a bunch of Ganados very intent on getting in close and eating your face. On the other hand a bolt action, and later semi automatic, sniper rifle is available in this game. They are very powerful, and very satisfying to get headshots with. As a Ganados’s head will explode when it takes such massive damage.
There are a few sections in Resident Evil 4 VR where the combat arena is large and the enemies are far enough away that you can use the sniper rifle effectively. These areas come often enough to give Resident Evil VR a slot on this list, since the Meta Quest 2 has a limited selection of games involving sniper rifles (for now). Mostly, however, the sniper rifles work great here as improvised one shot kill shotguns instead of long range weapons.
6. The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
Ah, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is such a great VR game that shows what Virtual Reality games can be. It has a large number of guns, but only one that seems like it could be considered a sniper rifle. That would be the Bolt Action Rifle, which can be unlocked a few levels into the game, or found in the ruins of New Orleans if you know where to look. Like in most games this rifle is hard hitting and difficult to load. Especially difficult in this case, as the bolt is extremely janky and not very well implemented, which is a thing not often said about The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners.
Overall there are not many sections that seem much like sniping sections, with the exception of one level in the Aftershocks free DLC that gives the player a view of a battlefield through a window, and a free rifle just sitting there. Hunting season for sure, and very satisfying for sniping. Otherwise there isn’t even a scope for the bolt action rifle, or for any other firearms in the game.
Still, we’ll count The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners as a sniping game, mostly because the AI, human or zombie, needs to get really close to actually notice you. This gives plenty of chances for hiding, shooting, and scooting even from close range. A scope isn’t really needed, and the gameplay can still scratch a sniper’s itch.
5. Population: One
Population: One is the Fortnite of VR, though it is smaller in scope and, luckily, nobody is capable of building an entire apartment complex in the span of 5 seconds. Just like Fortnite there are plenty of sniper rifles in Population: One.
Just like in Fortnite they are far from the best weapons in the game, and in fact aren’t used very often due to their lack of power when compared to other weapons. An assault rifle can hit a target from medium range and do damage much more quickly than a sniper rifle, because the sniper needs to have its bolt cycled after every shot. So assault rifles and SMGs tend to get a lot more love than sniper rifles do in Population: One.
That all being said sniper rifles are the only long range option, and their bullets can be accurate pretty far away. Still, unless an enemy player is already at dangerously low health, it’s not a one shot kill. Also, they are notoriously difficult to aim when compared to sniper rifles in other games. Looking down the scope of a sniper rifle in Population: One is particularly hard, and until you get a lot of practice it can feel like you are aiming at something properly and missing it for no reason.
4. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond
Now we are getting into the territory of proper sniping games. Though in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond only expect to find sniper rifles in the singleplayer. It would be a mystery why you would still be playing the multiplayer of this game at all, but if you do don’t expect to get any sniper kills. The singleplayer of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond features a couple of different sniper rifles, and due to its World War 2 setting, all are bolt action.
Cycling the bolts on those weapons is pretty smooth, and so is looking down their scopes. The impact of the rifle doesn’t feel, with most enemies later on in the game just shrugging those rounds off and continuing to run around. Though sometimes you can still get a very satisfying looking headshot. Also, the sim-like faces of the enemies aren’t super fun to stare at through an optic.
Most combat in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is done up close or at medium range. Though there are a few segments where sniping is practically the only option, or is heavily encouraged. These segments are great if you love sniping, like one memorable part where you defend a French village from atop a bombed out church. Still, if sniping is all you’re after then Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will leave you wanting more.
The same can be said for just about every other category you could put on a World War 2 shooter. In all aspects Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond only delivers a little of what you desire.
3. Contractors
Contractors is a multiplayer shooter that is fast paced and encourages quick fights with fast respawn times and objectives. It is the Call of Duty of Virtual Reality. Just like in Call of Duty the sniping is pretty good, but not the best. The game is pretty fast paced, and so you’ll get enemy players sneaking up behind you a lot, so you need to move constantly just like they will. So you can’t really hold down one spot for long. That could be a good or bad thing depending on who you ask.
As for the weaponry there is a huge variety of guns you can attach long range scopes to. Even Assault rifles have optics that reach two or four times magnification. Weapons intended for sniping, like the M1A, pack a lot of punch and are very accurate. The scopes themselves are intuitive to use and don’t have that annoying quality of constantly floating in and out of your vision like those in Population: One.
That all being said the maps of Contractors do not have many areas that encourage sniping, because they tend to be closed in and favor short or medium range combat. There are a few spots on some maps that are great for sniping on, but those are not common.
2. Onward
If you’re looking for a multiplayer Virtual Reality game to become an expert sniper in, Onward is it. Where Contractors is the Call of Duty of Virtual Reality, Onward is the more thoughtful and slower cousin. It’s sort of like Ready or Not or Squad, or even Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Each team is small and each player is taken down very easily with only a few hits. With a sniper rifle even a single hit is easily fatal, and wow are the sniper rifles good.
They’re modern, and have a wide variety of addons and scopes to choose from. If you want to have a 4x optic for sniping, but a small collimator on the side for up close conflict, that’s possible. As with all weapons in Onward the sniper rifles have great detail, and feel responsive and intuitive to use. There’s even a bipod for some rifles.
Landing a shot gives immediate results. Sniper rifles are powerful, and landing a hit is very satisfying. Due to the slow pace of the game there are many opportunities to set up in a position, or change positions after firing off a few rounds. Communication with your teammates via your shoulder radio can also give you good opportunities to find out where your opponents are hiding.
On top of that most Onward maps feature multiple open areas, where a single sniper can easily take out enemy team members as they try to pass through. Unlike other games Onward gives a sniper many opportunities to take long shots and make full use of their chosen rifle.
With great weapon variety and choices, great weapon feel, and a great selection of maps to choose from, Onward is the best multiplayer experience for sniping.
Sniper Elite VR
Unlike all of these other games, Sniper Elite VR, like the name says, is focused on sniping. That is really what makes it a sniper’s paradise in Virtual Reality. The vast majority of weapons are sniper rifles, and the vast majority of areas are geared toward sniping. Enemies are far away and there are ample spots to shoot from. Areas are very often wide open and encourage the use of a scoped weapon.
Sure there are SMGs and Pistols to use as well in Sniper Elite VR, but here they are the weapons that are only used occasionally, as the sniper rifle is in all of these other games. Very often sniping will be the main objective of a map, and sniping is always the way to get the most points and to dispatch enemies the quickest. A soldier that might take an entire burst from an SMG to kill can easily be taken down with a single sniper bullet.
For more on the game in general, check out our review. Though if you like sniping you certainly won’t be disappointed in Sniper Elite VR. The only drawback is that sometimes the rifles feel a little floaty, and move too easily with a slight twitch of your hand. Otherwise they handle beautifully, and the scopes feel realistic and straightforward to look through and aim with.
For a singleplayer sniper experience, Sniper Elite VR cannot be beaten. For an experience focused on snipers, sniping, and sniper rifles in VR, there is nothing else like it.
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