BONEWORKS is a first-person VR action-adventure shooter video game that combines puzzle-platform mechanics and real-life physics in virtual reality. Developed by Stress Level Zero, BONEWORKS is thoroughly grounded with its highly-sophisticated physics engine. Unlike in most VR games where there’s some leeway when it comes to the movement physics, BONEWORKS makes full use of real-life physics in order to give a one-of-a-kind VR experience. This game is also steeped in uncanny player perspectives and warns players to at least have lots of prior experience with VR, as it fully demonstrates advanced VR mechanics and concepts in its gameplay.

Is this the real life?

BONEWORKS starts with you entering a testing facility of sorts that teaches the history of VR interaction—and doubles as your tutorial on the various cool stuff you can do in the game. The place belongs to Monogon Industries, and after your little tour, you’ll end up in the company’s virtual city called MythOS. The seemingly-desolate city is huge and chock full of weapons that you’ll be needing in order to fend off the various slow but deadly enemy entities around. 

The game’s plot is hardly there, however, and what you’ll really be focusing on is the gameplay mechanics themselves and the various ways you can tackle puzzles and traverse the large city to get to your destination. BONEWORKS is in VR, but it gives you the laws of real-life when it comes to physics. From the real-life sizes and weights of all the objects in the game to the manual reloading of guns that you need to do, BONEWORKS does not make things easy for you. 

You have to apply all of your previous VR experience with these physical laws and find a way to face your obstacles head-on. That being said, this is a VR game that can easily make you queasy if you’re not used to VR all the time. The controls can be annoying—you have to walk using the joystick, and MythOS is vast, with hardly many interesting hidden rewards to find—and sometimes, you’ll find yourself glitched through objects. This is a recommended title for VR veterans who want something new, though.