About Rec Room
Rec Room is an online, free virtual reality cross-platform game available for Playstation, Xbox, PC via Steam, Oculus, iOS, and Android, first released for Windows in June 2016.
With more than 10 million members, 4 million unique rooms, and 20 thousand new rooms being added each day, according to the official blog, the game from the Canadian studio Rec Room Inc has more than 90% very positive reviews on Steam, scoring a 7.1 on Metacritic.
In Rec Room, you experience everything in first-person, being able to play quests, sports, visit and join community rooms created by other players, meet up with real-life friends, or make new ones in events, clubhouses, and why not, in the Rec Center, the hub room.
Rec Room Gameplay
Rec Rally, the latest Rec Room Original game released in 2021
When you first create your character, you can choose from a small variety of skin tones, hairstyles, body types, and limited outfits. You spend the first minutes of the game learning the basic commands, like walking, grabbing and throwing objects, using a bow, shooting, and their code of conduct, which includes being excellent to each other.
As expected, your character starts at level 1, and you are supposed to gain experience and level up as you play quests, visit rooms, and complete daily and weekly challenges.
When playing, it doesn't matter how experienced you are, there is one thing you can be sure of: you might be a victim of friendly fire.
Once you are out of the Orientation, Rec Room seems like a world full of endless possibilities, among them, first-person shooters or PVP, like Paintball, Battle (Rec) Royale and Laser Tag, action-adventure games (known as quests) where you play as a team, like the futuristic Jumbotron, the pirate-themed Isle of Lost Skulls, and the epic Golden Trophy, and sports, like (Disc) Golf, Soccer, Bowling, Paddleball, Dodgeball, and so on. These are all original rooms created by Rec Room, and there are countless other options.
Many players devote their time to creating perfect replicas of real-life locations in Rec Room, as much as replicating established games, and designing their own original ones. Not only that, but social gatherings are a big part of Rec Room, where players can make new friends or find companions for quests, meeting anytime, wherever, and however they like.
This is also where the game needs special attention when considering its social aspects. As in any other place on the Internet, players who do not respect age limits (there are junior accounts for players under 13), and disruptive users are common in many rooms.
You can match outfits with your friends, or be a show-off and wear the S+ outfit you got after spending 90 hours in Isle of Lost Skulls, hopefully dying only once.
Outfits are also important for the majority of the players. They can be acquired as rewards after finishing a quest or original game, bought at the store, or gifted from other players.
Clothing items and accessories vary from one to five stars, and some are unique from original quests, obtained only at the highest ranking of completion, being the rarest ones. These are also limited-time items and skins in the store, and commemorative outfits for Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
Other rewards that can be either acquired, gifted, or bought are other consumable items, like food and drink items, K.O. skins, potions, and two, three, and four-star boxes.
Graphics and Player Experience
Featured Community Rooms in January 2022.
Even though it can be played on any platform, playing Rec Room on a VR headset adds to the experience, as you have access to separate VR rooms, being able to freely move and use objects, and not having any menus on the screen, which can be more immersive. You will also be paired up with other VR players much more frequently.
Graphics look different on every platform. Colors are more saturated on Oculus 2, the texture looks slightly more detailed on PSVR, PCVR has better graphics as expected, and so forth.
Rec Room Price
Rec Room is a free game that has a membership system that can be joined for tokens, discounts, weekly bonuses, and in-game purchases, where you can buy tokens, the game's currency, to obtain outfits, inventions, skins, special items, or even gift your friends.
Tokens can also be acquired for free when you finish a quest or an original game, and you sometimes get the chance to choose a token reward of up to 100 tokens or 200 tokens, in case you are an RR+ member, as they can get twice the number of tokens.
CONS
- Your character will eventually get to the maximum level of 50
- In-game purchases for exclusive items can be quite expensive
- Excessive trolling from some players can ruin the experience
PROS
- You can have classes in-game to learn how to be a Rec Room creator
- You can still have lots of fun without spending any real-life money
- Quests are challenging, and rewarding when mastered
- Among a myriad of rooms, you will find something that will please you.
Rec Room might be mistakenly labeled as a kid's game, but it can be enjoyed by all ages 12 and up. The game is a rich social experience and both introverts and extroverts will benefit, as there are many opportunities for making new friends, especially for creative minds.
Final Score: It is good! 8.5/10
