Crisis VRigade 2 now available on Steam, Oculus Quest version in the works

The seminal light-gun VR shooter gets a massive upgrade in this impressive-looking sequel.

What you need to know

• Crisis VRigade 2 is now available on Steam Early Access for $20.
• The sequel improves upon the first in every way, from graphics to dynamic gameplay, and even power-ups.
• It's only available on PC via Steam right now, but the developers are trying to bring it to the Oculus Quest as well.

Crisis VRigade 2, the sequel to the Time Crisis-like light-gun shooter for all VR platforms, has now arrived on Steam via the Early Acces program. Developer Sumalab has priced the game at $20, but it's available for $16 until June 15 as a special launch pricing. Sumalab surprised a number of people when they originally announced the sequel, as it visually looks significantly different from the first game, which featured simple-textured low-polygon models and a purposefully cheesy set of dialog and action scenes.

Crisis VRigade 2 takes everything that was good from the original and pumps it up to 11. Sumalab describes it as having "more action, more shootouts, more weapons, more difficulty, more blood, more everything!" in the game's description on Steam. Visually, it looks like a completely different game, to say the least. Gone are the simple textures and low-polygon models and, in their place, are significantly more realistic representations of the shootouts and stressful situations a specialized group of SWAT agents might encounter when facing terrorists.

As in the original, players will suit up in their VR headset of choice and take on several missions as a member of a specialized SWAT squad of police, fighting terrorists in a number of different situations and settings. Crisis VRigade 2 launches with a few scenarios, and it's not clear at this time how large of a scope developer Sumalab is planning for the game. As of now, it appears they're aiming for a significantly larger and more mature game, as the original Crisis VRigade only featured three scenes to play through, with two difficulties for each scene.

Just as in the original, you can play single or multiplayer with friends. Right now, Crisis VRigade 2 is only available on Steam, with the ability to run on any VR headset that supports SteamVR. The developers have stated that they are trying their best to get the game running on the Oculus Quest but, as of this time, are facing significant performance issues that make the game less than playable.