Arizona Sunshine 1 was a good co-op zombie shooter that left me wanting in both the story and environmental design. A lot of it takes place in very bland environments in the Arizona desert. Thankfully, we almost immediately get an excellent sense of how many significant changes were made to Arizona Sunshine 2. With more of a focus on the story, albeit with a goofy lead, you can’t help but fall for its charm from the get-go.
When we wake up from a drunken stupor, getting out of our trashed camper, we get a very brief in-world explanation of the mechanics, taking a bit of a very floppy hot dog restoring health and doing some quick shooting range work. It’s a speedy tutorial that dives right into just how money the world of Arizona Sunshine 2 is, with our character talking about how maybe it’s time to end their life.
Then, as a helicopter lands rather abruptly, you can hear the hope return to our character’s voice. This weirdly hit home in a strange way that you rarely see in VR games. After slicing and shooting our way to the helicopter, we are introduced to the star of the game, Buddy. They are your dog best friend along for the ride as you and him search for patient zero in a newly found last-ditch effort of hope.
The story setup is one that we often see about searching for the progenitor of a zombie virus, but never in a VR game have I immediately understood the stakes and all through a few simple lines of dialogue shouted at a Fred (zombie). Buddy helps propagate hope, though, as he is our sole friend, but they act as a sounding board for our character, which helps to humanize them while also drawing the two closer. Buddy also comes with their own mechanics that immediately made me feel more versed in the world while I needed to protect him at all costs.
“Thankfully, we almost immediately get an excellent sense of how many significant changes were made to Arizona Sunshine 2.“
Buddy is very pivotal to not only the story of Arizona Sunshine 2 but the mechanics as well. He can fetch objects that our character could otherwise not retrieve. He can also sniff out enemies that are playing dead and, given some good commands, will attack and help us take down the zombie threat. The surprise for me was seeing almost accidentally that we could holster more weapons on Buddy.
This helps offset the struggle of finding awesome side arms and needing to decide between them all. Within the first twenty minutes, I was already finding new handguns, uzis, and assault rifles. It’s clear that Arizona Sunshine 2 has one thing in mind, and it’s fun before anything else, and it shows.
Before long, you’ll be crafting grenades, motives, etc., and just blasting through hordes of zombies, all while Buddy rips and tears his way through them with you. There is something so satisfying about the fluidity of gunplay within Arizona Sunshine 2. It’s backed by some decent melee combat as well. Finding axes, crowbars, and cleavers around the map was always a welcome surprise. Melee weapons are only temporary as you won’t carry them from act to act, and once you can’t store them on your tool belt, I always took the chance to wield one with a gun in the other hand.
“Arizona Sunshine 2 is yet another example of how Vertigo Games is the go-to studio for VR games.”
My biggest worry was twofold coming into Arizona Sunshine 2: the graphics and the environments. While the original could have been better, it just never felt inspired. Here, things are drastically different. There is a certain aspect of the environmental storytelling that feels very in-your-face but in a playful way. It’s as simple as showing you what you need to do in the environment, but it adds to the borderline comedic storytelling in Arizona Sunshine 2. The fact that the environments themselves are drastically different this time around really helps to show that Vertigo Games is learning and growing within this series.
The gameplay is an incredible leap above Arizona Sunshine, and while the mechanics are mostly the same, the way they are fine-tuned for Arizona Sunshine 2 makes it feel much smoother. The inclusion of Buddy being able to carry additional weapons and the accessibility options for discomfort in VR is fantastic. Being able to skip climbing sections and find the right setting for tunnelling and turning options does a lot of work when it comes to being able to play Arizona Sunshine 2 for extended periods without feeling that VR funk.
Arizona Sunshine 2 is yet another example of how Vertigo Games is the go-to studio for VR games. Evolving and fine-tuning every aspect of the original game, from story to gameplay, it’s clear that a lot of heart went into it. Arizona Sunshine 2 is a fantastic game, and Buddy is one of the best companions in gaming this year.
