So, even though this game is dead short, it has some of the best physics and interactions in any VR game. But the modding community has made this one of my most played games because there is so much to do, I'm never bored and I go and check for mods daily to download and the play with friends on Fusion. I just really wish there was more content to offer from the devs behind the game, because they are capable of making something great. I would give this a 2 star review, but the community is just too talented that i have to bump it up.

It won't matter how well made your physics interaction systems are if your lead designer/director is fundamentally bad at level design, pretty much the same flaws as Boneworks but with a little more polish. Stop trying to make actual campaigns, just do a sandbox with multiplayer like Garry's Mod. Even something like Vertigo Remastered (mind you a game created by a few teenagers without Meta backing) has a better designed campaign and actually somewhat captures the wit of Portal/Half-Life more accurately than this is so desperately trying to.

The developers are totally scummy too, not only is the game more expensive than Boneworks (while looking worse and having a shorter campaign), there have been zero updates to the game since late 2021, and they promised us all these updates to the modding SDK and game fixes yadda yadda. There has been nothing but radio silence from the devs until recently and its just too little too late, if they reach base competence maybe their next game will be featureful at launch, i'm not holding out hope. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice....

The game is a ton of fun, though some of the systems and the physics are kind of annoying and/or poorly explained. For a game that's often billed as "the GMod of VR", it's lacking Steam Workshop support which is very odd. Some of the mechanics need ironing out still despite being a sequel to Boneworks.

Listen to the Steam reviews. Boneworks better. Though admittedly I love the inclusion of push-button mag release for the guns like how it works irl and prefer the gachapon system over the Reclamation Bin. The former in particular makes it much easier on you in the middle of tense firefights.

without mods
good game

with mods
racist, sexist, horny game
good game

A frustrating title, this. I really liked Boneworks as I apparently have VR legs made of granite; the pure physics interactions and the way the game absolutely rooted you in the world combined with some surprisingly solid shooting and a story that kind of went nuts towards the end created a game which stayed with me for a long while, even if I didn't want to try and jankily shimmy/mantle up another box for a while.

Bonelab tries to follow up from this and it kind of does - the way you can change your body which then reconfigures the scale of the world based on your new proportions is really cool - but the structure of the campaign means that you get that ability, do a short tutorial for each body, then do a longer level that I thought was a tutorial for combining them, then another shorter level and then the game kinda stops. I really mean that too - nothing's resolved and the game basically tells you to download some mods. It's bizarre that they'd get so close and then just stop, especially after the tower finale and then what follows that in Boneworks. It almost feels like a joke.

What's there I again found fun and interesting but it just doesn't feel like it's a complete product yet. Combined with the insane levels of motion sickness triggers, it's a hard one to recommend unless you know you'll be OK.

In terms of performance it was fine. I'd have liked a Quest 3 update to try and smooth some stuff out on the traversal but it didn't feel particularly compromised by the system.

It is worth noting that I am a massive Boneworks fiend and also entirely fine with this games very open-ended premise. Your mileage may greatly vary dependant on your opinions of those two things.
Regardless, I adore this game. It's essentially just a more concise Boneworks that's much more compatible with drop-in short play sessions and I appreciate that.

That's not to mention the really interesting stuff in the actual narrative of the game. It's fascinating seeing a sequel that is functionally about the development of the first game and not just thematically, but also getting into the actual technological development of it which is especially interesting for such a revolutionary game as Boneworks.

The base game is good. It reintroduces you to the same similar physics engine that Boneworks used and adds more game-changing twists to it. The game should have honestly been longer, as the ending feels off. The story pace can be quite confusing, as I got stuck a couple of times since the game wasn't exactly clear upon the next step. The mod support, however, was supposed to expand the longevity of the game by a good amount. It did, to a certain extent. Would've given this a 3, but the mods now bump it up to a three and a half.

Take my hand & drive
6,5/10 - Length
6,5/10 - Enjoyment
6,0/10 - Perfomance/Bugs
7,0/10 - Story/Experience
6,5/10 - Gameplay

Score = 6,5/10