Thursday, 17 April, 2025 UTC
Summary
GORN 2 offers a familiar but welcome sequel to the brutal VR arena fighter, and it's out today on Quest and PC VR. Read on for our full review.
The original GORN left its mark with an utterly brutal gladiatorial VR fighting game, yet the older hit feels undeniably dated in 2025. In some ways, GORN 2 feels like a relatively safe follow-up by Free Lives and Cortopia Studios that's not trying to reinvent the wheel. What's here is largely familiar, yet some welcome evolutions, a shinier coat of paint and some entertaining (if often juvenile) humor makes this worth looking into.
The Facts
What is it?: A brutal VR arena fighter where you kill the five bastard sons of the God of the Afterlife.
Platforms: Quest, Steam, PlayStation VR2 (reviewed on Quest 3)
Release Date: Out now (Quest, Steam), Summer 2025 (PS VR2)
Developer: Cortopia Studios, Free Lives
Price: TBC
What is it?: A brutal VR arena fighter where you kill the five bastard sons of the God of the Afterlife.
Platforms: Quest, Steam, PlayStation VR2 (reviewed on Quest 3)
Release Date: Out now (Quest, Steam), Summer 2025 (PS VR2)
Developer: Cortopia Studios, Free Lives
Price: TBC
A four-hour campaign threads together this tale well thanks to some humorous dialogue, though this isn't a game that needs more than a threadbare story. Set across a heavenly realm, you've ascended to the afterlife following your death and we're killing those same gladiators we previously struck down. That all takes place while assisting the deposed God of the Afterlife in stopping his five bastard sons, restoring him to his former glory.
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Each challenge is gated by an 'Epicness' meter that only really serves to railroad you into a linear progression path with minor variances. You'll access each five realms from a small hub area, with levels selected in fittingly brutal fashion by skewering a fallen gladiator's head onto a pike. Weapons aren't freely selectable as you start a new stage, encouraging you to try other weapons beyond your immediate favorites.
Thinking of which, GORN 2 hosts a strong selection that caters to multiple playstyles. Ranged weaponry like the archery bow aren't doing much for me here, and I much prefer getting up close with melee options. Between cleavers, maces, axes, spears, swords, katanas, and more, it's a great range that feels physically responsive. Even this leans into the humor well, thanks to the wobbly nature of items and sillier options like a giant slab of meat you can push foes around with.
Make no mistake, GORN 2 feels even more brutal than the first game, though you can ease this up with a 'low violence mode' that swaps blood splatter for colorful confetti. Physically tearing out someone's heart with a sword and turning it into a kebab takes this one step further, nevermind physically ripping someone's head off with your bare hands. If you swing with enough gusto, you can heavily wound them straight away.
These moments also showcase the game's physicality well. I remember taking out one gladiator's eye with a sword, it getting stuck on the tip and brushing it off against my shield. Dismemberments, decapitations, it's all here. Killing enemies restores your health, while some stages give you special abilities through potions like superspeed, telekinesis for throwing objects, and more.
Every stage is split between four rounds that end with either a mini-boss or the local bastard. Getting creative with weapons like striking through an armour gap adds some good strategy, though I particularly enjoy baiting these foes into traps. One arena uses a spatula that effectively swats away those beneath it, another uses lava, one has a gap in the floor with a meat grinder, and so on. This gives each stage some great design that goes beyond a cosmetic reskin.
Gameplay screenshot captured by UploadVR on Quest 3What's here evolves on the original game's premise well, and anyone who enjoyed the first game will likely feel right at home. But that's just it, GORN 2 never really pushes beyond this and feels incredibly familiar. Some of my criticisms still remain from my original preview. Namely, the AI behaviour just isn't particularly smart and there's often no sense of self-preservation when walking towards a series of spinning blades. Seeing them start attacking each other and doing my job for me can be really funny, though.
Comfort
GORN 2 features two types of movement - artificial stick-based locomotion and a "grab and pull" system where you directly pull yourself across each area. Smooth and snap camera turning are both supported with adjustable strengths and distances, while movement direction can be based on your hand or head direction.
GORN 2 doesn't have a specific seated mode, yet the height offset can adjust accordingly for those sitting down and those standing up. There also isn't a left-handed mode, though the controls are identical between both hands so this isn't necessary.
Replayability isn't the strongest either, though a few options are particularly nice to see. The 'Hardcore Mode' adds a refreshing difficulty boost too for those who want it by making enemies faster and giving you less health, which is great because the standard mode often feels too easy. I died only three times throughout the entire campaign with the standard setting.
Gameplay screenshot captured by UploadVR on Quest 3Every stage gives you an optional challenge to complete that rewards you with a stronger weapon, which typically ranges from “kill x number of enemies” with a particular weapon to luring them into traps. It's a pleasant idea with a good reward, yet I never feel like I'm missing out if I fail the challenge.
What gives GORN 2 some extra longevity are the additional modes, though the survival-like 'Endless Mode' isn't particularly exciting in longer stints. Completing campaign stages for the first time unlocks new weapons for the 'Custom Mode' which has a decently customizable feature set. Between crowd sizes, number of enemies, special abilities and gravity strength, creating your own games feels great.
As for a platform comparison, this review was done on Quest 3 and I can say it holds up well compared to the PC VR edition. My previous hand-on preview was done through Steam using Quest 3 and Virtual Desktop, and I've yet to try the Quest 2 or PlayStation VR2 versions. For Steam players, our video producer Don Hopper recently hosted a livestream if you'd like to see more.
PC Specs And Headset Used
My desktop uses an Intel i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900 (Up to 5.1GHz), 32GB RAM - Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz, and a 16GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super. This comparison was conducted using a Meta Quest 3 via Virtual Desktop. The minimum/recommended specs can be found on Steam.
GORN 2 largely runs well on Quest 3, and the colorful cel-shaded art means this translates nicely to lower spec standalone headsets. Some performance drops are noticeable on Quest 3 that aren't present with the Steam release, usually in later levels during more intense combat sequences. However, these are infrequent enough to only be a minor concern.
Gameplay screenshot captured by UploadVR on Quest 3GORN 2 Review - Final VerdictWhile it's ultimately a safer sequel that won't deliver any revolutionary changes, GORN 2 refines the existing premise well for a strong VR arena fighter that should please fans of the original. You won't need long to clear the campaign, the replayability isn't terribly strong, and there are some performance issues on Quest 3. Yet between its vibrant cel-shaded visual presentation, brutally hilarious combat and strong action, it's still a great time.
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