While the original Into the Radius has its issues, I can understand the appeal. The intense survival game is fun, with semi-realistic gameplay in a horror-lite setting. After enjoying the first game for quite a while, I went into Into the Radius 2 with high expectations. Unfortunately, it’s not worth buying yet.
What is that?: A sequel to the survival shooter “Into the Radius” with co-op support.
Platforms: PC VR (tested on Steam with Quest 3)
Release date: Available now (Early Access), late 2025 (full release)
Developer: CM Games
Price: 39,99 €
For anyone playing the sequel after the first game, Into the Radius 2 feels remarkably familiar. There’s definitely a graphical improvement over its predecessor, even if the gameplay experience is pretty similar for the most part. That’s hardly a bad thing considering the original game’s solid gameplay loop, but there are a few issues with it. More on that in a moment.
Into the Radius 2, you play as an explorer in the strange world of the Pechorsk Anomaly. The mysterious world of CM Games’ latest title lacks a linear story; much of the lore in the world is only discovered over time. However, the main focus of the current Early Access version is on fine-tuning the gameplay.
With an eerily similar tutorial to the first game, Into the Radius 2 teaches you the basics before sending you on your first missions. The game puts you in the role of a regular human where a few bullets can send you to an early grave. And that difficulty level is only increased by having to deal with a variety of enemies, obstacles, and your own equipment.
It’s satisfying to get into a gunfight with enemies and nervously struggle to reload your weapon before facing your fate. Into the Radius created brilliant tension with its horror and survival elements, and that continues in the latest game. However, the lack of other survival features like hunger or other armor and helmets makes it less exciting than the previous game. It also feels much easier to buy ammo for your weapons than before.
The core of the gameplay involves going on missions to find objects or complete tasks and returning to base unscathed to receive rewards and money for your hard work. As you complete missions, you become increasingly stronger (and richer), making it easier to purchase new weapons or equipment to survive longer expeditions in the eerie world of the Anomaly.
Speaking of anomalies, I appreciate the balance between horror and realism elements in Into the Radius 2. There are certainly some scares and tense situations in the game, but you won’t be screaming at the top of your lungs like in Lies Beneath or the Resident Evil games. Instead, many of the horror elements come from the game’s themes, like the supernatural, ominous orb/planet floating above the landscape or enemies stumbling into your path.
Unfortunately, the tension is ruined by frustration. There are seemingly hundreds of anomalies spread across the world that will frequently damage you, and it seems that the probes only work half the time, giving you a few seconds to get past them. Perhaps it’s a bug or a gameplay gimmick, but it feels more laborious than impactful. Speaking of bugs, Into the Radius 2 currently has a lot.
Into the Radius 2 offers three camera rotation options: Instant Snap, Smooth, and Hybrid, so you can get a decent set depending on your comfort level. You can also adjust the speed and degree of your rotation, as well as change your dominant hand and whether you need to hold the handle to swing objects.
Unfortunately, there is no way to move around via teleport in Into the Radius 2. While the vignette makes the game less nauseating, the lack of teleportation will likely put off some users. Thankfully, the game’s slow pace makes it more enjoyable than fast-paced VR games.
There are options to calibrate your height, making it easier to play while seated, as well as the option to move based on your head or controllers.
It’s no surprise that the game has a number of issues early in development, but as a lover of early access titles, Into the Radius 2 strikes me as particularly problematic compared to regular EA games. Disappearing weapons, issues with the telekinetic grip, my backpack not coming out properly, and stuttering are just a few of the bugs I’ve experienced, and many people in the Steam reviews have other issues as well, so it’s clear that I’m not the only one experiencing this.
I understand that CM Games wants to raise money by providing an Early Access version of the game to gather feedback on these issues before the full release next year, but it still feels like it was released a little too early, with too little content and too many bugs to count.
And I think that’s probably Into the Radius 2’s biggest problem right now: a lack of content. CM Games promises that the game will be completely different with version 1.0, according to its list of planned changes. However, anyone looking to spend hours exploring the anomaly will be disappointed by the current lack of things to do.
The content here is admittedly pretty good. But it just feels like more Into the Radius. For some, that will be good news, as it’s one of the better PC VR games out there. For people like me, though, a lack of changes to the formula could lead to boredom – and why take the risk with an Early Access game when you can already play the finished predecessor?
Worst of all, there’s no roadmap yet either. Aside from a brief FAQ outlining the plans CM Games intends to implement, buying Into the Radius 2 right now is a gamble on whether the full game will be a better experience than the first game. There’s already a solid foundation here, bugs aside, but a clear vision of the future should be shared.
Into the Radius 2 review in progress – current final verdict
Into the Radius 2’s Early Access launch provides a solid foundation that balances horror and realism elements well. Unfortunately, there are plenty of bugs and issues. The lack of content makes the game difficult to recommend even to diehard fans of the first game at this point, unless you invest to hopefully help CM Games Make a better game than its predecessor.
UploadVR uses a 5-star rating system for our game reviews – for a breakdown of each star, see our Review policies. As this is an ongoing review, it is currently not assessed to Our approach to cover post-launch updates. We’ll revisit this review once Into The Radius 2 is fully released.
