Green Hell VR Review – Plenty of Poison, Few Remedies

Green Hell was first released at the end of August 2018 and was picked up by popular content creators and streamers as an improved version of The Forest. The setting takes place in the Amazon rainforest amongst a tribe of warring factions. As an author studying the native people with his wife, Lisa, it’s up to the player to learn how to survive in this new place.

This starts easy enough after about 10 minutes of loading screens before the player even gets to the main menu. There are many options for the player to decide how they want their world to run. Whether it be a story or sandbox, peaceful or survival, players can choose how their rainforest journey will go. However, beware that you’ll still have difficulty learning in Green Hell no matter what you pick.

The tutorial starts easy enough, giving players plenty of food and water while learning the ropes. Walking is fluid in the game and doesn’t invoke motion sickness like some titles before. However, the snap-turning is often too much of a turn, overshooting where the player is trying to turn. It’s easy to fix if you’re standing but is less of an option when sitting.

The rest of the tutorial is spent learning how to craft a campfire, medicinal herbs, and other necessities. This process is pretty fluid and doesn’t feel like it takes any longer than it should. It also helps that the voice acting and sound design do well to place you within the Amazon. The early looks at the different plants and animals serve as an incredible tease for what’s to come.

Messing with the physics is excellent in this game. Items feel like they have weight, and thin objects move with your motion into them. This doesn’t change anything dramatically, but it is fun to play with when finding a palm leaf or long stick.

The tutorial also takes the opportunity to drop a lot of exposition on the player through a campfire chat between the couple. The wife is eager to live among the local tribe, who are not fans of the husband. This may be due to his book on their different rituals and way of life. Regardless, the wife tells her husband not to worry unless he hears from her. This serves as a good tease for what’s to come later.

At the end of the tutorial, 30 days after the wife went to live with the tribe, the man wakes to a panicked message from his wife on the radio. However, there’s no response when he tries to reach out to her. This sends the husband on a chase through the woods and into the village, after which he loses his memory. The way the tutorial ends is tremendous because it genuinely does build excitement and intrigue.

The player is left to their own devices with a simple objective: to find Lisa. The player can spend the time gathering resources, building weapons, or simply following the main objective. However, this is where the game’s real dangers show themselves. New poisons and threats await the player outside the tutorial. Understanding how to survive in this place gives the game its name.

The first objective the player has is to “Find Help,” and that’s all the information they get. This is because Green Hell VR rewards those who can explore and find the answers for themselves. At first, this comes off as really daunting, being thrown into the Amazon without knowing how to survive. But luckily, you can refer to your trusty notebook to let you know what plants are safe and what are not.

As you naturally look for help, a couple of secrets are waiting for you off the beaten path. For instance, if you follow a bamboo bridge shortly after waking up, you can find a cave with a bow. This is useful in shooting the rattlesnake just outside. Across a log, you’ll learn how to craft tools by shoving two components together. This is pretty satisfying when it works, but sometimes it feels like it doesn’t register.

Be prepared for a steep learning curve once you leave the tutorial because Green Hell VR will not hold your hand. Spiders, snakes, and scorpions litter the landscape, hidden beneath bushes, and waiting in caves. Poison remedies are few and far, so you should be aware of these forces’ threats. It’s easy to get poisoned and have too much time pass while you look for a remedy.

The tribal people in the game seem to have particular behaviors and movements. For example, the character will walk toward you when you get too close. However, as long as you keep your distance, eventually, they’ll step away. While this isn’t the worst thing in the world, it makes them look a bit silly as they repeat the same movements repeatedly.

Where Green Hell VR shines the most is its story between two people lost in the Amazon. After each complication, the player has to complete something new, prolonging the journey even further. It feels like the player can’t win with all the unfortunate incidents happening. There seems to be no other reason for it except to pad the story, but it doesn’t necessarily need it.

Many of the bugs in the game are simple stuff that you can expect from most VR titles nowadays. For example, sometimes items get stuck within each other; other times, they’re entirely stuck to the ground. This makes it harder to keep tools and other resources when they have a habit of being glued to the ground.

Try Hard Guides was provided with a Meta Quest 2 review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!