Seeing as the world is pretty much devoid of sports at the moment, 2MD: VR Football Evolution does a great job of not only giving us a solid quarterback simulation but also in providing some fun graphic updates to its’ first game, 2MD: VR Football as well.
The Premise is a dystopian future where we’ve resorted to having robots play our sports for us. Trying to ignore the fact that this seems like a very real possibility considering the current state of things, it still provides an interesting atmosphere to play amongst. Gone are the tackling dummies from the original, now you take to the field with a team of robots and the simplistic tackling animations have become spark filled clank-fests with the robot players smashing into each other creating a real feeling of impact.
How it works is you have two minutes of game time against teams of increasing difficulty with your goal being to score a touchdown or two before either the clock runs out, or you throw too many interceptions or turn the ball over on downs too many times. After each game, you get a bonus round where you need to throw the ball through hoops and to various players to get the best score possible. The throwing is customized in a practice field where you can adjust the height you want your release point of the ball to be at and how much force you will have to put into your throw to get it the distance you’d like. You can draw up your own plays and formations and you have access to 8 per controller which gives you an incredible amount of options for attacking the opponents’ defense.
Once you take to the field, the throwing is smoother than the previous game and it’s impressively accurate in tracking exactly where you want the ball to go. The player models now catch balls where they’re thrown and provide a far more realistic feeling experience this time around. Teams are also able to blitz you and thankfully this time around running is a far smoother experience. Let’s explore the workout potential here.
Preparation –
You can play 2MD: VR Football Evolution standing in place or in a large play area. I’d advise wearing shoes for this experience if you’re going with a full play area as you’re going to be moving around a lot and you can easily slip if you’re just wearing socks during your time with the game. The game is available on Oculus Quest for a wire-free experience which will make maneuvering and throwing far easier.
Intensity- 7/10
I tracked my workout using a Fitbit during my 30-minute play session.
Calories burned: 227
Calories burned per minute: 7.56
Average Heart Rate: 109
Max Heart Rate: 126
Active Minutes: 25
I found the most intense moments of the workout happened during the bonus rounds after each opponent. The rapid-fire nature of trying to hit all the rings is insanely taxing on your arm if you’re using the low assist throwing style like I was and you will absolutely feel it after you put the controllers down.
Arms- 8/10
This being a Quarterback simulator, you can expect your arms to be heavily involved in the gameplay. The catch here is that unless you’re ambidextrous, only one arm is really going to feel the workout here. Throwing long distances requires a strong throwing motion which will really make your entire arm sore if you’re trying to throw it 50 yards on every play. In order to give your other arm some work during gameplay, you can hold both hands up to receive the ball on the snap, which, while not necessary in this game, is how actual Quarterbacks play and it can increase your immersion and give you a nice burn in the dormant arm while you’re throwing bullet passes.
Legs – 7/10
Your leg usage in this game depends on your play space. While you can play the game stationary, it’s far more fun and a better workout if you have a 5×5 area to operate in. With this space available, you can actually maneuver in the pocket and dodge incoming blitzes and lineman to prolong the play. Theoretically, if you had an extremely large play space available, say a large backyard or something, you could draw up a massive play area and really give yourself a more intensive workout experience as you’d be able to fully roll out of the pocket and scramble downfield as well. This would require either the Oculus Quest version or many, many long extension cords though, so it’s not the most convenient. That being said, just having that normal play space can get your hamstrings burning quickly so I’d advise a full stretch before playing this way.
Core and Balance – 6/10
While the actuality of being a Quarterback requires a strong core, 2MD: VR Football Evolution doesn’t. Perhaps in the future they will add things like having tacklers jumping at you or diving at your ankles to trip you up that you either have to duck or jump over, but for now the only core workout you will feel is from throwing. Still, after a while in the game and doing the bonus challenging your abs will feel it as you’re constantly throwing over and over again and with the proper throwing motion, it can provide a decent core workout.
Time perception – 9/10
This is one of those games where defeat is an excruciating march back to the starting line. Because of that, the urge to try one more round in the gauntlet is very intriguing and the defenses become harder and harder as you go really requiring you to draw up the perfect play or be sent packing yet again. I’ve found it easy to lose myself playing this game and it’s also a great one to try with friends as well.
Replayability- 8/10
If you love football, this will become one of your favorite VR games and despite there not being a ton of teams to work through, no playthrough ever feels the same and with the ability to customize your plays you can always try different game plans to see how the AI changes to defend you. Just as football is plenty replayable, so is 2MD: VR Football Evolution.
Fitness Scalability 7/10
Depending on how fast you want to run your offense, you can either be very methodical with your throws or run the hurry-up offense and be firing a throw every 5 seconds. If you have a bigger space to play your workout will be far more intensive and complete than if you have to play in place, so that is highly recommended. There are no difficulty modes, but decreasing the assisted throwing power will make you work for your deep throws far more and result in a better arm workout.
Lack of Nausea- 9/10
Nothing presented to me in my experience caused any sort of nausea or dizziness. The graphics are basic enough that your system should run it no problem without stuttering or any kind of strange glitching that might cause dizziness to occur. Most of the game is you more or less standing in place, but taking off and running isn’t the smoothest and some slight disorientation could happen from it if you aren’t used to moving in-game without moving in real life.
Social Competition- 4/10
There is no real multiplayer aspect to 2MD: VR Football Evolution. You can play with friends in person, and there is a leaderboard to track your score against other players.
VR FIT SCORE- 7.2/10
The Good
2MD: VR Football Evolution is a fairly accurate Quarterback simulator that brings the intensity and thrills of the last two minutes of a football game to VR. There are lots of customization options, including creating your own jerseys, plays, Quarterback voices, and teams. It provides a great arm workout while having the space available will also bring your legs into the action as well. It’s also free if you’ve previously purchased 2MD: VR Football
The Bad
Simplistic, non-realistic graphics. It only works out one arm mostly. There isn’t much longevity to the one mode available. If you don’t like Football, you likely won’t be thrilled with the experience.
2MD: VR Football Evolution is available for 12.99 (or free if you have 2MD: VR Football) on Steam and playable on Oculus Rift, Valve Index, HTC Vive, PSVR and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
