Trapped inside most men is a wannabe football player. A few lucky individuals with great genetics are able to combine their desire to become a gridiron great with hard work and actually play the sport professionally. The rest of us end up like Uncle Rico, wondering what would have happened if coach would have just put us in the game. Well now thanks to 2MD VR Football, we can relive our glory days from the comfort of our living rooms without having to worry about concussions and mangled limbs.
2MD puts the player in the cleats of a quarterback. Instead of ultra-realistic players, your teammates and opponents look like tackling dummies with helmets. You begin the game in the locker room. One of the neat features is that you can design up to four custom plays. While standing in front of a white board filled with Xs and Os you can move players around and draw routes with a virtual marker. These carry over to the actual gameplay were you use the directional pad to select plays.
The game does a pretty good job of giving players the feeling that they are on the field in the center of the action albeit in a slightly outlandish way. After creating your plays you hit the turf for two minute segments where you can pass or hand the pigskin off to eligible players. After scoring a touchdown, you enter a bonus mode where you can toss passes through rings of fire for extra points. After my first touchdown and bonus round I ended up with 66 points. You also do not play any defense. Lets just say that your standard NFL rules don’t always apply.
Preparation
There is little preparation needed for this experience. If anything make sure you have ample space to play in. Make sure that you have enough room overhead to make throwing motions. If you don’t move. Otherwise you risk breaking controllers or lights. As always I used a headband to help with perspiration and an iWatch to track time and calories burned. If you are worried about cranial trauma wear a helmet (just kidding).
Intensity 3/10
As much as I enjoyed throwing Hail Marys and watching my dummy teammates getting slammed into the turf, 2MD is not physically demanding. After 25 minutes of gameplay my heart rate never went above 70 beats per minute.
Arms 3/10
Since most of the activity is restricted to the players dominant arm whatever fitness benefits you do get are unbalanced. I did try to throw with my left hand for a while, but it felt too weird to keep it up for any length of time. Passing is too infrequent to really engage the arms in any significant way.
Legs 2/10
Despite wanting to move my legs to avoid the occasional sack, or to get a better view of my receivers I was stuck in the same place. A recent update has made it to where the player can run the ball using the directional pad. Unfortunately even with the update there was little to no exertion by my lower body. On the bright side at least I wasn’t sitting.
Core 3/10
The act of throwing engages core muscles. If you play long enough you just might feel it in your obliques. However, if you don’t throw with both arms, then any results you might receive will be unilateral.
Time Perception 7/10
I played for 25 minutes and although the play clock was constantly there to remind me of how much time was left the minutes flew by.
Replayability 6/10
User play design, team customization options, and trophy collection for achievements offer enough variety to keep you coming back for a number of sessions.
Fitness Scalability 4/10
Putting on a weighted vest or gloves doesn’t make much of a difference. If the game lacks mechanics that encourage movement, adding all of the weights in the world won’t make a difference. There are a number things that could be added to make the game a true VR fitness experience like pumping the controllers while running in place to simulate actual running, or ducking or slipping tackles. But without these additions scalability is low.
Lack of Nausea 8/10
I didn’t feel queasy at all. However, there are a lot of moving players in the game and little movement by the actual user. This combination could more easily affect those prone to motion/VR sickness.
Social Competition 8/10
Yay, there is a Steam leaderboard. At least you can impress your friends with your Tom Bradyesque passing skills.
VRFI Fit Score 4.8
I was really hoping that 2MD VR Football had game mechanics that would translate to fitness results. Unfortunately, as far as fitness goes, 2MD doesn’t make the cut. If you are wanting to get the exercise benefits that come from football you are better off playing catch in the backyard, or signing up for a community flag football league.
