CONVRGENCE: two and a half years of VR early access, and a dog that helps you scavenge

CONVRGENCE's best argument fits in one line of its store page: no floating windows, no laser pointers, all interfaces are diegetic.

For anybody who has spent time in virtual reality, that sentence is worth more than a trailer. It means the game has you handling objects rather than menus.

The setting

At the turn of the 21st century, an explosion rocks a clandestine laboratory in Chernokamensk. A massive energy release turns the city into an exclusion zone, periodically lit by an eerie glow. The government walls the region off.

Documents leak, in which one word recurs: convergence. Nobody knows what the zone really hides. But rumours of treasure and artefacts draw people from across the country.

If that premise reminds you of something, it should: the game comes from the creator of Paradox of Hope, and it openly cultivates that heritage.

The loop

This is a single-player extraction shooter, and it follows the rules.

You prepare your raid: choose and maintain your firearms, stock up on ammunition and supplies. The game warns bluntly that a sloppy plan is paid for with a foolish death.

You scavenge, you survive, you exfiltrate. And the penalty is clear: on death, all uninsured equipment is lost.

Then you sell what you found, artefacts included, and reinvest in better equipment, a more interesting gun or a bigger backpack.

Locations are procedurally generated, so every expedition has its own geography.

The dog

This is the game's find, and it is better than it sounds.

You have a four-legged companion that helps not only in battle but also in scavenging for supplies.

In virtual reality that counts for more than in a conventional game. An animal companion you see at hand height, that you can follow with your eyes, with whom you share a physical space, creates a bond no interface replaces. And in a genre you play alone, raid after raid, having somebody beside you changes the mood of an expedition.

What 1.0 brings

The game has been in early access since April 2024, and shows 1,377 positive reviews out of 1,557, roughly 88 per cent.

Three practical facts to know before launching the update.

There will be no general wipe. Your gear, weapons, hideout and vehicle upgrades, and all accumulated money, are kept.

But your mission progress resets. The main quests have been significantly reworked, so mission progress and unlocked reputations are reset. That is the trade-off, and it is clearly announced.

And 1.0's major addition is a full story, tying together the game's events and finally letting you reach the heart of the Chernokamensk anomaly zone.

The studio has also prepared exclusive rewards for early access players, including a knife skin reserved for veterans.

What to know before buying

The decisive point: this is a VR-only game. No flat-screen mode, no compromise. If you do not own a headset, this game does not exist for you.

At 24.99 euros, from a studio called Monkey-With-a-Bomb that sustained two and a half years of support, it is an honest proposition in a sector where plenty of VR projects are abandoned along the way.

Accessibility options are plentiful, with seated mode, left-handed mode and multiple movement and turning styles, which is essential in a genre where motion sickness eliminates half the candidates.

What is the most useful thing your dog brought back? We compare finds on the InsertCoins Discord.