Arizona Sunshine Remake Review – Gets Gorier

Arizona Sunshine Remake Review

Arizona Sunshine Remake from Vertigo Games brings the 2016 zombie shooter classic up to the same standards as its younger sibling, Arizona Sunshine 2. Arizona Sunshine 2 released in December 2023 and is a notable upgrade over the original game. You can read COG Connected’s review of Arizona Sunshine 2 – here.

The 2016 version of the game was playable on all VR platforms and was a big hit, especially on the PSVR 1. Even though the game was visually glitchy and janky, it persevered because it gave a decent campaign and, well, zombies. It also included a protagonist who relayed backstory and his mental state through a running commentary through the game. A welcome addition because you meet no one else still alive.

Arizona Sunshine also was fun as an action focused first person zombie shooter with a twisted sense of humor. The protagonist’s habit of calling all zombies Fred, be they male or female, endeared the zombies to the player. The Fred moniker lent the zombies personality. A nifty twist in a genre where the enemies are just a faceless mob, only distinguishable by their level of decay.

The setting for Arizona Sunshine was unique too, being out in the desert. Obviously, for technical reasons, it made the environments simpler to depict. There’s a familiar Roadrunner cartoon look to them. Flat, hard-packed ground with little to no vegetation beyond the occasional cacti and all of it hemmed by mountains is much easier to render in VR. Even so, Arizona Sunshine had a few cards up its sleeve. There are other areas to explore, the most notable being the mine section.

Remake Gets Gorier

The mine is the highlight section of the game. In the mine, things are much more confined, and the addition of the element of darkness creates a heightened sense of dread and tension. Throw in gun clips that only carry six rounds and the struggle to ward off a swarm of zombies makes for sweaty moments of gameplay.

When Arizona Sunshine 2 launched late 2023, fans of the first game were salivating to see how the new game would benefit from the advances in VR gaming tech, both software and hardware. On the visual side of things, there is much to be happy about. The environments are more detailed, but more importantly, so too are the zombies. The zombies of the first game are pretty low res and so is the wound damage.

In Arizona Sunshine 2, the zombie models are much more detailed and so are the damage models. You can inflect wounds of varying degrees of gore. In a pinch, when being attacked by a mob, shooting off limbs is an excellent strategy when you don’t have time to line up head shots. Arizona Sunshine 2 also introduced a co-op mode which is always a welcome addition for this type of game. Zombie shooting with a buddy lends itself to a lot of fun.

The big plus with Arizona Sunshine 2 is the addition of a manual reload option. Players can opt for an easy reload by a simple button press. As tense as fighting a zombie mob can be, a button press comes off as a cheat. When you have to actually go through the physical motions of weapon reloading, man, the tension level goes through the roof. If you panic and fumble the reload, well, hasta la vista, baby!

Game Engine Glitches Persist

It wasn’t all rosy with Arizona Sunshine 2 though. Visual glitches still exist with game crashes and players getting stuck on environmental objects. Another disappointment is the use of reprojection. Arizona Sunshine 2 runs at 60FPS which is reprojected to 120FPS. This leads to a blurring effect when you turn in the game. The lack of a native 90FPS mode is disappointing. However, overall, players consider the Arizona Sunshine 2 experience a positive one.

The change in graphics for Arizona Sunshine Remake is startling if you played the original. Everything is so much clearer and detailed, especially the aforementioned zombie models. Once you get into the game, it’s easy to see, however, that this remake does not extend much beyond a graphical face-lift.

The game engine limitations are still in play here. Object pop-in is still present. So is control jankiness. Reaching for a specific object out of a group is still hit and miss. So is opening and closing drawers and doors. I thought the lack of precision with these interactions was because of the light-based tracking of the Playstation Move controllers, so it disappoints that some of the clumsiness remains with the remake.

When you fire up Arizona Sunshine Remake, the first notable thing is no longer does the game open in a mobile home. In the original game, the trailer acted as the game hub where you could load saves, change options or choose which campaign to load. Arizona Sunshine Remake opens traditionally with a menu from which you either launch the game or change options.

Arizona Sunshine Remake Includes All Content

The developers originally launched the game with only the campaign. The developers released the two DLCs – The Damned and Dead Man – later. Also added later was a Horde Mode. Arizona Sunshine Remake includes all of these. In addition, a co-op player mode is also available. If you own the original version of the game, a $10 upgrade will get you the Remake.

Is the remake worth the $40 price if you don’t own the original? That depends on you. If you are looking for a zombie shooter that focuses on fast-paced action with minimal crafting, then this is your game. If you want something more deliberate with a deep crafting system, The Walking Dead – Saints & Sinners games are a better choice.

Arizona Sunshine Remake is a very welcome remaster in a world stuffed with game remasters. VR technology has improved tremendously in the years since the original game launched. This is especially true on the PlayStation side, where the inside out tracking of the PSVR 2 has replaced the light-based tracking of the PSVR 1.

If you have fond memories of Arizona Sunshine, picking up this Remake for $10 is a no-brainer. Wait! Did I say brains? Mmmmmmm.

***A PSVR 2 key was provided by the publisher***