Into the Radius' intense commitment to realism, especially in a medium as finicky as VR, initially seemed dangerously counter-productive, but somehow the elaborate bullet-counting, gun-cleaning, backpack-stuffing, wasteland-exploring gameplay works to create a staggeringly immersive system where each expedition into the radius is a painstaking hike into the unknown.

Admittedly, the whole game is pretty janky. Your hands’ physics get in the way of simple world interactions. No doors can be opened. The on-body inventory system is difficult to get used to. Yet, it wouldn't be the same if you replaced all your equipment with something like a radial menu. Everything in Into the Radius is diegetic. You’ve got a backpack full of miscellaneous items that take up physical space. Essential tools can be stored in various slots on your body. Your map and missions are notes on a clipboard. Menus are on rustic computers. Almost everything degrades. The game is doing everything it can to make you a part of this world and it works.

Your time in the radius is spent in a focused state of observation, looking and listening for threats and resources. Enemies and anomalies produce distinct auditory queues. Foes are often obscured by the game’s perpetual darkness. Producing light heightens your perception but jeopardizes stealth. Given that combat can quickly go south if you approach an encounter unprepared, the game incentivizes good preparation, constant alertness, and patient tactics.

This is probably the first game I’ve played to make me care about empty magazines. Instead of throwing them on the ground, I’m quickly tucking them back into my pockets, even under stress, because they cost money and are reusable. Whenever I feel safe, I try to quietly and quickly load spare bullets into them. When I misjudge my safety, then I find myself with a backpack out, occupied hands, and an unloaded gun. This sort of spontaneous anxiety in situations that call for complete situational awareness, on-the-fly decisions, and split-second reactions in a game that spends so much time being slow and foreboding produces a special kind of penetrating horror.

The options to make the experience particularly grueling are absolutely there, but I found that even on a less aggressive difficulty the core atmosphere and malicious nature of the world weren't diminished by a slower hunger meter. I also recommend getting a few small, easy-to-install mods that fix stuff like the helmet viewmodel and the viability of stealth.

Even with the graphical and physics jank, I still found Into the Radius to be vastly more consuming than I expected. It’s a different sort of horror game that gives you the perfect amount of control. I loved the cycle of prepping for half an hour at the base only to have my confidence shattered in seconds by a dark, unfamiliar building full of whispering monsters. The vistas in this grey, cosmically-twisted no-man's-land are staggering in VR. It’s an immersive experience that’s as rewarding as it is meticulous.