Onward

Onward is a tactical multiplayer shooter from Downpour Interactive that originated on PC and arrived on Meta Quest as one of the first truly hardcore military simulators on a standalone headset. The game emphasizes realism - players must manually reload weapons, swap magazines, communicate with their team by voice, plan their advance, and accept that a single hit almost always means death with no immediate return to the action. Game modes include classic team firefights as well as rescue and escape scenarios that require careful coordination of the whole squad and division of roles.

On Quest, the game is praised above all for how well it conveys the tension of realistic combat without needing expensive PC hardware, even though the graphical quality is naturally lower than in the PC version. The absence of respawns within a round and the need for a tactical approach create an atmosphere close to games like Ghost Recon or ArmA, translated into spatial VR, where aiming and moving behind cover depend on actual body movement and natural knee-bending. The sound design - footsteps, gunshots, the rumble of grenades, and radio communication - plays a key role in estimating opponents' positions in an environment with no minimap.

Onward is considered one of the founding titles of the tactical VR shooter genre and has inspired a number of competing games, including Contractors. Its community remains active even years later, and the game regularly appears on rankings of the most-played multiplayer titles on Quest, maintaining its reputation as the most authentic and uncompromising military VR experience on the platform. The community has also long created its own maps and game mods, which Downpour Interactive has often integrated back into the official game, demonstrating a lively relationship between developers and player base. The game began life in early access on PC and gradually became a title the community refers to as the benchmark for what an honest military simulation should look like without compromising gameplay.

Why play it: For players craving the most authentic and uncompromising tactical military experience on Quest, with an active community that has long been creating its own maps and mods.