Under Pressure

I keep a running list of VR titles that do something mechanically interesting and then fail to follow through, and Under Pressure sits near the top of it. The core conceit is simple: you hold a pressure washer in VR and the physics engine does a surprising amount of work. Spraying grime off objects feels satisfying in the same tactile way PowerWash Simulator scratches an itch on a flat screen, except here the sense of scale and arm movement adds a physical dimension that genuinely works in the headset. That part Antibore got right. The game pitches itself as a physics playground rather than a pure cleaning sim, and the distinction matters. You can use the washer's recoil thrust to propel yourself airborne, improvise volleyball or soccer using the water jet as a bat, or throw cleaning bombs to strip large objects in one satisfying burst. The Sketchfab integration is the sleeper feature: it lets you import external 3D models and blast them clean, which in theory gives the sandbox endless content. In practice the quality of those imported objects varies wildly, and the game's own handcrafted environments are thin on the ground. Earning coins to unlock new areas, upgraded washers, and cosmetic hats provides a light progression loop, but it runs out of steam faster than the washers themselves. Multiplayer is where the experience is clearly meant to live. Cleaning alongside friends, playing improvised water-jet volleyball, or racing each other through the air using washer thrust are all legitimately fun for a session or two. The problem is that the player base is small, and some community reports flag persistent connection errors and headset compatibility headaches, particularly with Quest 3 via SteamVR. Solo play exists but the game was not designed with it as a priority, and it shows in the lack of structured single-player goals. The elephant in the room: Steam itself notes that the last developer update was over two years ago. The Early Access roadmap promised expanded flight minigames, PvP ball sports, and PvE boss fights against NPC enemies. None of those appear to have shipped. For a free title the risk is low in pure money terms, but time is a cost too, and there is a real question about whether Antibore is still actively developing the game. The 91% positive Steam rating is encouraging, but 82 reviews is a small sample and most were written when the game was freshly launched and the developer was still communicating. If you own a VR headset and want a goofy thirty-minute co-op session with a friend who is already in your party, the barrier to entry is zero and the laughs-per-minute ratio is respectable. If you are hoping for a growing, supported experience that rewards repeat visits, the evidence does not back that up right now. Treat it as a party trick, not a long-term hobby.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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