The Climb is a first-person climbing simulator for the Oculus Rift. Make your way to the top of the mountain in the shortest possible time. The game is developed by Crytek, famous for their high quality visuals and of course their powerful game development platform Cryengine.

This game is a graphical masterpiece and without doubt most beautiful game that you can find in the Oculus Store right now. You play this game standing and the controls are currently done through the Xbox One controller. In the future the game will support the specially developed Oculus Touch controllers. By pulling the two triggers on your Xbox controller, you can grab bulges on the mountain. By moving your head, you give direction to your hands. You can look left and right but you also have to lean left, right, up and down to reach a grip or look around a corner.

It seems like a simple task, but it’s a lot harder than you think. For example, you cannot hang endlessly dangling on one arm and some grips are not always within reach. You will have to jump to proceed. That jump is a very exciting experience, after five minutes in The Climb you are totally absorbed in the splendor of the world around you. A jump to a height of 500 meters feels lifelike and just as frightening. Groaning and puffing you move along to reach the summit. Not only the hands in the game start to sweat, after half an hour you feel the real sweat dripping from your forehead. That leaves you no choice than get some rest and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the game.

In total there are three different environments available, that can be played at different intensities and different modes. The Bay is a beautiful green area based on the beautiful nature in Asia. Enjoy the lovely singing of birds, dragonfly’s flying by and the beautiful view from hundreds of feet above the ground. In the Alps you will find hundreds of kilometers of extensive nature based on the Alps. Appreciate the spectacular rivers, magical castles and crazy base jumpers while searching for the top of the mountain. It is a feast for the eyes. In the canyon you climb enormously high mountains, while dangling on a cable car cable a helicopter skims past you. Take a deep breath and don’t look down. Even if you’re not afraid of heights, you will have to catch your breath here.

The Climb can be played in three different modes. The Compete mode is the basic mode for one player. Here you can discover several routes in the three environments. Pass the checkpoints to catch your breath. In this mode you earn points by your style and speed. You can find hidden Easter eggs and if you are one of the best you will reach it to the online leaderboards. Another mode is Bolder. In this mode the objective is an explosive and spectacular manner of climbing to the top. Not an easy task, because there is no chalk available. No scores are kept in the Chill mode. You are free to climb and there are no fixed routes. Enjoy yourself while climbing and adore the surroundings. This is the mode that you show to your family and friends.

Conclusion

After several hours climbing mountains and rode around, I can say with certainty that The Climb is not just another expensive demo. It’s a game that offers the necessary hours of fun. I’ve screamed, cried it out, worshiped the beauty and sniggered while discovering the magical virtual world of The Climb. If you want a small taste of the game, I recommend to try Back to Dinosaur Island 2. This gives an impression of what you can expect from The Climb. The Climb is a must for all Rift owners.