‘SWARM 2’: More Intense, More Demanding, More Exhilarating, and Out Now on Meta Quest

Intense. Demanding. Exhilarating. That’s been the tagline for SWARM since it first exploded onto Meta Quest headsets in 2021.

Now it’s time for SWARM 2. More intense, more demanding, more exhilarating—and with roguelike progression.

Yes, the grappling-hook-and-guns shooter is back, this time fleshing out the story of Marv and his battle against a life-extinguishing onslaught of robots. Swing through the neon-lit ruins of Earth, fend off an artificial army, and upgrade Marv’s capabilities to help you stay alive a little longer on each run.

Peter Le Bek, the Game Director at Greensky Games, said that SWARM 2 is the game he’s wanted to make since SWARM was released. We sat down with Le Bek to talk about how VR has evolved and grown since those early days, and how that’s played into the creation of SWARM 2. Read on for more details.

Peter Le Bek: So, the original SWARM is an arcade-inspired shooter that at its core, was all about movement using a grappling hook, in a highly physical way that’s only possible in VR. The only form of locomotion was grappling, and SWARM’s Smooth Grappling System (SGS) is absolutely core to the game. It’s the foundation on which everything else sits. Honestly we must’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of hours testing and tweaking to make the grappling in SWARM feel just right and minimize the risk of motion sickness.

And combat was intense, but also strategic. There was a very high skill ceiling, much higher than even I could have imagined! I remember consistently being one of the top players on the leaderboards before we launched, and a few weeks later not even being able to crack the top 100. It was a real eye-opener for me.

When we were creating SWARM, our goal was really to craft an experience that pulls players right into the zone—you know, that "flow-state" where everything just clicks. We wanted them to dive deep into the game, where they're totally absorbed, razor-focused, and time seems to slip away without them even noticing. It's all about that seamless blend of movement and action that makes you lose track of everything else around you.

PL: We started making SWARM before the first Oculus Quest was even publicly available, at a time when “cordless VR” was novel, and many experiences were still struggling with “How do we not make the player motion sick?” with something as simple as walking down a hallway. At the time, even imagining a VR game like SWARM—that moved you at high speeds, constantly accelerated and decelerated and made you move around your playspace—seemed more than a little crazy.

But the response to SWARM blew us away. It's been incredible to see how much love there is for the game. Even after nearly three years and over 2,700 ratings, it's maintained an average rating above 4.8 stars and it's consistently mentioned in lists of the “top-rated” VR games.

We spent the first year after launch adding features to SWARM that players had requested, and eventually we realized that to really make the game that our community was asking for, we would have to make something entirely new. And once we caught wind of plans for Meta Quest 3, we knew the time was right to start on SWARM 2.

PL: Oh, there's a ton to get excited about with SWARM 2! For me, the highlights have to be the introduction of roguelike progression, our massive new environments, the Dash mechanic, the addition of Free Roam mode, and, of course, the epic new boss battles!

As you dive into SWARM 2, you'll gather shards from your runs, regardless of whether you win or lose. These shards are key because you can use them to buy permanent upgrades. We're talking about beefing up your shields, adding extra lives, and unlocking new abilities that really open up different ways to tackle the game and strategize in fresh ways.

And it doesn't stop there. After each level, you're presented with a choice of temporary perks. This could mean anything from boosting your healing rate to increasing your damage output, or even earning more shards. What's cool is how you can customize these perks to fit how you play. Feeling aggressive? Load up on those damage boosts.

The scale of the worlds in SWARM 2 is something else—they're over ten times larger than anything in the previous game, offering close to fifty different environments. This variety is just mind-blowing. Plus, every time you start a run, the maps change, so you're always in for a surprise and each run feels fresh. And with our new Free Roam mode, you can swing around a vast cityscape, drawing a bit of inspiration from a certain web-slinging hero we all know and love.

We've also made some major improvements to the Smooth Grappling System by introducing Dash. This lets you change direction on a dime and gives you control like never before—and if used correctly, can double your swinging speed!

And I can't forget about the new boss battles in SWARM 2. They're on a whole new level of epic. The scale and intensity of these fights are unlike anything we've done before. It's going to be a blast for players to dive into!

PL: We’ve got some really cool DLC that we’re working on, that’s going to be free for everyone. I really think players are going to enjoy it. We’re also always running fun contests and competitions at discord.gg/greensky!

PL: Shoot the weak points!

SWARM 2 is available now on the Meta Quest Store for $24.99 USD.