It feels like it's been forever since Among Us VR came out. Obviously, that's an exaggeration — it's been a little over half a year — but because Schell Games and Innersloth stuck with one map since launch, it's felt far longer. We've been waiting for more of Among Us' maps to make the jump to virtual reality.
Thankfully, that wait ends in just one month, when Among Us VR gets its second map, Polus Point, on July 27. Two Android Central writers had the chance to play the new map early, as part of a Schell Games press preview, enjoying classic Crewmates vs. Imposters, Hide and Seek, and Frantic mode matches.
Spoiler alert: We both had a blast! Here's what to expect from Polus Point, the new Among Us VR map that'll arrive as a free update next month.
Nick Sutrich: Just as with the Polus map in the original Among Us game, Polus Point is larger than The Skeld, making it well-suited for matches with larger groups of friends. It's easier for imposters to get crewmates isolated, but also easier for crewmates to zoom through tasks or lurk in corners while imposters struggle to find them.
Some tasks haven't changed from Skeld II tasks — things like turning a wheel or pushing a lever — many of them change things up just enough to make the experience feel fresh. My favorite new job is collecting the gems in the mine as it operates like one of those claw machines at your local mom & pop pizza shop.
And it’s not just the size or amount of things to do that makes this release so good; it’s also the layout. Polus Point is far more winding and interconnected than Skeld II is, and there were plenty of times in our playtest that had me running for my life only to be intercepted by the imposter before I could report them.
And, like Michael notes below, Polus Point is full of windows and areas where crewmates and imposters can spy on each other to plan their attack (or escape). During one harrowing moment, a group of crewmates were finishing tasks together while the ones who finished were watching their backs.
Sure enough, I turned around at one point and saw someone staring at us through one of the windows. It felt straight out of a horror movie! I screamed and pointed and, once they realized we were on to them, they turned tail and ran.
It’s these times when Among Us is the most fun, and that's especially true when we switched up the gameplay.
During the play session, we tried out several different groups of modifiers that turned the map into an elaborate game of tag, complete with near-zero visibility for crewmates. Other modifiers had the imposters moving at superhuman speed, while yet another group of modifiers turned the kill timer down to just a few seconds, creating instant pandemonium for everyone involved.
It was an absolute blast and I can’t wait to play it again and again with friends when it’s out!
Michael Hicks: Like Nick, I had a fantastic time on Polus Point — perhaps because I had almost no idea where I was going. The Skeld II is all simple corridors and one-way routes, but on Polus Point, you'll see an arrow pointing towards a sabotaged reactor, head "towards" it, and end up going completely the wrong way.
No doubt I'll start to know my way around better as I continue to play, but for now, it adds a level of frantic fun to the experience.
And speaking of "Frantic," my favorite moments of our hour-long session were when we switched up the gameplay to play different custom "game types" like Hide and Seek, as Nick mentioned. I had a blast openly roving around the map as an imposter, taunting crewmates by telling them how many seconds of life they had left.
I just wish that Among Us actually offered these as separate modes with their own matchmaking sessions. Unless you have a dedicated group of Among Us friends willing to experiment, you're usually going to have to count on convincing random strangers to play different game types, and follow the honor system of, say, not reporting bodies in Hide and Seek.
Since the original Among Us added new modes and roles, I'm hoping the VR port will...eventually. But at our current pace of a new map every six months, it may take a while for new mechanics to be a priority!
Back to Polus Point: the trailer does a good job of highlighting all the little Easter Eggs you'll notice on the map when you're not sprinting from one task to the next. Unlike The Skeld, which has a more serious look, Polus Point has TVs, monitors with bouncing crewmate screensavers, lava waterfalls, portraits of shushing crewmates, snowmen, abandoned pizza boxes, and other absurd little touches to make it feel lived in.
I also like how the map has a couple of windows, making it easier for crewmates or imposters to spy on approaching players and either attack or flee based on that information.
Overall, I think players are really going to appreciate the variety, so it's less easy for imposters to just memorize a bunch of Skeld tasks to trick crewmates. When I was the imposter in the first round, it really made me think on my feet to come up with convincing fake tasks to keep suspicion off me.
If you're interested in trying Polus Point for yourself, you can participate in a beta between today, 6/28 at 1pm ET and Monday, 7/3 at 1pm. Quest 2 players can go to the Meta Store page on the Quest app and change the version from "LIVE" to "beta." Steam players can go to the game "Properties" and click the "BETAS" tab to find it.
