Contractors

About

Contractors is a single player and multiplayer casual shooter game with warfare and violence themes. It was developed by Caveman Studio and was released on December 14, 2018. It received positive reviews from players.

Contractors is a team-based competitive multiplayer shooter game for virtual reality devices. Experience the next level virtual warfare with hadcore controls, lethal weapons, customizable load-outs, and intense firefights. BECOME AN OPERATOR.

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84%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,459 reviews

gameplay174 positive mentions

stability38 negative mentions

Outstanding mod support allowing play of many popular FPS games in VR including Call of Duty, Halo, and Team Fortress 2, greatly extending replayability.
Satisfying and realistic gunplay with intuitive reload mechanics and good weapon handling, enhanced by virtual stock calibration support.
Cross-platform play between PCVR and Quest/vQuest standalone versions keeps the community active, with plenty of matchmaking options and consistent developer updates in its prime.

The core game is relatively barebones with limited or lackluster official maps and modes, forcing reliance on mods for meaningful gameplay experiences.
Technical issues such as crashing, lag, poor server stability, and occasional compatibility problems hinder the playing experience, especially on PCVR setups.
Community can be toxic with frequent presence of disruptive players and cheaters; voice chat bugs and lack of moderation tools add to frustration for new or casual players.

gameplay
371 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
49%
4%
The gameplay of Contractors VR is widely praised for its smooth, fast-paced, and satisfying gun mechanics that blend realistic handling with arcade-style action, offering a compelling middle ground between titles like Pavlov and Onward. Features like sliding, intuitive reloading, and extensive mod support enhance the experience, though newcomers may face a steep learning curve and some find certain mechanics or animations awkward. While the game impresses with polished visuals and dynamic multiplayer modes, some critiques target inconsistent physics, sound design, and lack of content variety, yet overall it is regarded as one of the best VR shooters available.
- “The core gameplay revolves around competitive multiplayer modes supported by a framework that emphasizes precision, positioning, and teamwork.”
- “This game has solid game mechanics and great optimization.”
- “The gunplay, one of the best out of all the VR games I've tried (sounds, recoil, FX), and intuitive chest rig mechanics make the basic gameplay absolutely superb.”
- “Mediocre game with mediocre mods and mediocre gameplay. I'm still gonna play it to get the money's worth out of it but this just isn't all that great.”
- “In its current state it feels quite overwhelming, trying to teach me all the shooting mechanics at once without giving me any time to practice any of them.”
- “Recoil is non-existent, gun sounds are awful compared to Pavlov, graphics and graphical details are overall unpolished when compared to Pavlov, and base gameplay on the whole is just cheap and mediocre feeling compared to Pavlov.”
graphics
324 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
40%
3%
Contractors VR offers some of the best graphics seen in VR shooters, featuring detailed weapon models, high-quality maps, and polished visual effects that enhance immersion without sacrificing performance. While not the most graphically extravagant compared to some titles, its balance between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay, along with extensive graphical options and mod support, makes it stand out positively in the competitive VR shooter market. Some users note minor graphical downgrades on standalone headsets and occasional optimization issues, but overall the graphics are praised as top-notch and a significant strength of the game.
- “The graphics are top-notch, offering a visually immersive experience that enhances the thrill of each engagement.”
- “This game features a long list of highly accurately modeled weapons, with lots of attachment options, amazing gun handling, fantastic sound effects and really high quality maps with the best graphics seen in VR yet.”
- “The graphics are phenomenal in Contractors, a game looking this well already in early access is sure to be a top contender for the VR FPS category.”
- “At just 22GB, it's clear visuals were sacrificed for compatibility.”
- “One of the absolute worst things about this game is the completely abysmal settings menu; graphics settings are hollow and the gameplay settings and VR adjustments are next to non-existent.”
- “My system is way over the recommended specs and even on low graphics I am constantly receiving frame spikes and a lot of tearing whenever someone shoots in my direction, making it quite a pain to play.”
story
175 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
82%
7%
The game lacks a traditional story mode or campaign, with single-player missions described as basic and focused on simple objectives rather than narrative depth. Most players emphasize its multiplayer and co-op content, praising the engaging gunplay and crossplay features, but note the story aspect is minimal or non-existent. Overall, the story is not a highlight, serving more as a backdrop to the multiplayer experience.
- “Though the singleplayer and co-op missions are quite basic (simple "move here and capture this point" or "defend the VIP" missions, without any set-pieces) and pale in comparison to the singleplayer campaign of games like Zero Caliber, they're quite fun regardless, and helped a lot by the excellent gunplay and rather interesting AI.”
- “This game feels like playing one of my favorite tactical FPS games called 'Insurgency', but in VR, with up to 3 other people doing co-op vs AI missions, with new missions coming out all the time!”
- “I do enjoy the co-op in this with the missions.”
- “The campaign makes no sense; I didn't continue because it doesn't have the feeling of a 'must play' campaign and lacks a background or main story.”
- “New missions are just infinite enemy spawns right on top of you while you try to do a different version of the same thing... after all this time, just have to change this to a thumbs down.”
- “But as soon as I enter a single-player mission, I realize that this game has single-player as an afterthought. Loading into a single-player mission forces you through a waiting lobby on your own as if it were multiplayer, and that's after you've already waited in the loading screen.”
optimization
111 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
50%
14%
Optimization reviews for the game are mixed but lean positive overall, highlighting smooth gameplay, stable frame rates, and good performance even on mid-range hardware. However, many users report occasional stuttering, frame drops, and server-related issues that impact stability, especially after updates, causing frustration for some. The game is generally regarded as better optimized than comparable VR shooters but could benefit from further performance improvements and fixes.
- “While the graphical fidelity may not match the most visually extravagant VR titles, the trade-off benefits gameplay by maintaining smooth performance and responsive controls, both of which are critical in a competitive VR shooter.”
- “Since Pavlov hasn't had a major update in 10 months, I decided to try Contractors. I am extremely impressed with the quality of the game and the optimization!”
- “This game is top-tier optimized! Game performance is buttery smooth (even with supersampling enabled).”
- “The constant stuttering occurs even putting it on low settings for testing purposes; it's awful.”
- “My biggest complaint for this game is the optimization. When I first joined, I was lagging like hell and had to turn all my settings to low with medium resolution to play lagless. Also, when you lag or have a lag spike, your body IK or hands disappear and glitch out, making you unable to click the menu or use weapons.”
- “Engine optimization is terrible with too many frame rate dips on a high-end CPU and GPU.”
stability
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game's stability varies widely depending on the user's hardware and troubleshooting efforts: many report frequent crashes, freezes, and bugs impacting gameplay and UI, while others experience smooth performance with occasional minor glitches. Developers actively address issues with timely bug fixes, but some players still encounter serious stability problems and visual glitches, especially during updates. Overall, the game is somewhat unstable for a portion of the community but offers a playable and relatively polished experience on well-equipped systems.
- “Runs great, looks great, plays amazingly, always populated thanks to crossplay, with an even amount of lobbies using both standard modes and modded content.”
- “Also, it's way more optimized than other VR shooters I've played; runs great on my laptop!”
- “Game runs great on decent hardware and even well on low-end hardware.”
- “It loads through the Caveman Studios logo and contractors loading screen, shows the spinning hourglass, and then crashes to desktop (or now crashes immediately after troubleshooting).”
- “I have spent over 4 hours troubleshooting, including: full game reinstalls, SteamVR uninstall, Meta Quest Link repair, OpenXR runtime resets, cache and config deletion, driver checks, system reboots, and multiple launch methods (SteamVR vs Oculus mode).”
- “Menu's very buggy sometimes appearing normal size and other times appearing too small to interact with; forcing a restart.”
humor
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
95%
5%
The game's humor is a standout aspect, fueled largely by a lively and hilarious community that creates many funny moments and engages in playful, often irreverent banter. While some humor can be edgy or controversial, it generally enhances the social experience, making gameplay with friends especially enjoyable and memorable.
- “The game creates funny moments that make bad times good, perfect for playing with friends.”
- “If you can deal with the issues, you'll have some really good times and funny moments that make it worth it in the end.”
- “Hell, it even has a simple yet very funny zombie mode that can be activated in the training room.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
Users generally criticize the music for its repetitive loops and lack of volume or mute options, which breaks immersion and becomes annoying. However, some appreciate the epic music in certain parts like the intro and loading screens, suggesting it enhances the experience when balanced properly. Overall, the absence of basic music controls is a common frustration.
- “The new start screen is reminiscent of HL:Alyx with the birds and the music.”
- “I was put off by the epic music in the demo clips but after buying and playing it have become an avid promoter of it.”
- “Then when I was throwing down in full blown CoD MW II maps, Star Wars maps with class selection, dozens of laser weapons, light sabers, Jedi, vehicles, music, and as a mod?!”
- “However, as I can't change the music volume, I'm stuck with annoying music.”
- “Such a basic necessity in every video game yet there is no option to remove annoying music.”
- “Real immersion breaking having musical interludes like a single player campaign bursting out as you are sneaking about trying to listen for enemy footsteps.”
monetization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
90%
Monetization in the game appears minimal or nonexistent, with no clear in-game purchases mentioned and a focus instead on community-driven modding that greatly enhances value. However, the developers seem to have shifted focus to a separate, costly PUBG mod, which frustrates some players. Overall, the game avoids aggressive monetization but feels somewhat abandoned by its creators.
- “The devs have since abandoned this game to make an awful cash grab PUBG mod for contractors, and charge $20 for it.”
- “I just want to leave my two cents based on what the reviews/advertising was telling me, versus the actual product that I bought.”
- “Com the other day, and stumbled upon an advertisement for contractors, and I thought 'hey, I'm gonna get it, looks pretty good'.”
grinding
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
56%
Grinding in the game is widely seen as tedious and time-consuming, with players often feeling it requires excessive effort or a "second life" to manage. While some appreciate the detailed customization options, many find repetitive tasks like weapon adjustments and combat mechanics frustrating and monotonous.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Sometimes things can get a bit too realistic to the point of being tedious and annoying.”
- “Configuring every gun for the physical gunstock took ages; even for someone who loves customization, it was tedious.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game offers exceptional replayability, bolstered by full mod support and a wide variety of fan-made content, including popular maps like those from Call of Duty. It stands out as one of the most replayable VR shooters available, combining strong gunplay with engaging singleplayer and multiplayer modes. Users consistently highlight its value and lasting appeal.
- “With full mod support including TF2 VR and Star Wars Battlefront VR, this game offers endless replayability and fan-made content that takes the experience to the next level.”
- “The most replayability of any VR game right now.”
- “It looks great, runs well, and there is finally a shooter with good gunplay and proper singleplayer content / replayability.”
emotional
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a mix of nostalgic joy and frustration, noting the game's wholesome community and fun fast-paced gameplay that evokes youthful excitement. However, they feel that certain VR mechanics, like interacting with gear and using scopes, can be awkward and immersion-breaking, detracting from the overall emotional experience. Lag and control issues also impact enjoyment, highlighting areas needing improvement for a smoother, more natural feel.
- “Bro, the people that play this game are so wholesome and kind, and I always have fun when I play this game.”
- “Contractors VR has made me feel young again.”
- “Haven't given a review for a while but this game made me feel to want to write it.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
Users generally appreciate the game's immersive and well-designed atmosphere, finding it a balanced middle ground between serious military simulations and more arcade-style shooters. Some desire options to customize elements like atmospheric music, while the setting is praised for enhancing the VR shooting experience without being overly slow or cartoonish.
- “It looks like they focused on the atmosphere and general design, which is perfectly fine for this sort of game.”
- “The atmosphere was immersive, even though I'm not usually good at games like these.”
- “It's a perfect middle ground between the serious mil-sim of Onward and the arcadey atmosphere of Pavlov.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development received mixed feedback, with some users noting a cartoony design and bright, colorful graphics that may not appeal to everyone, reflecting a more stylistic than realistic approach.