Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 review: An evolutionary gaming experience

It’s taken thirty years, but we’ve finally got a haptic feedback vest to erase the memory of the deeply mediocre Aura Interactor. That’s not to say there’s any connection between Woojer and Aura — there, of course, isn’t. But that’s absolutely where my mind went when I first got my hands on this strap-on speaker vest. And I’m happy to report that the Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 does everything Aura didn’t.

The Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 is like the regular Woojer Vest 3 but with holsters for Meta Quest controllers. It boasts six powerful sub-woofer sensors; two on the front, two on the sides and two on the back. It’s a sleek looking piece of kit and, once you’ve removed it from its pleasingly professional packaging, it’s a breeze to slip on and extremely comfortable to wear. Mine also came with a spare lining — though, strangely enough, not a line out cable.

To use it, you connect it to a gaming device via line in or Bluetooth. Then, you plug a pair of headphones into the vest’s headphone socket. The vest’s sensors react to the bassier sounds, and the audio is played, as is, through the headphones. How does it work? Amazingly well, as it happens.

Given that the Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 can’t take its cues directly from the game, a la force feedback, it relies exclusively on picking up on low noise. The catch is that to get the most out of it in games, you’re best off disabling the music. But once you do, you’ll feel every bang, every gunshot, right through your body.

Despite its name, you don’t need to use the Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 with a VR headset, although that’s clearly the intended usage. It’s perfectly compatible with other consoles (or any device with an audio out or Bluetooth compatibility), adding immersion to just about anything, and so Robocop: Rogue City was the first game I tried with it. The results were astounding: I could feel Robo’s metallic stomps, the vibration as he is blasted away at foe after foe and when he fell through a walkway, the reverberation made me feel like I was the one knocked off my feet. Admittedly, I had maxed out the sensitivity and volume, but I was determined to get the most out of the Woojer.

Speaking of stomping, the Woojer took Resident Evil 2 to a whole other level. Think Mr. X is terrifying? Imagine feeling, as I did, every one of his stomps echoing right up your spine. Later, against my better judgement, I put on my Meta Quest 2 and dove into the terrifying Madison VR. Even before anything spooky happened, my protagonist’s ragged breath sent vibrations through my torso, and Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife proved almost as unsettling. I hit just short of Woojer’s advertised eight hour battery life, too.

One snag is that if things do get too much for you, turning the volume or sensitivity can be slightly fiddly. The Woojer app grants you the ability to fine-tune almost every aspect of the Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3, but when you’re looking down at the Woojer’s strap-mounted control panel, it’s upside down.

While I’d argue the Woojer 3 is best suited to gaming, it performs well with games, movies and more. Stick on a metal track (I went for Bloodywood’s Gaddar) and you’ll be rocking out like never before. I went down the YouTube rabbit hole wearing it, which was wild. You’ve not seen a man deflect bullets with his ass until you’ve seen it wearing a Woojer Vest 3.

Given the choice between the white Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 and the black Woojer Vest 3 I’d pick the latter, and not just because I want to look like a goth Cyberman. Yes, the white matches the Meta, but I can absolutely see the straps greying slightly over time.

Is the Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 worth the £484 price tag? That’s a little harder to answer. Right now, it’s down to £416 and it seems that there’s frequently some kind of discount on. It’s a luxury purchase, that’s for sure. But the Woojer Made for Meta Vest 3 is a bone shakingly brilliant piece of kit; a genuinely evolutionary gaming experience. If it’s within your price bracket, you won’t regret picking it up.