© Scott Olson/Getty Images
Emmanuel Macron a remis une pièce dans la machine en dénonçant une nouvelle fois le « far-west » des réseaux sociaux. L’expression n’est pas nouvelle, la préoccupation non plus, mais elle revient dans un contexte où l’espace numérique continue d’évoluer à une vitesse que la politique peine à suivre. Entre ingérences, désinformation et protection des mineurs, le Président veut afficher une fermeté retrouvée. Reste que le numérique d’aujourd’hui n’a plus grand-chose à voir avec l’Internet des années 2010 : les problèmes ne se situent plus seulement dans les contenus, mais profondément dans la mécanique des plateformes elles-mêmes.
C’est là que le discours présidentiel semble marquer le pas. Parler de « loi du plus fort » et de dérives incontrôlées a une force symbolique, mais réduit un écosystème extraordinairement complexe à un western de série B. Les grandes plateformes ne fonctionnent plus comme des places publiques avec quelques énergumènes à maîtriser ; ce sont des usines à données, propulsées par des algorithmes qui optimisent avant tout l’attention, parfois au détriment du bon sens. À ce niveau-là, ce n’est pas un shérif qu’il faut, mais une équipe d’ingénieurs capables de comprendre ce qui se passe dans les entrailles du monstre.
La question de la désinformation illustre parfaitement ce décalage. Macron y voit un défi démocratique majeur, ce qu’il est, mais il le présente encore comme un problème de contenus nuisibles circulant librement. La réalité est plus sournoise : la désinformation est devenue une conséquence structurelle du modèle même des plateformes. Quand un système de recommandation valorise la provocation parce qu’elle génère plus de temps d’écran, quand la modération repose pour l’essentiel sur des filtres automatisés dont personne — pas même leurs concepteurs — ne maîtrise totalement les effets secondaires, on ne peut pas espérer régler le problème avec un simple serrage de vis réglementaire. Ce serait comme demander à une plateforme vidéo de moins promouvoir le sensationnalisme tout en conservant un modèle publicitaire qui en dépend. Le cœur du système pousse dans une direction ; la politique lui demande d’aller dans l’autre.
Le Président revient aussi sur la protection des mineurs et la fameuse « majorité numérique ». Là encore, l’intention est difficile à critiquer. Mais l’efficacité réelle reste sujette à caution. Les plateformes ont inventé depuis longtemps l’art de la contournabilité : inscription via comptes tiers, accès par VPN, serveurs privés, tout concourt à rendre ces garde-fous largement théoriques. La vraie dépendance, celle qui joue sur la dopamine et les boucles de recommandation, ne disparaît pas parce qu’on fixe une limite d’âge. Et d’ailleurs, elle ne concerne pas seulement les adolescents ; les adultes s’y font happer avec la même facilité.
Au chapitre de la souveraineté numérique, le discours affiche de l’ambition, mais les matériaux manquent. L’idée de reprendre le contrôle sur les géants du numérique revient régulièrement, mais sans politique industrielle cohérente derrière. L’Europe fabrique peu de matériel, n’opère pas de grandes plateformes sociales, ne possède pas d’alternative solide aux infrastructures publicitaires américaines, et accuse encore un retard notable sur les LLM destinés au grand public. On peut toujours imaginer une Europe pesant réellement sur le numérique mondial, mais le chemin pour y parvenir n’est jamais évoqué concrètement dans ces interventions politiques.
Ce qui frappe, au final, c’est le décalage entre la gravité du constat — réel — et la nature des réponses proposées, qui donnent parfois l’impression de s’attaquer aux symptômes plutôt qu’à l’architecture de fond. Le débat public est saturé, les campagnes électorales sont parasitées, la polarisation augmente : tout cela est vrai. Mais il devient difficile de prétendre résoudre ces dynamiques sans toucher aux mécanismes qui les fabriquent, à savoir les modèles de recommandation, les algorithmes d’amplification ou les systèmes de modération automatisée.
La croisade présidentielle a le mérite de remettre le sujet sur la table. Mais si l’on veut sortir du « far-west », il faudra peut-être accepter que le vrai travail se situe très loin des tribunes politiques, dans les logs, les datasets et les architectures des systèmes qui façonnent — bien plus qu’un discours — ce que voient des millions de citoyens chaque jour.
© Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times
© Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Roboquest VR takes an already exhilarating FPS roguelite to deliver a near-flawless adaptation, becoming one of my new favorite games to experience in a VR headset.
VR is no stranger to flatscreen conversions, and Flat2VR Studios quickly made a name for itself doing exactly that. Roboquest VR is the latest example, taking RyseUp Studios' 2023 roguelite FPS and thoroughly overhauling it. You control a Guardian robot taking down waves of hostile enemy machines, blazing a path for your human companion Max towards Haven 8 - an oasis in the desert that makes up most of this post-apocalyptic Earth.
During a run, players can find any number of weapons with Borderlands-esque modifiers from chests, dropped from enemies, found as rewards from challenge rooms, and offered for sale at rest points. The variety on display here is impressive, and that's not even accounting for the different variables weapons can be rolled with. They range from standard rifles and shotguns to energy weapons, joined by handheld fare such as tomahawks, kunai, boomerangs, bows, and more.
This is where Roboquest VR first differentiates itself from the original release. With a keyboard and mouse, range, rate of fire, and such were different - actually controlling each weapon feels much the same. In VR, that's not quite the case.
Bows need you to manually notch an arrow much like other VR experiences; for throwable weapons, instead of merely aiming and holding down the trigger, you instead hold down the trigger, aim a swing, and then let go once you've achieved your desired arc. You can reload weapons with a button click, though Flat2VR has pleasingly added a manual reload function where you actively eject and load magazines. It feels incredible in action, especially with the optional laser sight enabled.
Other retooled elements relate to the user interface; while by default there's a floating health bar for your convenience, you can check your left wrist for more granular information on your status, including HP and how close you are to leveling up. The right wrist can showcase a minimap when raised and can be expanded by holding down the right grip button. Upon level-up, the perks you're offered are portrayed as physical cards that you must grab and then confirm your choice by holding down the trigger while the perk card is in your hand. All very welcome changes, and these go a long way towards grounding the VR experience.
Many of your various Guardian classes' unique abilities have also been retooled to better suit VR gameplay. The default class has a recharging shield tied to pushing in the right analog stick, while holding down the right grip and trigger lets you use a melee attack with the thrust of your arm. That can even be upgraded into a sledgehammer through the selection of random level-up perks, and of course a slightly different focus on swings rather than thrusts. Other classes provide functions like summonable drones that distract and attack enemies, an explosive laser charge, and more. If you didn't know any better, you'd struggle to tell that Roboquest wasn't a VR native release to begin with.
While we had no noticeable performance issues, it's worth noting that I was using top-of-the-line hardware with a Ryzen 7 9800x3D and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090.
This was good for 90FPS on a Quest 3 via Godlike Virtual Desktop settings and maxed out in-game - albeit with Temporal Antialiasing rather than MSAA. We even tested it at 120 FPS, thanks to the recent Virtual Desktop 2-pass encoding update, and it holds up brilliantly for me.
You can find the minimum requirements and recommended specs on the Steam page.
Still, Roboquest was already a fairly brutal experience, and its VR conversion makes it even more difficult. Once you get to grips with the controls, however, it's an exhilarating experience unlike anything else - Roboquest isn't just a fast-paced game, but verticality is a core element of its gameplay loop. Jumping onto grind rails and rocketing yourself across the map with a double jump while peppering bullets on the enemies below isn't just a possibility; it's basically expected when you near a run's end game. Some bosses even outright depend on it! It's one thing when all that aiming only requires a mouse, but when you get your whole body in the equation, what was already a taxing experience feels like it asks even more from you. Even if in return is a far more memorable experience.
There are, of course, additional difficulty options (four in total) for players looking for them. Easy mode offers a slightly less oppressive difficulty curve while still maintaining most of the friction that makes the game shine; a sensible choice as you accustom yourself to Roboquest VR and its controls. Levels are randomly generated, though it's best to think of it like Risk of Rain's procedural generation; the bulk of each level's layout remains the same, so you can quickly learn the best way to beeline from point A to point B.
Roboquest VR is not a game I would recommend to anyone but the most seasoned VR veterans. By its very nature, the comfort options at your disposal are fairly limited.
You can use smooth and snap camera turning, there's an option to enable a motion vignette, and there's the ability to choose either standing and seated play. Movement direction can be based on your head's position or your hand, using artificial stick-based locomotion. Roboquest also features heavy use of high-speed, verticality-focused gameplay.
Adaptive triggers on PS VR2 can be switched off alongside controller vibration, you can select your dominant hand, and a motion vignette is also available. Lastly, you can select to automatically face the movement direction when using a bounce pad.
Considering that some of the game's branching paths are locked behind fairly strict time requirements - many of which eventually lead to crystals that, once activated, make the final level less difficult - it's all well and good that's the case. It's a good enough hook to keep playing, even though the story is by no means the game's focus. There's worldbuilding for players to look out for if that's their fancy, however - and some of that does tie into some of the game's optional objectives.
Sometimes one path provides a quest item to hand over to an NPC found on an entirely different route from the one you took; maybe you'll be rewarded the passcode or ticket to access an area you couldn't reach the first time. Individual locations don't change much beyond the enemies you find there, yet there's still plenty of strategy to be had with each run and deciding what your ultimate goal is. These feel like the perfect length for VR; not accounting for moments where the timer is paused while in camps, a successful run typically lasts between 30-45 minutes.
Upon ending your run, you can spend resources accrued within to upgrade your base. These include upgrading the amount of HP you gain from a level-up or increasing the rarity of weapons you might find in chests, alongside spawning NPCs that can reroll or add new abilities to your weapons. You can even increase their rarity when using Powercells gained during a run.
While James reviewed the PC VR edition, Roboquest VR has some subtle differences on PlayStation VR2 worth mentioning. Performance runs at 60Hz reprojected to 120Hz, which you naturally won't find on Steam. Flat2VR Studios is working to patch in native 90Hz support, though the fast-paced, colorful visuals means reprojection is sometimes noticeable.
Beyond this, Roboquest VR makes great use of haptic feedback across the headset and controllers. Adaptive trigger support feels nice, and its using dynamic foveated rendering. Cutscenes can be skipped by pressing buttons, and my only major complaint right now is how sensitive this is. I accidentally skipped cutscenes on several occasions.
If you're sensitive to reprojection, it may be worth waiting slightly longer for that 90Hz patch. Generally speaking though, it's a solid option for PS VR2 owners right now and I encountered no framerate drops on PS5 Pro.
This section was written by the Senior Editor, Henry Stockdale.
Completing NPC quests rewards you with gadgets, permanent toggleable modifiers that apply from the outset of a run. Some quests, beyond simply requiring items from other branching paths, might require specific actions. You may need to bring a specific weapon to show an NPC, save up on Powercells to open a door, or use a specific Guardian class to get past a wall of lasers. Some of these are pure upgrades - one will net you a free Powercell upon level-up, for example - while others offer trade-offs, like the Shades which increase your base damage but limit your starting health. They're still well worth seeking out regardless, as toggling them on and off back at your basecamp can radically change how runs play out in some cases.
Like any good roguelite, Roboquest VR delivers a satisfying loop that both complements the moment-to-moment gameplay and actively pushes you outside of your comfort zone. Exploring these zones and figuring out where to find these hidden areas or logs detailing some of the game's lore also benefits from the transition to VR. Looking out for level geometry you can use as a makeshift parkour track to reach somewhere out of reach feels all the more engaging when it feels like you're the one making those jumps, and finding these hidden areas.
Roboquest VR takes what was already a great flatscreen roguelite experience and transforms it into a new VR classic. Moment-to-moment gameplay feels fantastic, and the game is right at home on the platform. Flat2VR Studios should take pride in the work they've accomplished, as it feels like an essential experience for hardcore VR players without being revolutionary. I just wish that co-op was available at launch; I'd like any reason to hop back in for another round.
UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.
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