Hey everyone, Blake here with my newest blog post for The Virtual Reviewer. I’m here to give you the inside scoop on the crazy new virtual reality gaming center my family and I checked out last weekend called EVA Esports. We had an absolute blast, but it wasn’t without its ups and downs. Strap in because I have a full recount of our adventure at EVA!
First off, a little background. EVA stands for Esports Virtual Arenas. They opened their first US location just outside Dallas in Flower Mound, TX, back in December 2022. My 14-year-old son John had been begging us to go ever since he heard about it, so when they announced a special family weekend event, I snatched up tickets for the four of us right away.
The Venue
We rolled up to the massive warehouse-looking building around noon on Saturday. The place was popping off even from the parking lot, with people streaming in the front door. Once inside, the venue was even more impressive with neon lights, arcade games, huge screens broadcasting live matches, and a slick-looking bar they call the “CyberBar.” Very cool ambiance and setup. A hostess checked us in, confirmed our 2 pm reservation, and said to meet our VR coach, Taylor, at the orientation room 15 minutes early.
My wife Patty and kids explored the arcade area while I snagged us a table in the CyberBar with a perfect view of the stage and main screen. We munched on some surprisingly decent pub food and drank unique cocktails with funny sci-fi names to get hyped up for our session. I’ll admit the ticket prices were a bit steep, but the premium feel of the venue justified the cost.
When 1:45 pm rolled around, we headed to the back corner of the warehouse to meet Taylor and get our tutorial. She walked us through the equipment like the haptic vest, wrist attachments, VR helmet, and mock rifle controller. Taylor was super helpful in making sure the gear fit each of us properly, and that we knew how to play the zombie shooter game we selected. We had about 10 minutes before our match started to mess around in the practice arena, which was trippy and disorienting at first. Overall very solid introduction – we felt prepared.
The Gameplay Experience
At 2 pm sharp, it was game time! A staff member led our squad into one of two massive VR arenas. I’m talking full-on Tron style with gridded floors, sensors along the walls, and cameras on the ceiling to track our movement and positioning. So cool! Once inside, all there was to see was each other and vacant space – until we put those VR helmets on. Then, suddenly the arena transformed into a creepy, run-down city filled with abandoned cars, crashed helicopters, debris everywhere, and distant screams and explosions. My heart was already racing just from the environment alone.
Our guide gave a countdown, then all hell broke loose. Zombies started closing in on us from every direction. We ducked behind the cover and started blasting away. The guns had super realistic kickbacks that matched up with firing in-game. Each time I got tackled by a zombie, the vest vibrated, adding to the intensity. We fought wave after wave, covering each other while hordes descended from rooftops, crawled out of manholes, and charged straight at us.
It was SUCH an adrenaline rush! The girls teamed up while John and I did our own thing mainly. I will say the headset and backpack did start to feel heavy after a while. I was dripping sweat 20 minutes in. Super fun but quite a workout hauling myself around the huge space. After 40 minutes of intense gameplay, we successfully completed the mission and made it out alive! We shed our gear and swapped high fives, all totally pumped up from the experience.
Things I’d Improve
I seriously can’t overstate how insanely cool this place is. EVA delivered big time! That said, with any new tech-focused business, there were some kinks I noticed that could use some ironing out.
First, the VR graphics and resolution weren’t as crisp as I expected based on their marketing photos and videos. Still really good, but up close, some environments and zombie models were less detailed. Second, the headset didn’t always sync up perfectly to what my gun was aiming at. This led to some frustrating moments of empty clicking before realizing I needed to adjust my aim. Annoying in the heat of battle against zombies!
Additionally, some of the weapons, like the grenade launcher, felt clunky and awkward to handle. The reload motions didn’t translate well and were inconsistent. And while the arena footprint is super impressive, there were times I felt constrained by the physical walls despite the virtual world appearing endless. These tech issues could be ironed out with software updates and the next gen of VR gear though.
Overall
At the end of the day, we had an absolute blast at EVA Esports in Flower Mound. As a tech nerd and lifelong gamer myself, I couldn’t get over how freaking cool the full experience was. Huge props to the founders for pursuing such an ambitious concept and largely pulling it off. The virtual reality graphics were stunning, the venue setup was perfect for families or serious gamers, and the actual gameplay was scary and intense!
Do the tickets run a little pricey? Sure. Is the gear awkward and heavy at times? Definitely. But neither of those stopped me from having some of the most fun I’ve had in years running around and fending off zombies alongside my family. John, in particular, can’t stop raving about it to all his friends – I told him we can definitely go back, but he’s gotta help pay next time, haha.
If you live in the DFW area and are looking for a new adventure unlike anything else out there, I can’t recommend EVA Esports enough. This kind of wild VR gaming is the future. EVA does an awesome job giving a glimpse into that future today. Just don’t eat a big meal beforehand, and be prepared to shed some sweat! Major props to the EVA team – we’ll be back soon!