Gunman Contracts VR vs Non-VR: Which Mode to Play

What is the same

Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone is one game with two ways in. The three story contracts, The Hive, the challenge modes, the 18 unlockable weapons and the achievements are all the same in both modes. The store page describes it as created from the ground up for VR and Non-VR, and the developer’s Early Access notes say both are fully supported.

What is different

Every contract, skill game and challenge keeps separate leaderboards for the two modes, so flat-screen players are not ranked against VR players.

How to launch each mode

Steam asks which mode to start when you press Play. If VR mode stays on your monitor, open the game’s Properties from the gear icon and check the launch options, or start the game from inside Virtual Desktop, which fixed black screens for several Quest players.

A known annoyance at launch: some players report that the Non-VR mode still starts SteamVR in the background, which wakes up their headset and controllers. There is no official fix yet; see the known issues page.

Is the Non-VR version worth it?

Reviewers who played both are positive about the flat-screen mode. Jammyhero says it feels very good both ways, and VR DaD calls it fully playable on a flat screen and on Steam Deck. The things flat-screen players complain about are settings rather than design:

• Mouse smoothing is on by default. Turn it off in the controls menu.
• Field of view is capped at 65. Players raise it by editing Configs.json; the settings guide has the path.
• Input lag or rubber-banding was fixed for one player by turning V-Sync off.

Steam Deck

The game is Steam Deck Verified, and Valve’s compatibility report passes all four checks. It runs the Non-VR mode with the Deck’s controls.

What the VR version adds

The physicality is the point: holstering guns at your hips, pulling magazines from your chest, pistol-whipping someone in slow motion. That is what reviewers single out, and it is why the game started life as a Half-Life: Alyx mod. If you own a PC VR headset, or a Quest you can connect to a PC (here is how), VR is the version the game was designed around.