Woojer Vest 3 Review

I am vibrating as I write this. The silky smooth sounds of Custer by Slipknot work out the pain in my shoulders thanks to the absolute drubbing they’re getting from a consistent blast beat emanating from Woojer’s Vest 3.

While this haptic vest doesn’t quite reach Woojer’s lofty claims to “touch your soul and caress your senses” It is a solidly built accessory that does a superb job of adding an extra level of immersion to your games and a unique way to listen to music.

Back to the 90s

Haptic vests aren’t a particularly new idea, I still remember strapping myself into an Aura interactor in the mid-90s to play a round of Tekken. That vest was basically a wearable subwoofer that made you feel like you had been thrown in a sack and kicked half to death as soon as you tried to do anything,

So twenty years later, as I pulled the Vest 3 out of its rather swanky box and looked at the instructions, I was surprised that the setup processes hadn’t changed much regarding the humble haptic jacket. Thankfully though, the technology powering it is light years ahead.

Using a suite of six haptic transducers spread out across the jacket, it takes the sound inputs from your games and converts them into feedback, in a similar way to a modern controller like the Dual Shock or Joycon.

After I gave it a quick charge with the included USB C charger, downloaded the accompanying mobile app, and updated the firmware. All a fairly painless process I was ready to get strapped into the 3lb jacket.

The Fit

My biggest worry whenever I’m presented with this kind of tech is whether it’ll fit. I’m hard to miss at 6’5 and 280lbs, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to strap myself into the Vest 3, There’s plenty of give in its myriad of buckles and belts, and getting the desired tight fit was an absolute breeze.

It’s also incredibly comfortable with the breathable fabric doing a great job of molding to your body without feeling intrusive. It feels similar to wearing a high-quality life jacket. You forget it’s there after a while, especially when using it with a VR device.

Once I was strapped in I simply needed to use the included 3.5mm audio cable to plug a pad into the vest (I tested it on a Series X, PS5, and Switch) and my headphones into the other jack, and I was good to go. You can use Bluetooth headphones instead but I just prefer a wired connection.

It’s worth bearing in mind you don’t need headphones when you’re playing on a console as sound still comes out of the TV speakers anyway but it does help with the immersion.

Fine-tuning The Feels

There’s a control panel on the front that adjusts the intensity of the feedback as well as the volume of your headphones. However, I would recommend using the app because it does a better job of monitoring everything and making sure you know exactly what level everything is at, and that it’s in the right mode for what you want to use it for.

This becomes important during the final stage of setting the Vest 3 up, (it’s also the most important one to get right and requires the most tinkering) You need to go into the sound settings of the game you are going to play sound settings and make sure the output is properly balanced for use with the vest otherwise every sound coming from the TV regardless of its in-game source will make the vest shake.

Woojer recommended dropping the music down to 20% to stop most interference. I also found the vest worked best if you set the sound source to surround sound since this improves how the vest processes what area of your body has been hit by gunfire and adds to immersion by making it easier to figure out what direction you’re being attacked from.

Shook in the 41st Millenium

The first game I tried was Space Marine 2 on the Xbox, and I have to say the experience was fantastic. It might have been the weight of the vest, the fact that every shot that glanced off my pauldrons made the correct shoulder shake, or the fact it’s just a game with plenty of opportunities for parts of the Vest 3 to do its thing.

It left a great first impression though as with the Vest 3 on, rather than just seeing Titus fight the enemies of the imperium, it felt like I was running around in a big, bulky suit of power armor. I could feel the rumble of the engines in the Thunderhawk as we waited to be deployed. The vibrations from the heavy bolter rattled through my body as I gunned down swarms of Hormagaunts, and getting hit by a Carnifex felt like I’d walked into a truck.

Next up was Tekken 8 which showed the limits of the hardware. Since it’s a noisy game with sounds coming from all over the place. While the vest did an excellent job of minimising the interference from the music, feeling it pulse away to the best of the main theme was quite pleasant, the device shook every time anyone landed a punch. It makes sense since it picks up on audio signals and regardless of who strikes, there’s a big crunchy bass that kicks in whenever a blow is landed.

It was still fun though, even If it felt like I’d just been roughed up by an overzealous bouncer by the end of it.

Hyrule Hyjinks

I then turned my attention to the Switch. I was looking forward to seeing how the Vest handled Tears of the Kingdom as it has one of the best sound mixes of any game, ever.

The good news is it works very well with it. As Link explored one of the shrines, I could feel the huge platforms come crashing down in front of me. The resistance as I glided through the air, and the low hum of ancient machinery rattled through the vest as I explored the dusty puzzle box before me.

You also connect the vest and your headphones to the Switch via Bluetooth rather than the 3.5mm jack so you’re free to swing your joycons around to your heart’s content, rather than having your joypad tethered to the vest.

Resident Rumble

Where the Vest 3 really shines though is when it’s used in conjunction with a VR headset. So I decided to break out the PSVR2 and play Resident Evil: Village.

The setup with the PSVR2, unfortunately, was a little awkward since you need to plug the vest into the headset and then find another pair of headphones or get a 3.5mm extension cable for the earbuds on the PSVR2..

However, once it was all up and running the Vest 3 did a phenomenal job of drawing me further into the exhilarating and terrifying world of Resident Evil: Village.

Playing through the first encounter with the game’s four bosses, I could feel the pieces of scrap Heisenburg traps you with hitting my chest, the ground grinding against me as I was dragged to the meeting, and whir and hum of hideous machinery as it careened towards me. In VR its a lot more subtle but ultimately significantly enhances your gaming experience.

Final Thoughts

The Vest 3 is a well-made peripheral that shines in VR. It’s easy to set up and adds an extra level of immersion to your gameplay experience regardless of whether you use it in VR.

It is worth bearing in mind though that your mileage may vary considerably depending on what kind of games you use with it, and whether strapping yourself in every time you want to sit down for an extended play session is something you’re going to want to do whenever you fire up your gaming device of choice.

The one major sticking point for many though will be the price. At just under $800AUD (£392), it is a tough sell for more than the most ardent VR addict or someone with cash to burn. Especially in a year when the Switch 2 is mere months away, there are new graphics cards to consider, and your PS5 Pro could use a disc drive.

The Vest 3 is a premium product, at a premium price, and a niche one at that, but it achieves what it sets out to do with aplomb.