Downward Spiral: Horus station is a game that can both be played in VR or on regular screens. About a year ago we got to play the prologue on steam called Downward Spiral: Prologue. Now we get to play the completed game. Both ways to play the game have their flaws. When you play VR, the game seems a bit hard to aim with certain weapons. And if you do not play VR than the game constantly reminds you that it was created with the main focus on the VR features.
The game is set in an abandoned space station that was completely taken over by the Artificial Intelligence robots. All life on the station was cleared away. Now years later we get the chance to roam this vast ship and see everything it contains and reveal all its secrets. Graphical this game is really on point. The high-quality textures and objects in the game make it look like it was brought to you by a triple-A developer. The mechanics and the immersion of the game, however, do not give the same effect.
Moving around the game is really realistic. Since there is no gravity you have to pull yourself around along handlebars or by using your grappling hook. However, all these methods are extremely slow and when you do not play VR feel a bit wrong. Including the tediously long travel times through long hallways, the gameplay only lasts about 4 hours. So, don’t go expecting hours and hours on end renewing gameplay.
When you start the game, you get to choose if you want to just roam around the station without enemies or weapons, or if you want the fighting experience. The first mode is more like a walking simulator, just exploring the ship without a real purpose. And the second of course, involves combat. The combat in the game is well done, the weapons are fun to play with and the enemies are fun to destroy. But again, the missions are really bland, and it takes a very long time to get to some action after which you have to float around at the top speed of a snail high on sleeping medicine.
DS: Horus Station seems to have put way too much attention into the graphics and textures. These are very important aspects of a great VR experience. They just did not put enough time into the story, the story development and the mechanics of the game. When starting up the game made me expect more than I received which led to a bit of a letdown. However, If you have a VR set and would like a fun VR game you won’t hurt yourself with the low price tag of this game. If this was a 60-dollar game I would rant even more about it. But, since the price tag is only like a quarter of that, I think it is really worth it for a new VR experience. Not so much if you play the flat screen version.
