Real-time strategy games are among my favourite genres. They are also dramatically underserved in VR. Despite notable PCVR iterations of the genre like the outstanding Brass Tactics or the “quite good” Air Mech Command, not to mention the amazing MOBA-infused offers like Glassbreakers and Final Assault, standalone has seen very little in the genre.

The Quest does indeed have a few contenders. Games like Eternal Starlight, Battlegroup VR, or even Gods of Gravity all have their place, but overall, they all seemed to get Lost in Space. So, when a new addition to the genre is announced, particularly one from a well-established pancake franchise, I sit up and take note.

So, travel with me now, dear viewer, into the inky void, and let’s see if developers Farbridge have given us what we so richly deserve or if we’ll end up floating rather aimlessly amongst the stars…

Mother is My Ship

For those familiar with the source material, Vast Reaches slots neatly into the period between the events of the first two Homeworld games. In this instalment, you are tasked with leading a fleet during a crucial time after the Kushan reclaim their Homeworld.

With the original hero guiding you and the classic mothership at your command, you are set about defending yourself from a race of sneaky traders after your hypercore. The plot is well delivered through cut scenes and in-game dialogue, bridging the two main titles and adding a new layer of threat.

Harvesting The Void

Like many RTS games, Homeworld: Vast Reaches has you commanding various units, each with its strategic strengths and weaknesses. As expected, you will also dedicate mental energy to resource collection, which, in this case, means harvesting asteroids for…something.

There is no base building or upgrade pathway to manage, so there is limited depth on offer compared to more traditional RTS games. Vast Reaches simply gives players a set of prescribed skirmishes to complete within a specific resource limit (be it time or otherwise). Once the objective is completed, you move on to the next.

This resource management element effectively acts as a set of guide rails through each mission in a way that feels comforting at first but ultimately becomes frustratingly linear. Each level sees you begin with access to what feels like just enough resources to move on to the next section, whereby you are delivered a similarly adequate number of asteroids to move on again. In fact, most of the times that I had to replay a level, it was not because my fleet was defeated but because I accidentally used all my resources on assault units and didn’t save enough to buy whatever specific craft was necessary to finish the objective.

While it was a mild annoyance at the time, with the hindsight of having finished the game, it is a significant design flaw that robs the game of any incentive to come back and try again.

Command & Conquer

What Vast Reaches does well is how it puts you in control of the fleet. The controls are easy and intuitive, making navigating your ships through multi-fronted space battles an enjoyable experience. Players can assign units to form battlegroups, which can then be commanded to move together. Ships can be moved easily from one group to another to reinforce after sustaining heavy losses or provide an additional ship type that may swing the balance of a skirmish.

Lifting your palm up allows you to select the battle group you wish to command. From there, dragging a path through the heavens or pointing at a target will send them on their way. One of the major design constraints of playing an RTS in VR lies in the challenges of giving players control over a range of troops with much fewer buttons than most other gaming platforms, and Vast Reaches achieves this admirably.

Similarly, moving through space uses the control conceits that have become standard for tabletop games of this ilk. A combination of gestures and the grab buttons to scale, rotate, and move through the world works as expected, capitalizing on techniques perfected in games such as Demeo.

As you progress through the game, more advanced ships become available for the fleet you command. Some of these ships have special attacks that need to be manually activated and have a cooldown. I had a lot of fun with these mechanics when they came into play later in the game.

The gameplay ceased to be merely a matter of paper-scissors-rock style unit selection, and suddenly switching between battlegroups to activate ion blast, defence shields, and deploy engineering craft to repair damaged frigates became an engaging cognitive dance. Balancing the requirements of 5 battlegroups while micro-managing their specific tactical advantages was a truly excellent experience, and it made me pine deeply for more iterations of this genre.

Sadly, the game’s short length saw the end to this enjoyment, with the campaign finishing just a few levels after the gameplay finally reached the level of complexity that made it feel worthwhile. With no skirmish mode, ship upgrades, or, in fact, any other options other than to replay on a harder difficulty level, Homeworld: Vast Reaches turned all too quickly from an enjoyable exercise in exponential potential growth to a short, sharp punch in the disappointment gland.

E=MT Space

In terms of graphics and Sound, Homeworld Vast Reaches falls into the same cavernous trap that most space-themed RTS games do. With a battlefield that stretches through an inky, empty void, there is very little to make the playable environments interesting. While there are planets or swirling gases looming in the background, the actual gameplay occurs in what is essentially empty space set against a cosmic backdrop.

Despite all the ships having a decent amount of detail, the scale at which you command your fleet is so vast that you seldom see them up close. The best tactical vantage point reduces your highly detailed ships to tiny dots that you command around an uninteresting patch of empty in a way that robs the physical world of resonance with the gameplay. I was playing the game at a scale that made it more difficult to make clear strategic decisions that feel connected to the world, a compromise which detracted from the overall experience. There is a Mixed Reality mode, but it offers nothing new other than changing the background to your actual space, making it more difficult to find and control your ships.

The voice acting that links the missions is good and goes a long way to filling the emptiness of space with some character and connection. In fact, the sound design overall is well delivered, but as with the graphics, it suffers at the hands of its own subject matter. Despite a good array of Zaps! And Booms! And Whooshes!, ultimately, the sound fails to fill the space with a gravity that creates any kind of rich or rewarding sense of tension.

Insufficient Resources

Homeworld: Vast Reaches does a wonderful job of demonstrating how satisfying a polished and well-thought-out RTS game could be in VR. With excellent controls that immerse the player into the challenge of simultaneously managing a fleet and micro-managing a battlegroup, Farbridge has displayed a lot of potential. Sadly, an undercooked resource system, short campaign and lack of options mean that Vast Reaches falls short of living up to what it could have been.

The Early Access version of Expansion VR is now available on the Meta Store and PICO as of March 14, 2024, with the Steam version set to launch on March 22. The game has already seen a free demo version available through Meta Store’s App Lab since April 2023, allowing players to get an early taste of what the full experience will offer.

Game Features and Gameplay

Expansion VR immerses players in a vast sci-fi universe where three factions—the Privateers, Miners, and Pigdogs—are engaged in a struggle for control over newly colonized celestial territories. Players take on the role of a space warlord, tasked with assembling and commanding squads, securing vital resources, and outmaneuvering opponents in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

One of the standout features of Expansion VR is its precise strategic control system, tailored specifically for VR. The game utilizes an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that allows players to deploy units and manage their resources in real-time, offering a unique blend of auto battler mechanics and immersive VR gameplay. Each faction in the game brings its own strategic strengths and weaknesses to the battlefield, encouraging players to experiment with different playstyles and tactics to gain the upper hand.

In addition to its single-player campaign, Expansion VR offers a competitive multiplayer mode where players can earn influence points, climb the leaderboards, and unlock new units and technologies. This mode is designed to keep players engaged over the long term, with the ability to continually refine and improve their squads as they progress.

Visual and Performance Enhancements

With the launch of Early Access, Plazma Studio has also rolled out several visual and performance upgrades. These include enhanced graphics, improved gameplay mechanics, and tweaks designed to optimize the game’s performance across different VR platforms. The goal is to provide a seamless and immersive experience, regardless of the device players are using.

The game’s developers have also introduced a brand-new trailer to showcase the tactical gameplay and VR controls that Expansion VR has to offer. This trailer gives potential players a glimpse into the game’s strategic depth and the challenges that await them in the expansive sci-fi universe.

Availability and Future Updates

Expansion VR is now available on the Meta Store and PICO, with the Steam version following on March 22. Plazma Studio has hinted at future updates and content that will continue to expand and refine the game as it progresses through its Early Access phase. Players who join Early Access on Steam will have the opportunity to provide feedback that could shape the game’s development going forward.

Founded in 2018, Plazma Studio started in the gaming industry by developing casual mobile games. Expansion VR represents their first major foray into the VR space, signaling a new direction for the studio. The game’s release is a significant milestone for Plazma Studio, which has grown to become both a developer and publisher of mobile and VR games.

The company operates primarily from Malta, with a key branch located in Kharkiv, Ukraine. As they expand their portfolio with titles like Expansion VR, Plazma Studio continues to establish itself as a prominent player in the gaming industry.

Having played the game to completion, we feel it would be fair to describe Hubris as “a narrative-driven sci-fi shooter that utilises a range of made-for-VR mechanics to create a varied gaming experience spanning a range of beautifully crafted futuristic landscapes. From platforming sections to underwater missions and even a fast-paced hoverbike sequence, Hubris will keep players wondering what’s next as they battle their way across a hostile alien world..”

Sounds cool, right?

It would also, and without contradicting any of the above in any way, be completely fair to describe Hubris as “the gaming equivalent of watching a remarkably physically attractive person completely misunderstand the concept of fun and then spend six hours explaining to you why they are the most fun person they know.”

Let’s unpack that, shall we…

GOOD LOOKING… ON PAPER

Hubris begins with the player embodying a character known only as “recruit,” a newbie cadet joining an intergalactic law enforcement organisation known as the “Order of Objectivity.” Rather quickly, your routine transfer to your training facility goes awry. With only the most cursory of establishing narrative, you begin to navigate a strange alien environment steeped in an entirely theoretical mystery.

The story then proceeds to methodically expose itself throughout a 5-6 campaign. As you make your way through the game, you will encounter a trio of characters who, despite being well-voiced and reasonably animated, somehow collectively carry the emotional resonance of a single beige sock. 

While each narrative section makes sense in context and serves to progress the campaign, the dialogue is dull. In fact, the entire story feels as though it was designed entirely to set up a series of missions rather than creating the sense of foreboding intrigue that the game seemed to be aiming for. The story vaguely hints at something deeper in the final chapter but never explains it, perhaps as a setup for a sequel. Up until then, it would be fair to summarise the entire narrative as “Oh no! Bad guys!”

STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

Throughout the game, the player will switch from straight combat to platforming in a way that makes perfect sense for the flow of the gameplay. The only issue is; both the jumping and grabbing mechanics are so inconsistent and unrealistic that they demean any sense of immersion gained by the rest of the game.

The jumping feels weightless, occupying a physics system that feels distractingly alien, even considering the extraterrestrial context. Grabbing clearly marked edges in mid-air is so hit-or-miss as to become a masterclass in frustration, although it fares slightly better on PSVR2 for some inexplicable reason. Mixing the gameplay by interspersing platforming sections amidst the combat missions is a great idea, but it’s let down by the poor execution of the jumping and grabbing mechanics. 

Also mixed into the proceedings are some underwater sections. Thankfully these are a great success. Swimming works well, and the gear change in play style accompanying these sections is rewarding and engaging. These sections really highlight the potential of the varied gameplay the developers were going for. Had the other sections been equally well delivered, things might have been different for Hubris.

PRETTY…PRETTY EMPTY THAT IS

Despite all the sub-genres stuffed into its missions, Hubris remains, at its heart, a sci-fi shooter. If this core conceit had been delivered to a class and standard that matched its presentation, all other criticisms would have paled against a set of basics done well. Unfortunately, as a shooter, Hubris feels vain and shallow.

Players quickly acquire a starting weapon, a humble space blaster that can be upgraded by an infuriatingly slow collecting and crafting system. This system also allows players to transform their beloved pew pew into a broadly ineffectual semi-automatic or what is, quite possibly, the worst shotgun yet to grace VR. With the expanded arsenal quickly proving lacklustre, players will find that the bulk of the action is best serviced with the rather mundane but well-upgraded starter weapon.

Thankfully, the range of enemies you will face hardly requires an audacious arsenal to be dispatched, so that starting pistol should do you just fine. The variety of enemies is slim, as is the, and I’m being generous here, ‘AI’ that drives them. Although not as bad as the likes of Gambit, flanking enemies felt far easier than it should be, and much of the action felt reminiscent of Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge.

That is not to imply that combat is terrible. There were definitely a few of the less linear combat sections that had me enjoying myself, but it did all feel like something that we have already seen, and a few years ago at that. Couple that with the lack of grenades, drones, shields, or anything creative or interesting to bring to the combat, and you have an action game that feels disappointingly one-dimensional.

OOOOOH, SHINY

Let’s not beat around the bush; Hubris is a good-looking game.

In fact, it’s the type of game that makes you realise how far developers have come since the Quest 2 was initially released. From the futuristic internal environments to the cavernous underwater sections and onto the strange alien skies of the twin planets, the world of Hubris is an impressive sight to behold.

There is some artifacting around the hands, and sometimes the heads of characters, which is mildly distracting, and the surface water effects don’t quite match the insane standards set in Breachers, but overall Hubris occupies a place at the top tier of what players can visually expect from the Quest 2. The art direction is clear and consistent, and the visual world-building is far superior to its narrative counterparts. In terms of visuals, there is much to appreciate and very little to complain about.

On PSVR2, the graphics clearly outshine those on the Quest 2, which is to be expected. Hubris also benefits from superior haptics.

The sound design in Hubris also speaks to a game with high production values. The sound effects are consistent with the world, and most would feel at home in a high-budget sci-fi film. Some of the critter sounds are a little weak, particularly when compared to the masterful work of games like Crashland, and there is little in the way of ambient sounds in the bigger open areas. But overall, the sound design complements the graphics well, and the two elements together go a long way to distracting you from the gameplay issues, successfully putting some glossy lipstick on our hubristic little pig.

IF LOOKS COULD KILL   

Hubris has a list of features and gameplay mechanics that should make it one of the most engaging single-payer VR games of all time – had they been done well. But, perhaps fittingly for a game called Hubris, it seems that pretty graphics and a laundry list of features were assumed to be enough to satiate players. They aren’t.

The general concept of mixing climbing, swimming, platforming, and driving sections with a traditional linear action game is brilliant. In fact, the pure potential of using all of these techniques to fuel an epic story-driven adventure is intoxicating. However, when compared with the various best-in-class mechanics that already exist in each of these auxiliary genres, Hubris sadly proves that being a jack of all trades but master of none is not an ideal proposition for a VR action game.

Ubinary’s website proudly tells you that it made the Official Selection at the Indie Mega Booth at the Pax East Showcase of 2020. It’s also the winner of a Brazilian funding grant for game development on top of winning an NYX Game Award. 

Does any of this matter? No, not in the least. Awards, especially when not voted on by gamers, are often given for neat concepts and good pitches or, sometimes, for reflecting the zeitgeist.

More Triglav Than Janus

Unbinary is a VR puzzler with enough narrative edge to make it noteworthy to funders and award-giving organizations. Its narrative, set in a sci-fi world, is about identity and donning masks to be identified differently. It plays up to modern identity politics without forcing them on players in a way that might offend anybody and without committing itself to any radical position.

Behind all the narrative existential glitter, however, Unbinary is essentially an escape room puzzler. A female-voiced AI companion gives you all the exposition you need and guides the story along as you make your way through each level, unlocking doors, dealing with robots, and solving puzzles.

Three different masks enable different identities, each with its own skill sets. One looks like the most common robot around and makes them act friendly towards you and can also ‘shoot’ light switches. Another allows you to grab objects, climb up, and flip switches. The third is closest to your AI companion’s native form, allowing you to hack some locks and other robots and control the positioning of specific grip points. 

The puzzles in Unbinary generally revolve around switching between the masks as needed to make your way to the ‘exit’ room of each puzzle or level, where you collect data cubes.

Hecate Tickoty Tock

The first few levels of Unbinary are, frankly, too easy. Sure, they’re designed to ease you into the game, but the real issue is that they barely allow any room for error. The levels are generally too small to allow for any confusion, and the limited environmental interactivity means that you can either go through the usually obvious steps of solving the puzzle or not do much else. Fortunately, after the first hour or so, the difficulty curve starts ramping up, you have to do some thinking, and the game becomes slightly more challenging. 

Until that point, the main draws that keep you from getting too bored with the simplicity are the narrative context and the unique graphical style.

Solve It By Hand

Unbinary’s graphics are 100% hand-drawn in Oculus Quill, and the game sports a unique look that works well with the limitations set by the Quest’s modest architecture. Everything is pretty, and the colour palette changes as you progress through the game’s levels. The art style adds a pleasant whimsy to the whole game, and it’s fair to say that it’s entertaining in its own right. 

The game’s world is also well constructed. Although your ability to interact with the world is quite limited, the objects you’re supposed to interact with feel good, and the sound effects lend them heft. 

The game’s soundtrack is competent. You’ll notice it when it signals crucial turning points, but it lives somewhat underneath your awareness most of the time, which isn’t a bad thing. 

Solver? I Barely Knew Her!

Unbinary is a reasonably slick escape room puzzler with a few unique twists and a flair for story and style. It’s brief enough not to wear out its welcome but so easy to complete that any competent puzzle solvers will feel cheated. The simplicity of the first few levels led me to believe that perhaps the game had so many levels that it could afford to start with some disposable ones, but alas, that was not the case. 

Unbinary’s biggest problem, aside from its brevity, might be that its narrative seems designed to appeal to people over 18, but its puzzles can easily be solved by anybody over 13. Its narrative is too philosophical for children, but its gameplay is far too easy for adults. 

Yes, later levels do get a little more difficult, but nothing here compares with something like The Room VR, for instance.

With a cool art style and light puzzles, Unbinary might appeal to a younger audience more interested in aesthetics and narrative than challenging puzzles. It’s not bad, but it’s hard to recommend unless you’re particularly fascinated with its narrative ideations. 

If what you’re you’re looking for is a quirky stylized world, I’d easily redirect you to The Under Presents. If you’re looking for challenging puzzles, I’d sooner suggest The Room VR or Myst, or even Time Stall if you’re looking for something less intimidating but still fun.

With the Sci-Fi shooter market already bulging at the seams, does Sweet Surrender have what it takes to blast the heads off its competition? Or will it be the latest victim of Perma-Death? 

Lock and load everybody. It’s time to find out. 

THE GENTLE ART OF PEW-PEW

Roguelikes like Sweet Surrender offer a theoretically endless gameplay loop as core elements and enemies are randomly generated and populated from one run to the next. The theory is that the uniqueness of each run maintains a freshness that will keep players coming back. Essentially, roguelikes give you a basic premise that that should get you hooked, then they shuffle their components every time to keep you hooked.

And I, for one, love them. Usually…

Sweet Surrender has all the composite elements that a roguelike needs, but the execution feels slightly off. It’s the game design equivalent of giving the same recipe and ingredients to a Michelin starred chef and a talented home cook. The latter will undoubtedly serve you something worth trying. Still, when placed next to each other, the differences between the two become stark, and it’s the subtle touches of my allegorical Michelin man that Sweet Surrender lacks.

Good roguelikes tease the player. They coax them back time and time again with the promise of new treasures hidden beyond every run. In Death: Unchained is a perfect example of this; every time you play, you know exactly what’s needed to unlock the next element. This knowledge lets you tailor your run towards achieving the targets required for the specific reward that excites you the most. It lets you know when you’ve unlocked a new achievement, allowing you to bask in self-congratulatory revelry, which subconsciously urges you to jump back in to use your newly earned embellishment.

True to the genre’s classic tropes, Sweet Surrender does away with narrative trappings. Simply boot the game up and breeze through the tutorial, and you’re straight into the action. 

Lovely.

Except for the fact that the tutorial only covers movement and shooting and leaves vital points of progression and gameplay unexplained. No problems, though! All good roguelikes need you to die a little before they reveal their depth and refinement, so best to shake off that mild angst and get a bit of dying out of the way early on!

Right?

Ironically, Sweet Surrender contains some great progression elements but maddeningly keeps them hidden, robbing players of the gaming version of a dangling carrot. In your next run, you might find yourself encountering a new perk or weapon, or you may not. Only the omnipotent overlords at Salmi Games know what awaits you next, and they are holding those cards close to their chests. 

As a player, you simply die and start again.

ROBOTS GONE WILD

Putting aside all roguelike talk, Sweet Surrender is, at its heart, a sci-fi shooter.

The player works their way through a series of randomly generated rooms, blasting an assortment of robotic goons along the way. The game is broken into four distinct subsections, starting in the mines and working your way up to the surface. In each subsection, you are tasked with finding the lift to the next section, clearing rooms of enemies and looting for perks along the way. The game’s pacing is maintained by the ever-present threat of a giant, un-killable robot that will track you down and destroy you if you don’t keep advancing. This keeps the gameplay tightly balanced between pushing forward to the next section and pillaging as much as possible along the way. The risk/reward loop this dynamic is a great way to add tension and is one of the better features of the Sweet Surrender.

Along your way, you will acquire a progressively expanding arsenal of classic sci-fi weaponry, from the obligatory pistols and shotguns to slightly snazzier options like the grenade launcher and sniper rifle. The player can holster larger weapons over the shoulder, smaller weapons by the hips, and grenades and extra health items are stored in four conveniently placed torso slots. Additionally, perks are handled by microchips installed into one of four slots located on the back of the players’ gloves. All this allows the player to customise their playstyle on the fly, based on available materials per run. 

Unfortunately, despite the array of weaponry on offer, the two-handed weapon handling is diabolically poor. From the aggravating placement of the offhand to the way the gun pivots as you aim, there is definitely a fundamental flaw in how this system is implemented. Sadly, it renders these weapons almost unusable. The starting pistol is so surprisingly powerful and well delivered that its strength weakens the progression system. My most successful runs tended to be those where I stuck to the pistol, paired it with the excellent hand shield and bolstered it with perks.

The level design is adequate, with the various procedurally generated rooms staying fresh for a while. However, soon enough, you will have seen every variation on offer, particularly in the first zone. Given that the enemies you encounter are tied to the zones you’re in rather than your rank within the game, the first “Mines” section becomes EXTREMELY tedious far too quickly. There are roughly 6 enemy types available in this first section. After about 2 hours of Sweet Surrender, I found grinding through the first section an absolute chore. 

This tediousness is a pretty big deal when considering that these sections will make up the first 10 minutes of every run. As a result, I found my desire to play the game again dwindled to almost non-existent rather quickly.

OH. HELL. NO

Perma-Death is the one thing that puts off most people who don’t enjoy roguelikes. 

I don’t mind it, as the constant threat of impending doom adds tension to crucial moments that just can’t exist in a game with checkpoints. But one thing that I cannot abide by, which has absolutely NO place in a Perma-Death Loop, is Insta-death. Sweet Surrender commits this most deadly of sins, and, for me at least, it’s a deal-breaker.

Dotted throughout the procedurally generated action at the core of Sweet Surrender are a few innocuous pockets of instantaneous doom, and they are beyond frustrating. There are a few little sections where there is no railing, or a random corner happens to be made of lava. Woe betide the player who inadvertently strafes into one of these. 

Dead. Gone. Restart. Game over. Damn.

Perhaps I’m just a little sensitive because this happened in my final two runs before sitting down to write this. I had an amazing loadout in both runs, was playing well, and had progressed further than ever before. During both runs, I failed to check some corner or another, wandered into superheated doom, and was instantly ejected from the game. I’m sorry, but no thanks. At the very least, alarm me with a red screen and a rapidly diminishing health bar, but to get that far in a game only to have it end abruptly because of a misplaced step is unforgivable.

LOOK MA, JUST HANDS!

Sweet Surrender is the latest in an increasingly long line of games capitalising on the cell-shaded style that the Quest does so well. On par with titles like Yupitergrad, it is well suited to the style but not as impressive as Swarm’s delivery. Sweet Surrender’s graphics are clear and cohesive. It looks good…but not great.

Each section has its own visual flourishes that differentiate it from the others. This goes a long way towards keeping the environments from growing stale. That said, the variations aren’t so stark that they mix the gameplay up much, and that feels like a missed opportunity. Everything works and is more than acceptable, but it’s not going to be the game that you’re telling your friends about.

The sound is initially impressive but ultimately functional. The audio begins to feel old in short enough time. The more ambient walking soundtrack fits well between action sequences, while the faster-paced electro audio elevates the tension when the guns are firing. 

Sweet Surrender’s presentation is perfectly acceptable, but there’s not enough variation. There are only so many times that the same riff can get the blood pumping before one can’t help but think that the rest of the soundtrack is hiding alongside those progression explainers. 

PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW

Sweet Surrender offers an entertaining, albeit flawed, action experience that will no doubt capture the attention of many players, if only for a limited time. Despite containing many of the positive elements of the roguelike genre, it does so without capitalising on the subtleties and nuances that can make the genre so addictive. If you just LOVE sci-fi shooters or just can’t get enough of the genre, then Sweet Surrender is worth looking at. If, however, you only have room on your Quest for the very best, you’d be better off picking up In Death: Unchained or Robo Recall: Unplugged instead. 

Having grown up loving games like StarStrike II on the ZX Spectrum and Star Voyager on the NES, I’ve sorely missed the genre. Therefore I was pretty excited to see if Anshar 2: Hyperdrive could rekindle my love affair with the space combat genre.

Vomit Comet

Everything in Anshar 2: Hyperdrive will, on the surface, be familiar to anyone who has played Anshar Wars 2. The story appears unchanged, and the visuals, while undoubtedly a little shinier in terms of texture resolution and lighting effects, are similar. You may be wondering what there is to get excited about in this ‘Hyperdrive’ edition of a 4-year-old game. The answer is simple: Anshar Wars 2 was a three-degrees-of-freedom experience, whereas Hyperdrive uses all six.

The difference this makes is revolutionary. Bringing current-gen 6DoF to Hyperdrive makes this the first time Anshar, an IP born and raised in the medium, has actually been a ‘proper’ VR experience.

The game begins with a potted history of the Anshar/Nergal war in which you, an unnamed pilot, are a new recruit. A brief tutorial level then introduces you to the fundamentals before it’s straight into the action.

The control options in Hyperdrive are vast. Each axis can be mapped to either stick or full accelerometer controls with either controller. Various degrees of snap-turning are available. Aiming for both your primary and secondary weapons can be similarly configured or linked to your head movement. Triggers for these weapons can also be assigned independently.

The individual elements may not sound much in isolation, but together they offer the ability to combine buttons, sticks, head tracking, and accelerometer controls in ways that will enable any player to find a set-up that suits them perfectly – and that’s before we’ve even gone into the choice of third or first-person view.

Which of these two perspectives you chose will be down to personal preference. The third-person view appears to be the more popular option, but I found the craft’s position on screen both distracting and awkward to manoeuvre when navigating insta-death asteroid fields. The first-person option offers a lot more immersion at the possible price of what is politely called ‘comfort’ and less politely called ‘vomiting on your shoes.’

Despite the science of ‘VR Discomfort’ being relatively well understood, my experience was somewhat less predictable. I once deposited my lunch into a bin while 10 pin bowling in Rec Room. Yet, somehow, skimming the hull of an enemy mothership, gunning down highly manoeuvrable fighters, spinning around to defend myself from artillery, and then pulling a loop back to finish off a turret whilst playing Hyperdrive inflicted upon me no ill effects whatsoever. You may not be so lucky, and that would be a shame because as good as the third-person mode is, playing this game in first-person using motion-controls as the flight stick is some of the best fun I’ve had in VR yet. 

Starry-eyed surprise

Fun, I think, is the perfect yardstick by which to measure Hyperdrive.

Star Wars Squadrons is clearly the big show in VR when it comes to Space Combat Simulators, and there’s little doubt that the EA & Lucasarts’ product has bigger, more realistic visuals and benefits from a vast fanbase and an equally vast budget. But OZWE, a Swiss developer consisting of 12 people and a dog called Basil, have produced a game that is simply more fun to play.

The visuals may render everything in a slightly chunky toy box style that threatens to expose the series origins in mobile VR, but the levels bring creativity and a consistent style that can’t be ignored. Even with the ostensibly low polygon count on offer, these developers often pull together scenes and vistas that are much more than the sum of their parts, and the multiple spacecraft you have to control throughout the game are unique and very well designed. Especially in first-person, the interstellar dogfights and large scale battles are vividly brought into (virtual) reality in a way that I could only imagine as a child.

Audio too is delivered with no small amount of class. 

Music is as bombastic as it needs to be given the dramatic context, and the spatial audio used for the sound effects is a real treat. It serves as a great assist in the heat of battle and plays no small part in the immersion of the first-person mode.

Urgent, in-game radio chatter is supplemented by further exposition between levels. While the comic book style is simple, and quite a few phrases are repeated, it serves its purpose well. The voice acting is exactly the kind of slightly melodramatic nonsense I want in a game about gunning down alien baddies from inside my brightly coloured space jet. 

Why so Sirius?

All this fun makes it difficult to be objective about the game’s flaws because it feels a bit like kicking an excitable puppy. Still, you will encounter a few issues that impact the experience.

The biggest of these is the game’s inconsistent checkpoint system. Sometimes there are plentiful waypoints in a mission, and other times there are none at all. As early as the third mission, you’re tasked with taking down an enormous enemy command ship. This task is quite clearly delineated into 4 sections – and yet offers not a single checkpoint.

When you’ve figured out how to beat them, most of the game’s missions are fairly short and can be beaten in around 5 minutes. But it’s very rare to achieve this on the first try. Usually, it’ll take quite a few attempts to work out the correct approach to a level. 

Another issue is that there are occasions when progression objectives aren’t entirely clear. You quickly learn to pay close attention to the instructions imparted over the radio. The instructions aren’t usually repeated, and there isn’t a log to refer to if you miss something.

Bang for your Star-buck

The single-player story mode is divided into thirteen levels. There’s no escaping that this alone doesn’t offer space opera longevity, but each mission has an optional time goal and sub-objective that, together, provide a good amount of replayability. A lot of the missions you’ll want to enjoy again anyway, so having these extra targets to aim for while you do is very welcome. I think that a short game you’ll play many times is better than a long one you’ll play once, and Anshar 2: Hyperdrive falls very much into the former category.

There are also three multiplayer modes to explore. Somewhat predictably for a less than high profile game on the Quest, each of the Battle Royale, Death Match and Co-op modes are pretty sparsely populated. Matchmaking is either non-existent or rendered useless by the low player counts on the servers. When I have found games to join, it’s been a fun time, and the atmosphere has been notably good-humoured. 

There’s a small dedicated community attached to Anshar Wars that is very welcoming but, through no fault of their own, its members are very good at the game. This can prove intimidating for newcomers in the competitive modes. Death Match plays out as you would imagine, as does the Battle Royale mode. Still, the issue of low player numbers (at least in my experience) is a bigger problem here than elsewhere. 

Co-op is currently a single one-off mission where those highly skilled players are very welcome, but as much as the addition of some new features such as special icons to collect and explosive enemy defence tactics are great in theory, they’re never really explained and in some cases their effect isn’t apparent. New maps and other updates are planned for all multiplayer modes, but I think uptake will need to increase by a fair amount if they are ever to see the light of day.

My god, it’s full of stars!

There’s no hiding from the fact that Anshar 2: Hyperdrive is definitely not a mega-budget Space Combat game pushing the limits of VR. However, it’s ridiculous to judge things based on what they’re not instead of what they are – and what this game is, is terrific fun.

Each potential technical negative is mitigated through personality and character: The graphics are simple, but the art direction is elegant. The story is mired in tropes, but the delivery is endearing. The number of levels is small, but they offer enormous variety. The duration of the missions may be short, but the urge to replay them is strong and well rewarded.

Because of the sparsely populated multiplayer servers, I would broach caution if random multiplayer is a priority for you, but the single-player campaign alone is worth every penny of the fifteen quid asking price.

JACKING INTO THE CYBER MATRIX

The setting for Rez Infinite is a perfect fit for VR. Well, it kind of is VR. Set inside a computer network being corrupted by bad data, the game tasks players to fly through this virtual space destroying the nefarious viral infection via the medium of shooting it with laser death. The gameplay itself is slick but pretty basic, recalling Sega’s Afterburner and Panzer Dragoon. What has made Rez so enduringly popular and memorable is its presentation, which hasn’t dated in the slightest. In fact, it has only become more relevant, and it can be argued that it was just waiting for VR to find its natural home.

The graphics are beautiful. It’s a stylised virtual environment that certainly owes a creative debt to Tron, but which is inventive and well-wrought in its own right. The player avatar starts off as a stringy, vaguely skeletal mass of vector lines and ‘evolves’ through success into a more solid and recognisable humanoid. It instantly manages to evoke more, symbolically and wordlessly, than other genre-dwellers like Lawnmower Man do in their entire bloviating running times.

FOR BEAT’S SAKE

So, yes, it’s flying and shooting through a surprisingly contemporary and well-envisioned version of cyberspace, instantly rendered more captivating in VR. It is the music, however, which proves the most potent ingredient in the game’s immortal charm. The soundtrack is an entirely fitting and thematically on-point mass of whirling electronica. Equally meditative and foreboding, the music is woven indivisibly through the core of Rez Infinite‘s gameplay and visual design. Rez marked an early win in designer/producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi‘s efforts to make games-as-synaesthesia; a visionary mission which has resulted most recently in the astonishing Tetris Effect, also now available on the Quest.

Here the bullets are beats, exploding your digital foes with crisp ribbons of electronic taps and hi-hats. It’s mesmerising and immersive even on flat gaming tech from 20 years ago. Here, in VR, the music pulsing around you and the world stretching in all directions, Rez Infinite is truly transportive.

X MARKS THE SPOT

Rez infinite consists of five areas from the original game – linear, forward-facing levels topped with eye-popping boss fights. It also contains, most tantalisingly, a VR-specific level called Area X. 

Area X features free movement in a spectacular firework display of a setting that is over far, far too soon. I don’t know if it was initially intended as a teaser for a VR-only sequel that has yet to materialise, or just a proof-of-concept. Whatever, it’s brilliant, and there isn’t enough of it. 

It’d be a real shame if this glimpse is all we’ll ever see of this evolutionary step into the world of Rez. I think 20 years is long enough to wait for a sequel, particularly one of the quality indicated by Area X. 

A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER

For me personally, Rez Infinite sidesteps concerns over longevity because of the unique nature of what it offers. To say ‘Rez Infinite will only last you a couple of hours’ is about as silly as saying the same thing about a must-watch film or, perhaps more appropriately, a seminal music album.

There’s a whole matrix of reasons why Rez has been so beloved for close to two decades, and they are all present and correct in the perfectly-realised Quest version. If it reaches you, it offers an almost out-of-body experience that utterly transcends its essentially simple gameplay. As such, its legacy and relevance are pretty much undeniable, and only rendered more potent in VR.

 A POLICE BOX IN A JUNKYARD

It’s going to be difficult talking about the specifics of this game without giving far too much away about the plot and settings. We’ll do everything we can to keep this review spoiler-free. Suffice to say that what you’ll find in this game is a definite desire to provide some fitting, well-rounded fan service, harking back to both the classic and modern eras of the show in often surprising and delightful ways.

The player is cast as a nobody, or perhaps themselves, a disembodied nameless avatar who starts the game in a launderette, presumably hanging around waiting for their clothes to finish drying. Pretty quickly, something goes wrong, and the world takes a dark turn. The Doctor’s voice (provided by Jodie Whittaker) crackles through the television, offering instructions that will guide you to escape with her sonic screwdriver, and eventually to the TARDIS itself. From then on, it’s a matter of taking the trusty time ship to different locations to find Time Crystals and thereby save the universe. 

WOULD YOU LIKE A JELLY BABY?

It’s a classic Doctor Who setup, with a surprisingly grim atmosphere from the get-go. It’s a narrative exploration game with some object gathering and puzzle-solving elements. If you aren’t really familiar with Doctor Who, you really don’t have to worry, as the game is self-contained and self-explanatory. If you’re a fan, however, then there’ll be a whole other layer of excitement as you explore some familiar locations and themes. In purely narrative terms, there are some shocks, and even jump scares along the way, and in VR, there’s no hiding behind the sofa.

The puzzles are mildly involved, but not so much that you will be stymied for long on any one thing. Younger fans might need a grown-up’s help with some of it, but there’s nothing here that is designed to take on Myst.

 HAM-FISTED BUN VENDOR

There are a couple of things that might cause frustration. The game’s movement and interactions are fiddly and occasionally broken. Pointing a hand or the sonic screwdriver at just the right spot to get a highlight can be fiddly. It is also depressingly easy to manoeuvre your virtual head through the scenery or stand in the ‘wrong’ spot, which causes the screen to go black in an off-putting manner. It smacks of a development team who haven’t really paid attention to what others have done to ameliorate the problems with the VR medium. Some of the clunkiness and overall lack of polish in this regard can make the game often seem like it is from the earlier days of VR. 

The other thing which is beyond annoying is the fact that the game won’t leave you time to think a puzzle through. Even if you know exactly what to do, sometimes, a voiceover will inevitably be nagging you with an unhelpful and repetitive hint over and over again. It’s genuinely infuriating and so jarring that it’s pretty extraordinary that this made it through to the released game. 

These issues could be patched – so here’s hoping. 

IT’S SLIGHTLY BIGGER ON THE INSIDE

It’s a magical, squee-inducing moment for any Doctor Who fan to experience the TARDIS materialising in front of you and you push the door inwards to go inside. What’s then immediately annoying is that the console room interior is a discrete level which is loaded separately. Before you interface with the inside properly, there’s fake scenery with layered flat images like a pop-up book. It does ruin the illusion, and it’s ironic that VR hasn’t been used more effectively to convey this transition between the inside and outside of the TARDIS better. It’s little niggles like this which take away from the whole experience, despite the vast amounts of effort and love that are clearly on display. 

Apart from this, the graphics and presentation are pretty impressive for a Quest title. The music is wonderful, and some of the voice work is great, with the caveat that it’s sometimes hard to hear dialogue over the score and effects. This is, however, a trait the game shares with the TV show, so perhaps it can be put down to authenticity. 

THIS IS THE GAME OF RASSILON

There’s no doubt that The Edge of Time is an entertaining and atmospheric VR game, enjoyable for both fans and the uninitiated. It’s frustrating that the few rough edges and annoyances genuinely detract from the experience.

Umbrella Corp Redux

Death Horizon: Reloaded is relatively generic in many respects. The entire game takes place in an underground facility, the kind you’ve seen countless times in Resident Evil-style knockoffs. Bodies and rubble are strewn about, and there are occasionally tanks full of green goo to step around. As per usual, every soul in the facility has become a shambling, undead target for you to shoot.

Climbing The Walls

Over the loudspeaker, a shadowy figure directs you through a series of corridors, offices, and locker rooms. You can teleport a few feet in any direction, which cuts down on VR sickness. Occasionally you’ll find ropes or pipes that you can climb on or across using the grip button.

This is where Death Horizon: Reloaded begins to differentiate itself from zombie conventions. For example, you can hang from an overhead pipe with one hand while drawing a pistol from your holster and firing at the walking dead below. Later, you’ll learn to jump forward using an awkward combination of button presses and gestures.

This climbing mechanic is used sparsely throughout the game, and I would have really liked to experience this combination of platforming and shooting more often. Sometimes you’ll accidentally grab your gun instead of a railing and plummet to your death. But when it works, it helps you feel like an action hero. Maybe future installments will take us outside of the cramped, bleak laboratory, and set the action on the side of a building, or a cliff face, or hanging from a helicopter-like in World War Z.

Armed To The Teeth

The weapons in Death Horizon: Reloaded work reasonably well, even if they don’t really inspire awe. You can holster and wield two pistols, later finding a Desert Eagle that packs an extra punch. You’ve also got some room on the front of your vest for storing an assault rifle or pump-action shotgun.

You can only carry one larger gun at a time, and the shotgun requires two hands to reload, so you may find yourself ditching the gun you’re carrying and picking up a new one along the way. You can also activate bombs by picking one up, throwing it in front of you, and then shooting it. It’d be nice to see more creative weapons or a melee option for when your ammo runs out.

Most of the game consists of straightforward hallways, where zombies will automatically shuffle towards you, groaning to announce their arrival. As a result, you can often hang back, casually take them out, and then move forward. A few new types of mutants will change things up, like zombie dogs that rush at you, or hulking construction worker zombies who swing sledgehammers. You’ll also encounter spitting zombies and some faster varieties, but that’s it.

Drop In And Say Hello

One other clever gameplay mechanic worth mentioning is that zombies will occasionally crawl out of vents or drop from the ceiling. These appearances can give you a little jolt if you’re not paying attention. I gasped a few times from surprise zombie attacks, but it’s nothing like the intense terror of a game like Dreadhalls.

Death Horizon: Reloaded offers just a few unusual twists on what you would expect from a zombie shooter. The climbing mechanic is underused but refreshingly distinctive, and I enjoyed the taunting voice-over from the game’s mysterious host. At under two hours on normal mode, Death Horizon: Reloaded lacks longevity. You can, however, always attempt impossible mode, which gives you one life and no checkpoints, in exchange for a spot on the high-score leaderboards.

Like a zombie approaching a well-armed commando, Death Horizon: Reloaded is short-lived and moderately creepy. It’s got a handful of well-constructed scenes, and the platforming holds real promise for future installments. I’m eager to see what’s next for this series.

 USE THE FORCE, AND THE SPOILER TAG

We’re going to try and avoid spoilers for a game which is both story-based and very, very short – so forgive me if this sounds vague, but we don’t want to mar your enjoyment should you choose to buy the game. Episode 2 immediately takes up the story where Episode I left off, and it doesn’t hang about. It’s a minute or so into the game before Darth Vader is teaching you to harness the Force, mainly for moving and throwing things. Initially, this felt like it could have been the extra hook that the first game lacked. The format remains mostly unchanged from the first title – mostly some basic interactions and combat while moving through a series of rooms. If you’ve played Episode 1, you’ll know the drill. There’s perhaps a little more excitement and spectacle in this instalment, given the threats you face and the inclusion of fledgeling Force powers. It’s undeniably fun lobbing rocks about and throwing droids down holes… While it lasts. 

I FIND YOUR LACK OF CONTENT DISTURBING

I know that this is, in the scheme of things, at the cheaper end of content in the Oculus Store, coming in at £7.99/$10. I know that it’s meant to be played as an episode of an ongoing narrative and is intended to be more of an experience than a full-fat game. Even so, the story in this episode is very, very slight, and some of the beats miss entirely. 

In a very short running time, the title manages to contain both action scenes which are over too fast, and longeurs where you’re just staring at the (admittedly impressive) scenery whilst not doing anything except listening to people talk. The pacing is rubbish, and the joyfully great bits are over far too quickly and also plagued with technical issues and design problems which threaten to ruin the experience.

RISE OF THE ROOMWALKER

We’ll talk about the technical issues shortly. Some of those can be patched out, I’m sure, but the identity crisis at the heart of the game is a fundamental design problem. In short, it doesn’t know whether it’s offering the player a game or a vaguely interactive experience. The first episode could be forgiven for this, as it may have been many people’s first experience of VR. So the gameplay is not too challenging, and the interactions show off the magic of VR whilst not being too taxing. However, in this title, there are clear signs that they want to give the player more agency this time around. 

There are free locomotion options, but you still have to stand on certain marks to trigger the next (half-interactive) bit of story. You’ll hardly be roaming far. Also, the option for smooth turning is still incremental, moving the player in snap rotation but with a smoother transition. 

The game does everything it can to frustrate the sense of freedom that VR should bring. Stand there, do that. Ridiculous ‘return to the game area’ messages still appear should you stray from the very narrow path the game dictates, which is nonsensical for untethered, room-scale VR. At times, and this is most aggravating of all, the game will even turn you around or put you in a different spot by fading out to black briefly, so it can place you where it wants you to be. It’s really jarring and far more egregious than in the first game. 

The inclusion of Force powers really makes the design of the format strain. At times it’s incredibly empowering. It’s hard not to giggle with delight as you pick up a battle droid and hurl it down a fissure to be consumed with lava, or throw it at another droid and watch them both crumple. Then it’s over in a blink, and you’re back to trudging to the next marker on the floor. It promises freedom and creativity, like you’re going to be in a Jedi remix of Robo Recall, and then takes it all away. 

Also, it’s a lovely novelty that all the touch controller buttons make the fingers of your virtual hands clench, but it makes you feel like a right Jar-Jar when you’re force-grabbing a droid out of thin air and find yourself inadvertently doing a double thumbs-up.

All of this wouldn’t be so galling if the story were interesting. It just feels like a loose filler for a couple of set pieces, and then a set up for the next episode. A short story needn’t be a slight one. While we’re there, I have to say that I found Scott Lawrence’s performance as Vader a little bland and underwhelming. I can’t help but think that Matt Sloan (another Vader voice veteran) would have been a stronger choice.

WHO’S SCRUFFY LOOKING?

This is the continuation of what is clearly a flagship Quest title – so I’m still bemused by its technical shortcomings. Early adopters may be reminded of the bad old days before the patches that made some things a lot better. In my time with the game, I experienced frame-rate drops and stutters, audio glitches, and a couple of crashes, one of which was so severe that I thought I was going to have to factory reset my Quest [I had fewer issues, but it still crashed out at some point, my Oculus Home got weird, and I had to restart a section from the beginning – Ed]. There are strange vertical lines towards the edges of the view which seem to be present in a lot of scenes, striations which tear the image slightly. 

In many ways, this is a beautiful game with amazing scenery, but the engine feels like it’s almost literally coming apart at the seams sometimes. The very first thing you see when you load the game, as with the original, is a flat postcard of Darth Vader that glitches and jerks its way around the view in a nauseating manner. Why is it still there? A black void with the loading pips would be better than this.

L33T SABER

It isn’t all bad, by any means. The main saving grace, apart from ‘Hey it’s Star Wars pew pew bzzzzzzt!’ is the lightsaber dojo mode. With a different setting to the original episode, an unconventional lightsaber, and the addition of the Force, it presents a cool little way to honour the inner Jedi in most of us. Rounds of increasing difficulty, as in the original, mean unlockables like different crystals and such are fun to get. The later levels present a decent challenge. Throwing a lightsaber at enemies and then using the Force to bring it back like a laser boomerang of death will never not be entertaining. It’s not Space Pirate Trainer, but all things considered, it’s probably worth the asking price for the title alone.

Elsewhere, the spectacle of some of the scenery can be breathtaking, and one of the enemy threats presents a jaw-dropping, if heavily scripted, fight. I’m sure the spectacle of it all will be more than enough for most people to enjoy the hell out of. For some, however, I think that it will be played through in 20 minutes and refunded pretty swiftly.