Developer: Cyborn B.V
Publisher: Cyborn B.V
Release Date: 6th December 2022
Platforms: PC VR
Reviewed on: Quest 2 via Link
In its preview stage, Hubris was dubbed by many as the most impressive and immersive virtual reality graphics to date. When jumping in for the first time this was what immediately struck me. The level of detail in the tutorial is impressive, but once you exit into the world and explore, some cracks begin to appear.
The story of Hubris is nothing to write home about, which is just as well, because humans in this world have been forced to abandon earth. An anti-Utopian government is causing hassle in this new normal life in the sky and after a brief, but welcome tutorial, our journey starts as we are ordered to go and investigate a planet.
Swimming out of the spaceship for the first time (yeah, it was a bumpy landing) you can’t help but be impressed by the detail in the world. The water effects are also superb, which all adds up to make a really stellar first impression. You’ll spend the majority of the game running, jumping, climbing and shooting. Thankfully, most of this feels great. Traversal is well implemented, although I did find myself getting a little motion sick during extended play sessions.
The jumping and shooting are the two aspects that I do feel could have been refined more. It’s probably a personal preference, but jumping felt a little floaty and while this did come in handy at times when looking to land in a specific spot, I think it may have been the cause of my nausea. Shooting is certainly competent and pretty accurate as far as VR goes, but it didn’t pack the punch that I had hoped and at times left you unsatisfied.
On the plus said though, enemy encounters are varied. On the standard difficulty most of humans and fauna you encounter will drop with a well placed shot or two, except for a special assailant that pops up on the home stretch of this roughly 7 hour campaign. While as I said earlier the story is unlikely to stick with you long past the credits, I did appreciate to not-so-subtle nods to state of the world we find ourselves in today. It definitely struck me as an example of social commentary that doesn’t beat you over the head with its agenda.
The game also features some light puzzle solving. An early example of this is that you need to create a type of alien bungie cord to climb across deadly gaps. This can be done by heading into the water and wiping out some of the local sea life and essentially putting it in a grinder. The result is something that no human over the age of 18 could look at and think anything other than “That’s a flaccid dildo!”. Attaching these at one side and lobbing it to the other is a really satisfying (calm yourself!) experience. It is designed so you can’t miss, but each time I still somehow felt a sense of accomplishment.
The audio design in Hubris VR is also top-notch, with realistic sound effects and a dynamic musical score that really enhances the overall atmosphere of the game. Whether I was sneaking through a dark, abandoned laboratory or engaging in intense firefights, the audio always played a crucial role in immersing me in the action. These extra pieces of immersion are found all over the game as well. When returning to the game each time to continue your journey instead of simply selecting ‘Load Game’ from a menu, you find yourself on your ship and you enter a pod for the save file you wish to load. A really cool touch.
Overall, Hubris VR is a game well worth picking up if your PC can handle it. Its story serves its purpose, but the beautiful graphics, and engaging gameplay make it a standout title in the VR space. As I said earlier there may be aspects I would have liked to see tightened up, but these are small gripes for a product that has really delivered on its vision. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or new to VR, you’ll find plenty to love about Hubris VR.
-Craig 🧐
