A lot of virtual reality games are quite easy to overlook these days. Not because they are bad games, mind you, but it’s more due to some creations failing to stand out among the rest. Downward Spiral” Prologue for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive is not a game most people are aware of, but it provides a degree of fun and value for the money. The game does feel woefully short, though.
Downward Spiral: Prologue Needs More Content
Every virtual reality game has some issue that prevents it from becoming the next big hit. In the case of Downward Spiral: Prologue, there are a lot of positive aspects. More specifically, the game has a great art style, proper locomotion despite a no-gravity environment, and some of the best graphics we have seen in a game to date. On the other hand, the game is also incomplete in many different ways, especially in the single player aspect. Moreover, it is not the most immersive VR game we have ever played by any means.
On the gameplay front, Downward Spiral” Prologue offers a lot of things for players to genuinely like. The back story is virtually nonexistent, but that isn’t entirely unexpected. Being dropped aboard an abandoned space station is somewhat disorienting, but your job is to ensure all systems come back online. Everything is set in zero-G, which means the locomotion system needs to be on point. Thankfully, it is, and everything feels just like we imagined moving in ergo-gravity feels like.
Content-wise, things are a bit different. For a game that only lasts 20 minutes at best, there isn’t much to do All you do is move around and turn things on. There is no puzzling aspect, very few enemies, and nothing worth exploring in detail. Certainly a missed opportunity in our opinion. There is a multiplayer mode, though, but it isn’t’ something a lot of people will be looking for when purchasing this game whatsoever. Moreover, the game doesn’t feel as immersive as it could be, especially when it comes to handling guns to shoot down a few enemies.
Thankfully, the comfort level of this game is top notch, despite its zero-G setting. Players use an air compressor sorts to move around, and you can grab onto parts of the ship to stop your forward motion. There is also a HUD in the game to prevent players from experiencing simulator sickness. A very smart decision by the developers, although they certainly could have added a lot more content to the singleplayer mode. For the time being, there is no real reason to pick up Downward Spiral” Prologue unless you are very passionate about a 15-minute zero-G experience.
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