A remake of the famous stealth action game for Quest Hitman 3 When we first heard about it earlier this summer, it almost seemed too good to be true. That version is technically available now, though Hitman 3 VR: ReloadedThe Quest 3 native is unfortunately launching as such a buggy, ugly mess that it's probably best to wait and see if developers XR Games can deliver on the mechanical stability and visual appeal. Hitman It's a situation that fans are used to.
Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded Detail:
Available in: Task 3
Publication date: September 5, 2024
Price: 30 dollars
Ddeveloper: XR Games
Gameplay
Before the first gameplay trailer was released last month, Hitman 3 was undergoing a stylized revamp, perhaps even giving it a cool comic-book-style, cel-shaded look, as some of the visuals suggested. Known for its massive levels and tons of NPCs, each with their own agendas, it seemed like an almost inevitable conclusion Something I had to scale the game down to fit the Quest 3's mobile chipset. The visuals will need to be refactored to make everything work, foreseeable. Great. I'm up for it.
But it seems like a lot more than just realism was sacrificed to port the game to Quest. Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded While technically playable, much of its charm has sadly been lost. Gone, at least at launch, are most of the game's cinematic cutscenes, richly detailed interiors, and gloomy, dramatic lighting. In its place are blurry textures, exploding geometry, and blocky copy-and-paste NPCs, all overwhelmed by flat, lifeless lighting that makes the whole thing feel woefully undercooked. I usually don't like this kind of criticism. Dip part exists, but it's so obviously bad that it actively hinders the gameplay.
The section at the beginning of the game, where you take on your first real mission in the Burj Khalifa-style skyscraper in Dubai, presents challenges just as great as the section seen above.
One of the main issues (besides just looking bad) is the lack of object permanence. We're constantly building mental maps of places and the things in them, but if you can't trust your own pupils in VR, what can you trust? More often than not, I'd be running up stairs in a panic, dodging guards as I searched for cover, only to be met with a sea of blurry or exploding textures and a crowd of NPCs that weren't there before.
The studio says that the 'Day 4' update, which will be released on September 9, will address a number of graphical issues that the studio has identified, including explosion sounds, texture quality, lighting, stability of the game when viewing crowds, etc. These are certainly not things you want to hear about on launch day or in a launch day review.
In conclusion, I definitely feel that the buggy and ugly visuals negatively affect the core of the game. I know from playing on a flat screen that it can be an exciting and brain-teasing experience at the best of times. It easily encourages the user to replay missions to solve the large and moving puzzle in fun and engaging ways.
This may be true of the VR version as well, but the poor stability and general shakiness of each interaction left me feeling disconnected rather than awed by the possibility of sneaking up behind an unsuspecting security guard and strangling him.
Technically you can do this by holding a guy with your own two hands (awesome), but many actions are abstracted away to, you know, 'Press A to Interact' rather than just interacting – an obvious holdover from the flatscreen game that feels more like a direct port than a game rebuilt from the ground up for VR. Climbing a ladder, opening a door, picking up a body – they're all 'Press A to Interact' moments.
I completed many of the missions, but I was so disappointed by the endings that I never got around to replaying the missions to get Silent Assassin. I finally wanted to play something that wasn't a blurry, murky, unpredictable mess.
Dip
While I was playing Hitman 3 Having played on a flat screen before, I never skipped ahead to the previous VR versions that were offered as free DLC HITMAN World of Assassination on both Steam and PS5. Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded It is an independent game exclusive to Quest and you don't do that There's also a flat-screen version you can turn to if you don't like VR for whatever reason; it needs to stand on its own if it hopes to appeal to Quest users.
In short, if this is your first experience The shooter, please (please) wait until you hear No Man's Sky rave reviews before jumping in. Some of its VR-specific design stands out, but not enough to make me prefer it to a flat-screen game given the state of things.
It's a shame, because there's also some pretty good VR stuff included, like a mission map and a smartwatch with two hot slots for your most-used inventory items, so you can quickly and easily holster and put them back in. Pulling out a coin to distract a guard is as effortless as pulling it out of your own pocket, which is basically ideal.
Still, the game borrows a significant amount from the flat-screen version, including 2D menu selection screens and 2D-style inventory selection. automatic weapon reload animations This feels very incongruous with what is intended to be a game. More immersive version. Firing non-scoped weapons is a mostly natural experience, but I do feel like the bullets are flying A lot Slowly.
And while it's understandable from a performance perspective, sniper scopes don't work as well as you'd expect. Raising a scoped rifle to your eye will land you in a gamey full-screen sniper mode that feels like it's been lifted from the flat-screen version.
But then, as I mentioned above, there are constantly things coming in and out of our field of vision, and even very small levels suffer from this.
And yet, you'll likely find some pretty smooth and fluid header images on the Horizon Store page. A lot carefully studied to put the best foot forward. However, the game is simply Negative I always look this good right now.
And the thing is, after playing Quest 3 I'm not sure that will ever happen. Hitman 3 It was never going to be a good choice on current standalone hardware, because this massive simulation needs solid stability at its core, and that's sorely lacking.
While I wish the studio would develop the game further and push the visuals as far as possible, it's safe to say that: we still have multiple updates is far from reaching the minimum acceptable quality.
Comfort
Most standard comfort options are available in: Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded, makes it a very comfortable experience overall. Since most levels are single-plane and there's no forced artificial movement expectation like a minecart ride or something like that, VR novices and experts alike should be able to play without any issues.
'Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded' Comfort Settings – September 5, 2024 |
|
Rotation |
|
| Artificial turning | |
| Sudden return | ✔ |
| Quick turnaround | ✖ |
| Smooth rotation | ✔ |
Movement |
|
| Artificial movement | |
| Teleportation-movement | ✖ |
| Line movement | ✖ |
| Smooth movement | ✔ |
| Blinkers | ✖ |
| Head based | ✔ |
| Controller based | ✔ |
| Interchangeable movement arm | ✖ |
Stance |
|
| Standing mode | ✔ |
| Sitting mode | ✔ |
| Artificial squatting | ✔ |
| Real squat | ✔ |
Accessibility |
|
| Subtitles | |
| Languages |
English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese |
| Dialogue sound | |
| Languages | English |
| Adjustable difficulty | ✖ |
| Two hands required | ✔ |
| Real squatting required | ✖ |
| Hearing required | ✖ |
| Adjustable player height | ✖ |