‘Downward Spiral: Horus Station’ to Arrive on PSVR Next Month

3rd Eye Studios, the Helsinki-based developers behind Downward Spiral: Horus Station (2018), today announced the PS4 and PSVR version of the game is slated to land on PSN in August.

According to 3rd Eye’s blog, the studio is closing in to the launch of Downward Spiral: Horus Station for PlayStation 4 and PSVR.

“The version is in the final stages of certification, so only the very last bugs remain to be squashed. That also means that the release is just weeks away. We will announce the exact date as soon as we know for sure,” the creators say.

The studio also tweeted out that both the VR and traditional monitor version of the game is slated to arrive in August 2018.

Flying in zero-G, users propel themselves through the derelict Horus Space Station using a few methods, be it a retracting grappling hook, air booster, or by pushing off the station’s internals such as bulkheads and comm panels.

In our review, we thought Downward Spiral: Horus Station skimped on two crucial elements to the adventure however: story and gunplay. Despite this, it’s undeniably atmospheric and visually stunning. A soundtrack created by ex-HIM front man Ville Valo certainly sets the stage.

In addition to the campaign mission, Downward Spiral includes eight-player PvP and PvE multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Horde and Survivor challenges. Despite the game’s misgivings, there’s a lot to like about Downward Spiral: Horus Station, so we’re definitely hoping the game’s slick visuals translate despite the PSVR’s graphical limitations.

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Downward Spiral: Horus Station Review: The 2001 To Lone Echo’s Gravity

Downward Spiral: Horus Station Review: The 2001 To Lone Echo’s Gravity

Let’s get this out of the way first: Downward Spiral: Horus Station is not a rip-off of Lone Echo. Yes, the zero gravity traversal is strikingly similar to Ready at Dawn’s Oculus exclusive but we actually saw it first in Downward Spiral: Prologue, which released a little over a year ago now. More than that, though, 3rd Eye Studios’ brilliant new sci-fi game is less interested with the blockbuster thrills of its contemporary, instead in pursuit of a different kind of space odyssey.

The entire four-hour campaign comes and goes without a single spoken word, for example, leaving you to piece together the story of a survivor exploring the wreckage of a space station. The void is filled by a mesmerizing soundtrack that lures you along each deserted corridor and barren control station, effortlessly switching from swathy mystery and intrigue to rhythm-setting action pieces when the time arises. Then there’s that combat, which somehow finds a natural fit in an otherwise atmospheric exploration game.

Add to that full co-op support and a competitive multiplayer mode to boot and Horus Station is quite the package.

Much of your time onboard Horus Station is going to be spent throwing yourself out into the zero gravity open, catching yourself on the closest wall, realigning and then doing it all over again. Even after hours of Echo Arena and the like, this remains one of the most convincing and outright enjoyable means of getting around in VR, which is fortunate considering there are lengthy sections of the game where it’s all you’re doing. Just getting from A to B is an enjoyable game in its own right here, though 3rd Eye does lean a little too hard on the mechanic at times. Some of the eight acts feel like they come and go without much of anything happening, even if you are rigorously hunting down plot points in the game’s environment.

It’s a testament to the intrigue that 3rd Eye drums up that I never found myself getting bored, though. Every new area I entered felt like a discovery worthy of inspection, be it wondering how the poor soul floating in the middle of the room met his end, or catching a rare glimpse of the ominous orange planet that Horus Station orbits around. I was constantly curious as to what I’d find behind each and every one of the facility’s enormous doors, as if the answers left by the harrowing pile of corpses I was wading through were always right around the corner. They’re often not; this is a story that will only stretch as far as your imagination lets it, but the powerful atmosphere drags you through all the same.

Horus Station clearly fancies itself as the 2001: A Space Odyssey to Lone Echo’s Gravity, and it comes admirably close to pulling it off. At times the game’s intermittent visions from the planet below sent chills down my spine as the hazy soundtrack hypnotized me. Crucially, there’s very little that ever takes you out of the experience; from the convincing locomotion to the accessible UI (more on that in a bit), the game remains powerfully immersive throughout.

The ambiguity of the plot, meanwhile, had me enraptured in what was happening right the way through, even if 3rd Eye ultimately doesn’t drop enough breadcrumbs for you to pick apart. There aren’t any Gone Home-style notes to flesh out the world or audio diaries to listen in on. It’s a deliberate decision, but it can feel somewhat aimless, too. At times it probably strays a little too close to imitation, especially of something that’s mimicked far too often, but catching even a slither of that movie magic makes Horus Station worth seeing.

Just when your patience begins to wear thin, Horus Station does what it does best, it evolves. There’s a constant stream of new tools and weapons waiting for you as you make your way through the facility. A grappling hook gives you a bit more of a say in locomotion, for example, before you find a handheld thruster that makes movement significantly easier.

It’s the weapons that really standout, though. Taking a page from the book of Dead Space, many are re-purposed tools: nail guns make for meaty if unwieldy starting options, while a wrench lets you freely swing it around like Gordon Freeman in a space suit. Even the guns with obvious shortcomings are a joy to use and make for fun shootouts with the game’s drone-like enemies. You’ll often find it best to hold onto some cover and then use your arm to swing in and out of view, trading shots with robots that will kill you with just a few hits even on the normal difficulty.

Horus Station does occasionally struggle with finding the balance in challenge, though. When you die, you’ll simply warp back to the nearest spawn point with the enemies you already killed staying that way. Though it definitely helps fight off some of the frustration that still arises when you’re quickly flanked and disposed of, it can also rob the action of some of its intensity. It allows for more clumsy, carefree play that can’t disguise design that doesn’t quite know how to adapt to this more open style of combat. Enemies are fully aware they can rush you and come out on top, but the remedy shouldn’t be to simply embrace death.

If anything, I’d have liked to see the game go further with its already-intuitive UI, which leaves your entire inventory within arms-reach. Despite its refreshing ease of use, you can only equip one item in a hand at a time and the game doesn’t pause as you select a new tool. Get caught in mid-air without a shotgun in-hand and you’re guaranteed to be on your way back to a spawn point.

Still, as with items, enemy types are constantly arriving in new shapes and sizes. At times I was swatting smaller robots away like bothersome flies as I took long-range pot shots at missile-spouting orbs on the other side of an enormous room. In these moments the combat is a multitasking delight, even if it’s easy to spot some holes like enemies appearing out of thin air to get the drop on you.

Multiplayer, meanwhile, feels like something of an afterthought to an expertly-crafted campaign, that it uses the scraps of your adventure to piece together entertaining competitive modes. It’s fun to throw yourself around zero-gravity arenas and dodge bullets, but it can’t shake the feeling of someone messing about in a swimming pool after they’ve done their serious exercise for the day.

Final Score: 8/10 – Great

There are issues with each of Downward Spiral: Horus Station’s core elements, but the game’s hugely compelling atmosphere, ever-evolving arsenal and first-rate immersion is more than enough to see you through to the end. From the chilling exploration to the nimble combat, this is an adventure that keeps its hooks in you and occasionally even pulls off that rarest of sensations: to make you forget where you really are in the world. 3rd Eye Studios has crafted a space odyssey to call its own, and it makes for one of 2018’s best VR games yet.

Read our Content Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.

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17 Minutes of Sci-fi Adventure ‘Downward Spiral: Horus Station’, Gameplay Video Here

Downward Spiral: Horus Station is an upcoming sci-fi adventure set in the lost and forgotten Horus space station. Created by Finland-based 3rd Eye Studios, the minds behind the game recently put out an extended look at some of the its atmospheric exploration and puzzles in a new gameplay video.

While the video gives us a peek into the game’s PS4 version, the mechanics seen here can be found in the game’s VR-compatible antecedent, Downward Spiral: Prologue (2017), which served as a tantalizing proof-of-concept back when it was released last year. With VR motion controllers and supported headset (listed below), you use the environment to physically propel yourself forward, or a number of tools found along the way to navigate the sprawling space station like a grappling gun.

SEE ALSO
Oculus Studios' New Title 'Defector' Aims for High-octane Set Piece Action and Branching Narratives

Downward Spiral: Horus Station offers single player and co-op play, and also includes a ‘peaceful’ mode that removes all enemies for those looking for an exploration-only experience. In addition to the campaign, the studio says there will also be eight-player PvP and PvE multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Horde and Survivor challenges.

According to the studio, the game features no dialogue or cinematics, making users piece together the plot through observation and interpretation. The electronic ambient soundtrack was composed by HIM frontman Ville Valo.

The game is slated to launch sometime this spring on PC, PS4, PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets.

The post 17 Minutes of Sci-fi Adventure ‘Downward Spiral: Horus Station’, Gameplay Video Here appeared first on Road to VR.

17 Minutes of Sci-fi Adventure ‘Downward Spiral: Horus Station’, Gameplay Video Here

Downward Spiral: Horus Station is an upcoming sci-fi adventure set in the lost and forgotten Horus space station. Created by Finland-based 3rd Eye Studios, the minds behind the game recently put out an extended look at some of the its atmospheric exploration and puzzles in a new gameplay video.

While the video gives us a peek into the game’s PS4 version, the mechanics seen here can be found in the game’s VR-compatible antecedent, Downward Spiral: Prologue (2017), which served as a tantalizing proof-of-concept back when it was released last year. With VR motion controllers and supported headset (listed below), you use the environment to physically propel yourself forward, or a number of tools found along the way to navigate the sprawling space station like a grappling gun.

SEE ALSO
Oculus Studios' New Title 'Defector' Aims for High-octane Set Piece Action and Branching Narratives

Downward Spiral: Horus Station offers single player and co-op play, and also includes a ‘peaceful’ mode that removes all enemies for those looking for an exploration-only experience. In addition to the campaign, the studio says there will also be eight-player PvP and PvE multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Horde and Survivor challenges.

According to the studio, the game features no dialogue or cinematics, making users piece together the plot through observation and interpretation. The electronic ambient soundtrack was composed by HIM frontman Ville Valo.

The game is slated to launch sometime this spring on PC, PS4, PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets.

The post 17 Minutes of Sci-fi Adventure ‘Downward Spiral: Horus Station’, Gameplay Video Here appeared first on Road to VR.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station ab Frühjahr 2018 auf Steam und für PSVR

Das Sci-Fi-Abenteuer Downward Spiral: Horus Station vom Entwicklerstudio 3rd Eye Studios erscheint im Frühjahr 2018 für Oculus Rift, HTC Vive und PlayStation VR (PSVR). Der VR-Titel schickt euch in eine mysteriöse Raumstation. In dem von Twin Peaks, Black Mirror und 2001: Odyssee im Weltraum inspirierten Spiel muss man sich den Plot selbst erschließen.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station – Sci-Fi-Welten für PlayStation VR (PSVR) und PC-Brillen

Der VR-Titel Downward Spiral: Horus Station versetzt euch auf eine verlassene Raumstation im Weltall, in der sich die Spieler in der Schwerelosigkeit zurechtfinden müssen. Im Gegensatz zu anderen VR-Abenteuern gibt euch das Spiel keinen Plot vor, dem ihr zum Fortschreiten der Story folgen müsst. Stattdessen liegt es an euch, die Umgebung zu erforschen und herauszufinden, was sich in der düsteren und verlassenen Raumstation zugetragen hat.

Während eurer Nachforschungen gilt es, diverse Rätsel und Aufgaben zu lösen, um dem Mysterium auf die Spur zu kommen. Dazu zählt beispielsweise die Reparatur beschädigter Schiffshardware mit Magneten oder Rail Guns. Diese können zeitgleich auch für den Kampf eingesetzt werden, denn auf der Raumstation haben sich einige ungewollte Gäste eingenistet, die euch alles andere als wohl gesonnen sind.

Downward-Spiral-Horus-Station-Oculus-Rift-HTC-Vive-SteamVR-PlayStation-VR-PSVR

Jedoch ist es dem Spieler selbst überlassen, ob er die Risiken eines Kampfgetümmels auf sich nimmt oder lieber unentdeckt durch das Raumschiff navigiert. Für Pazifisten gibt es den Explorer-Modus, der komplett auf Feindkontakt verzichtet.

Innovative Locomotion in der Schwerelosigkeit

Zur Fortbewegungsmethode nutzen die Entwickler wie bei Lucid Trips keine herkömmliche Teleportation oder Stick-Steuerung, sondern setzen auf das Voranschreiten durch eine Simulation in der Schwerelosigkeit. Ihr müsst euch mit euren Händen vom Boden abstoßen oder an Objekten entlangziehen, um vorwärtszukommen.

Downward-Spiral-Horus-Station-Oculus-Rift-HTC-Vive-SteamVR-PlayStation-VR-PSVR

Bei den Mitarbeitern des VR-Spiels von 3rd Eye Studios handelt es sich um keine Unbekannten, denn sie waren bereits an diversen Sci-Fi-Projekten wie Prometheus, Gravity, Halo 5 und Alan Wake beteiligt. Dementsprechend konnten sie ihre Erfahrungen in den neuen VR-Titel einfließen lassen.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station soll im Frühjahr 2018 für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive auf Steam sowie für PlayStation VR (PSVR) im PlayStation Store erscheinen.

(Quellen: PlayStation Blog US | Road to VR | Video: 3rd Eye Studios Youtube)

Der Beitrag Downward Spiral: Horus Station ab Frühjahr 2018 auf Steam und für PSVR zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

Multiplayer Sci-fi Adventure ‘Downward Spiral: Horus Station’ to Launch This Spring on PSVR, Rift & Vive

Downward Spiral: Horus Station is an upcoming sci-fi adventure game from 3rd Eye Studios, a Finish studio featuring industry veterans from games such as Alan Wake, and Halo 5, and movies including Wall-E, Gravity, and Prometheus.

While Horus Station is technically the second installment in the series following last year’s Downward Spiral: Prologue (2017)it’s really just the next evolution.

“Last year’s Downward Spiral: Prologue was our proof of concept. Now we’re almost ready to let players embark on a full-length adventure to discover the atmospheric Horus Station,” said Kari Koivistoinen, CEO of 3rd Eye Studios. “For those that wish to experience the game in VR, we’ve continued to develop our proprietary tech that mitigates VR motion sickness while allowing for a full range of movement. Movement is seamless, allowing players to engage in both thoughtful exploration and pulse-quickening combat.”

image courtesy 3rd Eye Studios

Horus Station aims to be a full-length adventure that takes place on a space station which was mysteriously abandoned by its crew. While 3rd Eye is staying pretty tight-lipped on just what lies ahead, they told us you have to solve puzzles, and fight or avoid unknown dangers by using the ship’s maintenance hardware like bolt throwers, rail guns, and arc welders to take out threats—of course, all in zero-G.

Horus Station will be launching for PC and PlayStation 4 this spring with optional PSVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive support at launch.

image courtesy 3rd Eye Studios

The game will feature co-op mode, allowing two players to explore the Horus Station both normally or with enemies turned off. It also boasts eight-player PvP and PvE multiplayer modes, which include Deathmatch, Horde and Survivor challenges.

Much like Lone Echo (2017), players will have to use the environment to physically propel themselves forward, or conversely use tools to help navigate the zero-G environment of the ship.

According to the studio, the game features no dialogue or cinematics, making users piece together the plot through observation and interpretation. The electronic ambient soundtrack was composed by HIM frontman Ville Valo.

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‘Downward Spiral: Prologue’ Review

Downward Spiral: Prologue (2017) is a sci-fi adventure game that takes you into a lovingly recreated ’70s retro future of CRT monitors and space stations abound. Featuring a single-player and coop mission, and multiplayer death match mode Downward Spiral: Prologue feels like the creators have torn out the first few pages of an Arthur C. Clarke novel and realized it in virtual reality.


Downward Spiral: Prologue Details:

Official Site
Developer: 
3rd Eye Studios Oy LTD

Available On: Steam (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift)
Reviewed On: HTC Vive, Oculus Touch
Release Date: March, 31st 2017


Gameplay

Generator power: offline. Life support: offline. Artificial gravity: offline.

You’re tossed in with little back story, but it’s clear what you have to do aboard what appears to be an abandoned space station orbiting Earth. Get systems back online and see what happens.

downward spiral 1

Grabbing the railing you propel yourself to the nearest airlock and enter the station. Because you’re in a microgravity environment, you have to stop yourself with your hand and navigate forward by pushing off walls, and using the world’s many hand railings and button-filled consoles for stability.

There’s a lot to like about Downward Spiral: Prologue, from its well-polished interiors to its innovative locomotion scheme that has you free-floating in space, but I wasn’t impressed at all by the 15-minute length of the game. That’s right, another short-lived VR game that’s selling for real money on Steam.

But if the short single player/coop mission doesn’t deter you, you’re in for some very cohesive art, some interesting exploration in what feels like a real space station and a satisfying conclusion of the little level that will definitely leave you wanting for more of everything. Considering this is the first installment of the game, which hasn’t gone through any sort of pre-funding scheme like Steam Greenlight program or Kickstarter, purchasing the game at $9.99 (€9,99 or £6,99) means you’re directly funding the second installment.

downward spiral 2

There aren’t really any puzzles to speak of, as the action is mostly driven by a few neat little button-filled consoles that jump-start the station’s various processes. There are also a few enemies to dispatch with a pistol, but the world’s little electric robot enemies are laughably easy to kill. It seems the atmosphere around you is really the star of the show here.

Deathmatch allows up to eight players to experience the same zero gravity gunplay in “environments familiar to the story,” meaning the same map. I wasn’t able to get into a deathmatch during pre-release of the game, so I can’t speak to its entirety. This isn’t a “shooter” however, so I’m still mystified as to why there’s a deathmatch in the first place. I’ll be updating my impressions (and score if need be) as soon as I get into a match.

Immersion

At first it took me a few moments to get used to the locomotion style of floating around and pushing off the corridors of the space station, but after a little practice I was flying through the world with relative ease. I was surprised at just how good it was, similar to Oculus’ recently released Mission:ISS (2017).

Shooting the game’s pistols wasn’t an entirely a hitch-free experience. Aiming felt a little unnatural, a possible tribute to realism as my space suit didn’t entirely allow for free movement with the pistol. I found myself being more deliberate in how I aimed because of it though as my bullets zinged through the vast expanse of the engine room.

downward spiral 4

Getting zapped by a robot feels right. Your sight is slightly more red-tinted every time you take a hit, and the sound mutes ever so slightly the worse the onslaught.

I played the game with both the Oculus Rift (with Touch) and the HTC Vive. The game is an open 360 environment, so a 3-sensor set-up is a must for Rift players if you want to forget the Touch version’s snap-turn. As per usual, the stock Vive setup provided for a flawless 360-tracking experience.

Comfort

 Floating in space can be stomach-turning, but it seems the developers have nailed the locomotion scheme in Downward Spiral: Prologue to a pretty fine degree.

Besides relying on an hand-held air compressor you find midway through that lets you bebop around with your own personal jet, you have to use a little physicality to push off and stop yourself with walls. Thankfully grabbing out for any and all parts of the ship lets you stop yourself, and you sort of settle int your forward motion after a while.

downwward spiral 5

The HUD design also helps anchor you in the world, keeping nausea at bay. The video walk-through below (warning: the full game is completely spoiled below) shows a bit of the left side of helmet in the frame, but it’s really not so intrusive. The helmet design only slightly cuts off your horizontal field of view (FOV).

Despite having a temperamental belly when it comes to artificial locomotion (I made myself sick playing Mission ISS), Downward Spiral seems to have done everything in its power to limit nausea, and I walked away feeling surprisingly normal.


exemplar-2We partnered with AVA Direct to create the Exemplar 2 Ultimate, our high-end VR hardware reference point against which we perform our tests and reviews. Exemplar 2 is designed to push virtual reality experiences above and beyond what’s possible with systems built to lesser recommended VR specifications.

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