Downward Spiral: Horus Station from 3rd Eye studio is a new first-person exploration game on PS4 and PS VR. Learn more about it in our Downward Spiral: Horus Station review!
After I began to play the game, I got a feeling that even though Downward Spiral: Horus Station offers you the chance to play the game on PlayStation 4 sans the PlayStation VR, the overall experience is more suited for playing in virtual reality due to how the game’s gameplay is set up. Playing with a DualShock 4 introduced an extra learning curve that would not be there if you were playing with two PlayStation Move controllers.
Graphically speaking, the game looks great, with realistic environments. You play as a lone guy person stuck on a space station called Horus, hence the name of the game. There is no gravity inside, so you’re floating around using handholds and any surface you can use to push yourself in any general direction. Because of this, if you suffer from motion sickness, I suggest you stay far away from this game, or else you’re going to be feeling very sick after playing for 10-15 minutes.
The pace of the gameplay is very slow due to the lack of gravity. The left analog stick is used mostly to pull and push yourself with and the right stick for turning around. Turning around while in zero gravity is even slower, and with the game having some minor shooting elements, you can imagine how you always need to plan ahead. After 20 minutes or so you’ll get access to a grappling hook that will greatly increase the speed at which you move, but which might also increase your discomfort from motion sickness.
The game allows you to play in two ways, in an Exploration mode with no enemies, which is what I’d suggest for those of you playing sans a PlayStation VR headset, or you can play in the Engage mode in which enemies will attack you as you explore the station, which will definitely provide a very different experience – one that is best suited for a PlayStation VR enabled run. You will feel as if enemies move a lot faster than you, so be ready for that if you take on the Engage option for your Story Mode run!
Along with its Story Mode, the game also offers a Multiplayer mode where you can go at it online completely blind, or you can use a matchmaking code to create a different type of experience by playing with someone you know. The Multiplayer is a separate thing from the Story mode, and I do suggest that you first play the game’s main mode to get a feel of what to expect from this zero gravity release.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is an interesting first-person exploration game that offers PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR options so that all can play. As I mentioned before, if you’re playing on PlayStation 4 you should go with the Explore option for your run with the game, and if you’re playing with a PlayStation VR unit, you should take on the Engage option for a different experience that feels at home on Sony’s virtual reality system.
Disclaimer
This Downward Spiral: Horus Station review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by 3rd Eye Studio.
