Downward Spiral: Horus Station Reviews
The 3rd Eye Studio gets, without a high budget, a new space odyssey that mixes well the moments of action, the exploration and the puzzles. This trip is better with VR. Music, atmosphere and weightlessness make magic and move the player to this Horus Station.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a unique take on zero gravity that feels fairly true to what it would be like. The trouble is this makes for a dull experience when not in VR. While everything feels as though it fits well, the trouble is that the abhorrent camera speed makes the only real challenge looking at things. The combat isn't hard, but still manages to be frustrating. In VR the experience may well be completely different, but without that hook, the game is an easy pass.
Downward Spiral is an adventure that gives you the most when its played with PS VR and Move controllers. Without them, the game loses its charm and the shortcomings are more evident: non impressive graphics, slow progression, bugs... It's not a game for every PS VR owner, but if you love the space flicks from the 70s you probably will enjoy it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Downward Spiral: Horus Station isn't without issues, but this is an experience worth having for PSVR owners. The Zero-G gameplay remains fun throughout, and a wide assortment of weapons and tools helps to allow players some freedom in the way they dispatch enemies. With death being meaningless, and a story told without any real clues to go off, some players may not feel rewarded enough by simply progressing to the next room. The inclusion of multiplayer does give more reason to head back to floating in a lonely space station, provided that an online population shows up at launch. Sci-fi and VR fans should give the $19.99 Downward Spiral: Horus Station a try.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is now available on PC.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station neither succeeds nor fails in any spectacular fashion, and as such, it just sort of exists. This is a boring experience that doesn't do anything truly unforgivable, but is also unsuccessful in offering anything worthy of talking about. Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a thing, but you really don't need to experience it.
With choices between flat or VR, solo or co-op, and Explore vs. Engage, Downward Spiral: Horus Station can be tailored to the player's preference. I found the solo VR mode to be an amazing VR experience that amply demonstrated the incredible immersion value of VR in a spooky, broken space station. The Engage mode, which translates to "you get shot a lot" when playing, was not as compelling - the shooting aspects weren't all that good and served only to detract from the somber, creepy mood.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a thoughtfully crafted VR game that puts the player in the shoes of an astronaut exploring the depths of the mysterious Horus Station on Mars.
And until then, the game is still solid enough to be worth a playthrough, especially at its price point and if you're a fan of VR. While I'm still not sure splitting the games into chapters was necessary, it works to provide a bit of a break between lengthy sections spent meandering through airspace, which helps ensure the game's main gimmick doesn't become too stale. Downward Spiral: Horus Station is drifting in the right direction, even if it sometimes loses its grip.
For all its atmospheric feats, Horus Station struggles to break orbit.
Despite Downward Spiral: Horus Station's faults, there's enough here to show promise in 3rd Eye Studios.
PSVR has expanded its catalogue year on year, going a long way in proving that the technology is here to stay, and not the gimmick many had thought. While Downward Spiral Horus Station isn't a groundbreaking VR title, thanks to the combat and lack of variety in the "puzzles" letting it down. It still delivers on crafting an immersive and atmospheric experience. Letting its audience step into the void of space. It's another to add to the catalogue of games to introduce non-VR gamers and non-gamers in general into the wonders of virtual reality.
Mystery of Horus Station awaiting players especialy in PS VR. It is not perfect but not bad at all.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a first-person exploration game that tries to do some things differently on PlayStation 4, giving us a slow-paced release that has some moments of action – as long as you're playing in Engage. Making PlayStation VR an option and not a mandatory requirement was a smart choice since that way more people can play the game. I look forward to seeing what 3rd Eye Studios does after everything they've learned from working on this 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.
With the main game split into eight acts, it took me a little over four hours to get through Engage mode. There is some enjoyment to be had floating around a derelict space station for a bit, but in the end it comes off as a game which isn’t bad per se, doesn’t particularly excel at much. The various design pieces don’t quite fit together, but are forced to fit like an impatient kid with a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle. For $19.99, considering how short the game ended up being and the technical issues affecting the experience, I’d give Downward Spiral: Horus Station a chance if there were a decent sale, but a pass at full price.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is certainly not a game for everyone. It’s very slow paced and with very little to do it can become frustrating pretty quick. I’m not the biggest fan of these types of games and if I played it with a standard controller I would have been done after the first five minutes. But in VR it adds a whole new dimension which makes it a far more tantalizing experience.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station suffers from the same mistakes like many other smaller VR games did. It doesn't have an engaging story and won't surprise you with any interesting ideas. Without a virtual reality device, the game is simply half as enjoyable.
Review in Slovak | Read full review