Espire 1: VR Operative
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Espire 1: VR Operative
Espire 1's VR stealth is brimming with neat ideas, but the end product is slightly less than the sum of its parts.
Ghillie up in a robo-suit, bust into a classified military facility, and try not to get caught. Or, alternatively, shoot your way through every guard.
Several weeks after release (and several patches deep) Espire 1: VR Operative is ultimately an unfinished game. I have no problem with Early Access titles on PC, but by the time a game hits the PlayStation Store, my expectations are that it is in a playable state. After two patches, Espire 1: VR Operative still feels largely unpolished (and at times, actively broken). Proceed with caution.
Espire 1: VR Operative is good for those new to VR wanting to experience what the platform has to offer without getting easily motion sick. But for those wanting to play a serious stealth title with incredible gameplay mechanics, the unmistakable bugs and annoying enemies may make you want to put down the controllers.
Espire 1: VR Operative is a fun stealth game that suffers from bad AI and a dull story. It's saved by great movement and replayability.
Patch after patch, this game improves and matures into something special. It's the best of its kind in an undersaturated genre and it's entirely worth your time to investigate. Although it isn't a true "Triple-A" outing of a game; it certainly paves the way for greatness in future instalments or clones thanks to innovative stealthy gameplay and fun modes and exploration.
Espire 1: VR Operative is not a mechanically perfect game. Sometimes, the controls can feel a little clumsy in the way that many VR games tend to do, and I wish you could find more handgun ammo to make that class of weapons more useful. With so many VR titles that feel like glorified tech demos Espire 1: VR Operative has some real meat to it, and for most of your time in the game, you will feel like some sort of shadowy, robotic badass. Use all of the mobility and stealth at your disposal, and you will find that Espire 1 sets a pretty high bar for what a VR game can be.
To conclude then, there is a lot to like about Espire 1 VR Operative. The foundations are there for a competent stealth-action game. However, in its current state it feels like an “early-access” title rather than a fully-fledged finished product. With some additional time polishing the AI and making the game fun-to-play there is potential. As it stands the unforgiving AI, audio problems and poor instructions for new players make Espire 1 a game for hardened stealth players only who have tons of patience to fall back on. For those resting on the action side of gaming then expect a short-lived and unfulfilling experience, too easy to best as a result.
