With the massive success of the Quest line of headsets, we didn’t see that many high profile PC-VR titles in 2022. Hubris certainly broke that trend when it launched at the tail end of 2022 as a technically impressive and ambitious PC-only title that’s compatible with all major headsets – we tested it on a cable-connected Quest headset.
The gorgeous trailer is what drew us towards the game in the first place, and it’s great to see that the in-game visuals live up to its promise. Not only does Hubris feature an impressive amount of in-game detail (with a modest minimum requirement of a GTX 1080, which was already the minimum spec for the Rift years ago), there’s also a great deal of polish in the shape of lighting and reflections that give the game a more realistic look, and that polish carries over to some decent character animations and voice acting as well.
Story-wise, this sci-fi romp takes you (as part of an organization called the Order Of Objectivity) to a twin planet system in search of an agent called Cyanha, which in this shooter quickly has you battling other humans as well as the local wildlife and harsh conditions. The campaign is about five hours long, which is just about par for the course for a VR shooter – with the side note that this one’s on the expensive end of things when you consider the length and the average price of VR games.
Gameplay-wise, although Hubris is a shooter at heart, the developers made sure there are plenty of VR/motion controls in place for added immersion – expect to be climbing and even going under water in this one. Swimming isn’t just a gimmick either – it works very intuitively and there’s even some combat under water thanks to a special gun for that scenario. Weapons can be crafted and upgraded in various spots if you have the right resources too, so you can mix things up and go for a shotgun if you prefer that over the standard pistol.
Less intuitive is the jumping, but that’s just something that VR hasn’t quite nailed yet. Luckily, it’s been designed to not be overly challenging, so this doesn’t lead to frustration either. There’s a good mix of mechanics here, which keeps Hubris on pace for the duration of its admittedly short but also fun campaign. What holds it back is that combat tends to be on the easy side, and there’s not a great deal of enemy variety either. Easy to forgive in a short campaign, but it’s also what makes Hubris inferior to the likes of Alyx.
Decent story-driven first person shooters with good production values are still a bit of a rarity in VR, so that alone makes Hubris worth it. Impressive to see and experience and fun to play, it’s definitely worth a playthrough even though it’s not perfect, though its price tag (Alyx is regularly on sale for almost half the price) will hold people back.
Score: 7.0/10
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