Also On: Meta Quest, PS VR2
Publisher: Funcom
Developer: Lab42, The Outsiders
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-2
Online: Leaderboards
ESRB: T
When Metal: Hellsinger first released in September of 2022, it seemed to have been tailor-made for me. Some of my favorite vocalists performing original music over an excellent thumping backing track from Two Feathers while running around slaughtering demons a la Doom is a prime candidate for “My personal favorite game” of any given year. Taking all of those elements and bringing them a step further by forcing the players to sync their shooting with the rhythm made Metal: Hellsinger a standout title in both the rhythm and shooter genres.
I admit to being very skeptical about how well that experience would translate to VR, but I was excited to give it a shot. The formula remains the same as the flat version of the game: drop in, shoot hordes of demons while matching the rhythm, beat the boss, level finished. Each level has three additional “Torment” challenges, with you trying to complete a specific challenge while racing the clock.
If you want more on Metal: Hellsinger as a game, check out our review from 2022. In this review, I will focus on the VR-specific aspects. I have a few issues with the translation, primarily with the calibration. You calibrate the visual beats and the audio beats separately, and at no point was I able to sync these two numbers. I ran the calibration close to a dozen times, and not once did I feel I had successfully found a balance. I eventually dropped trying to use the visual beats at ALL and simply ensured my audio calibration was excellent and played entirely from that. This was a multifold problem, as I could not effectively conduct the “perfect reload” mechanic that made a return from the flat version. This was not game-breaking, but it was exceptionally frustrating. I will also add a caveat here that I was playing on Steam VR via the Steam Link app on Meta Quest 3, so there is a possibility that some of the calibration issues stem from the way I was playing, but with how successful I was at syncing the audio, I do not feel that Steam Link is the issue here.
Visually, I really enjoyed Metal: Hellsinger VR. It is not nearly as detail-laden as the flat version, but I found it more than adequate and was never negatively distracted by any issues. The demons are rendered larger than I had grasped while playing the original release, and they are a physically imposing presence in VR.
The soundtrack is what drew me to Metal: Hellsinger in the first place, and this VR version is no different. The soundtrack is incredible, and I had as much fun running through this version as I did the first time. The incentive to attack on beat so that the vocals come screaming in and stick around keeps me pushing and engaged with the admittedly repetitive gameplay loop.
Metal: Hellsinger VR is another solid rhythm game for VR headsets, while also being a solid VR re-release of a previously flat title. If you had no interest in Metal: Hellsinger originally, there is nothing here that will sell you to check out the VR version, but if you were a fan of the flat release and have the hardware to check this new version out, I would strongly recommend it.
Note: Funcom provided us with Metal: Hellsinger VR codes for review purposes.
