Its computer VR support fails in nearly every area.
As a huge fan of Hitman’s dazzling PSVR mode, it hurts me to admit that the long-awaited update to support PC VR is a complete disappointment.
The Hitman series has been a staple of the stealth genre since the first game launched in 2000. Despite how long it’s been around, however, developer Io Interactive is still doing new things with the franchise.
The newest game in the series is Hitman 3, which released on PC and consoles earlier this year. It was also released for Windows Mixed Reality headsets, but it doesn’t take advantage of the platform very well at all.
The game itself is fine for what it is — a basic stealth title that makes use of a handful of different gameplay mechanics to give players a variety of ways to complete missions. It’s an interesting game that can be a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, there are some design decisions in the Windows Mixed Reality version that make the experience worse than it is on other platforms.
Instead of a motion-controlled Agent 47 and a sharper immersive, more detailed game, What we have is nothing more than an update to an earlier PSVR version. It also has an extra arm to add some fun.
It’s not a bad thing. It’s not as fun as PlayStation VR, PSVR it’s still extremely enjoyable to play, and the sandbox-like levels are fun to explore and play in, but when it comes to meeting the high expectations of the PC VR owners who were waiting for it with bated breath the game will be viewed as an unsatisfactory mission.
In this week’s episode of Ian’s VR Corner, you can watch me play around with the brand new PC VR mode. I go back to my most-loved Hitman chats in previous versions, including the PSVR versions, to check out just how the game has changed.
This isn’t too much. Don’t worry that I’m still able to do awful, horrible things to people online, which can make it better.
The first thing you’ll see while experiencing Hitman PC VR for the first time is how blurred and fuzzy the graphics appear. After spending hours and hours playing the low-res, poor-powered PSVR version, I was expecting an even more clear and polished experience than what Sony’s console could offer. However, even in the most extreme setting, the PC’s graphics were not as impressive.
As you can see in the above video, PC VR does improve on a few aspects of PSVR. PSVR version. It has more details on distant buildings and objects, and the PSVR’s irritating “pop-in” crowds have been removed, allowing you to observe the hordes of NPCs even when viewing them from away.
The world will seem more real and immersive; however, that soft, luminous sheen to everything is difficult to overlook, particularly when you’ve only played premium PC VR games in the past.
The most disappointing aspect to PC VR owners will undoubtedly be the control scheme. Instead of providing full motion control and full motion control, this PC VR version seems to have removed the control mechanism from PSVR. If you’ve been playing as much in the PSVR version as I have, this will be no issue at all; however, if you’re used to manually climbing and reloading, or the ability to pull and push as well as interact with virtual worlds, you’re likely to be left out with this version.
The majority of interactions aside from throwing objects as well as the aiming and firing of guns can be accomplished by pressing a button. You’re not even able to grasp objects using your new left hand; therefore, don’t expect fancy items like dual-wielding and certainly not the capability to play left-handed.
And that sluggish and broken strangling system within the PSVR version, which I believed was caused by the bizarre Dualshock/motion controller hybrid control scheme? It’s still broken and janky on PCVR, even with the additional arm.
But that’s not where PC VR troubles come to an end. There’s no scale for the room here, and if you attempt to move around, you’ll be leaving 47’s body behind when you walk. PC VR users that are used to turning their bodies in VR will have a hard time turning around, too. Unless you’re using an analog thumbstick for turning, they’ll be facing the opposite direction from 47’s body. This makes the subsequent movements feel awkward.
All of these limitations are found on the PlayStation version, and you think why I am so scathing about this PC VR mode while I am in love with the experience on PSVR? It’s because I was expecting more.
The technology hasn’t been improved in this regard to allow for the capabilities or freedom PC VR provides. The ability to play PSVR on the couch is great; I like it and am happy with it since VR technology doesn’t permit any other type of experience, however with PC VR, there’s room for more things to be achieved!
I made sure to remember during watching today’s VR Corner that Hitman was not intended to be played in VR. It wasn’t designed for VR, so the possibility it exists at all and that IO Interactive has brought it to VR is an amazing gift worthy of all the praise around the world.
My opinion was that the PSVR version wasn’t excellent compared to other games on the platform and raised my expectations quite high for its move into PC-VR. Unfortunately, these lofty goals were ones that IOI could not reach, and you know what I mean.
