VR REVIEW | Metal: Hellsinger VR

Metal: Hellsinger VR is a rhythm FPS that first released on PC & Consoles in 2022 but that has now received a VR adaptation. It remains mostly the same outside of the VR controls and some newly added weapons. But I’m here to answer to questions: 1. If you already own the game on console, it it worth to double dip? and 2. If you don’t own the game yet, should you get the VR version or the PC/console version?

You can read my original review of the Xbox Series X playthrough here, most of it is largely the same, but I’ll focus on the VR aspect of the game below.

Things I liked!

• Metal Soundtrack | Let’s start with the most obvious element: the music. While I’m far from a metalhead (you will have a hard time finding music that would fit into this game on my Spotify list) I very much enjoyed discovering the musical genre and might even dip my toes further into the pool of darkness inspired songs after this. In Metal: Hellsinger, it was especially epic how increasing your fury by shooting enemies to the beat added sound layer upon sound layer until finally adding vocals at x16 fury. I was weeping with joy when the bass kept pumping through my SUBPAC and headset and it’s an experience I would wholly recommend to anyone that even remotely enjoys music.

• Solid Gunplay| The VR version is largely the same, but the 1:1 movement and aiming allows you to be a lot more precise and dual-wielding the pistol now lets you target multiple enemies at once. It feels so much better to shoot and you can focus even more on timing your shots or slashes to the beat. That being said, I quickly turned on the modifier that helped me with my timing. (I love my games being “easier” I don’t play them for the challenge, but more for escapism). One thing I wanted to add here is how unintuitive the switching between weapons was, even though most of this is because I don’t have the button mapping of the Quest 3 controllers in my brain yet, but how cool would it have been if you could draw the blades from your back or the double pistols from the holsters on your thighs. VR lets you do cool stuff like this, so I would have loved seeing it used like that.

• Story & Voice Acting | Paz, the talking skull you carry around, will narrate everything that happens in the game and I just love how it’s delivered in a calm, yet almost satirical voice. That voice will sound awfully familiar to most people though, as it’s Troy Baker, also known as the most overused voice in videogames. But personally, I didn’t mind as the delivery was spot on! The story he has to tell is actually quite interesting, with you playing as the titular Hellsinger, a fallen angel coming to bring chaos to hell and fully intending to kick its current ruler off the throne. NOTE: the new camera angles in the VR version are sometimes off-putting and make the epic surroundings seem less… epic because of the bird’s eye view at the start of a level.

• Comparing highscores | Each time you play through a hell, the same type of enemies will spawn in the same locations. That sounds like a downside, and it kind of is, but the predictability also means you can improve each run and that makes Metal: Hellsinger the perfect game to compare highscores with your friends.

• Optional challenges & passive ability rewards | After beating a level (or a Hell as it’s called here) you’ll unlock three challenges that have a certain restriction on how to play, like not being able to restore health from executions or each kill switching your weapon automatically to another one. Successfully beating each one will grant you with passive abilities that will make it easier to land big scores, like never dropping below a certain Fury level or charging your weapon’s ultimate with every beat in the song.

Mixed & disliked!

• Movement | You can dash and jump in both versions of the game, but with a VR headset on, I found myself avoiding both as it was easy to get motion sick. It’s rarely required of you to progress through the level and FEELS SICK when you do it, I just wish I didn’t GET SICK when I do it too often. I could only play one level at a time and then needed to take at least a 1 hour break.

• Vignette is needed, but lazy execution | This brings me to my biggest complaint: by default, you’ll see a vignette around the edges of the screen to help combat motion sickness, but it’s just a lazy grey .png that limits your vision and does not look cool at all. I was really bothered every time it came up and instantly went to the settings to turn it off, only to then feel motion sick when running around too much or jumping/dashing. Note: I didn’t have the same issue with other FPS games like Hubris or Asgard’s Wrath 2. So the vignette is needed, but maybe some burning hellfire or a demonic haze would have been cooler and felt more theme-appropriate than the immersion-breaking grey overlay.

• Enemy Variety | There aren’t that many different types of regular enemies with most of them being more powerful variations of the ones from the first few levels, and the bosses do not fare much better. Every single Hell ends with a boss fight that is just a kind of floating head with wings. I was really hoping to see a different design by the end of the game but was let down when this wasn’t the case and instead just saw different crowns on their heads. Luckily, the boss fight room changed around a bit, but it still left me hungry for more. *NOTE: the final boss is an exception and sent shivers down my spine, but that just brings home how epic they all could have been.

• Visuals | the only reason I put this here and not in “liked” is because the PC & console version of the game just looks SOOOO much better. It’s mostly the same models and surroundings, but it’s just not as sharp on the Quest 3 and feels like a few (rhythmic) steps back.

How long did I play the review before publishing? 4 hours
How long to beat the story? 4 hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | B.P.M. Bullet Per Minute, Pistol Whip

CONCLUSION

Score: 80/100 – Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm FPS that has all the elements you need for a delightful symphony full of fast-paced action and heart-pounding metal music. It was one of my favourite games of 2022 and the musical crescendo it built up to resonated so much with me that I was excited to play through it again in VR.

Alas, the experience on the Xbox Series X was the superior one, and if you’re wondering which version to play today, even if you own a VR headset, I would still recommend the console version of it.

Prefer to see the game in action? I’ve got you covered!