Hitman 3 VR is a unique product both for the PlayStation platform and for the entire niche of virtual entertainment. IO Interactive carefully preserved all the locations from the original, mechanics, paths and moved the camera from over the shoulder to the eyes of the cold protagonist, adding the game elements necessary for VR.
Our in-depth Hitman 3 review can be found on F95Zone . Here we will try to figure out what is so important about converting 47’s adventures into VR.
Uniqueness
Unlike other debutants, IO Interactive understood very well why people love VR. The developers have implemented full-fledged tracking of the protagonist’s hand. All manipulations – be it blows, choking, opening doors, picking up objects and shooting – are carried out with the help of your own hand.
Of course, the developers made some compromises here due to the raw tracking technology of the DualShock 4 controller. For example, you cannot physically reload weapons like in any other VR shooter. Recharging occurs by simply pressing a button on the controller. Or, having taken a branded noose-string for manufacture, you will not be able to stretch it with your own hands. Only at the touch of a button. But they will allow you to throw and pull off a deadly trap on the victim’s throat.
IO Interactive understood very well what kind of hardware they were working with. And if in many places they went to controversial tricks that break the immersion, then in others they introduced breakthrough ideas. For example, if you do not have a coin in your pocket to attract the attention of a guard, but you have a barrel, you can simply knock the weapon on any surface. If it is a tree and the enemy is far away, nothing will happen. But if you bang on the metal, the entire corridor will come running. The same goes for accidental touches of your hand on numerous interactive objects.
Unlike most VR games, if you sit behind a box with your neck stretched out, the characters at the location will immediately notice it. The same goes for the hand with the weapon.
The PlayStation VR camera does not accurately track the headset and gamepad when placed close to each other. This makes it extremely difficult to aim through the front sight of the weapon when the player has to bring the controller to his face. The developers of Hitman 3 VR did not fix the hardware limitations like in HuniePop 2, but allowed players to aim without having to suffer. If you gently press down the trigger on the DualSchock 4, a laser designator will appear from the weapon. On the one hand, this is cheating. On the other hand, it is an ideal way out of a difficult situation.
Considering what Hitman is like, VR mode works for the ultimate immersion in 47’s skin. Any variant of the passage, any “creativity” when eliminating goals can be recreated in VR, but with greater freedom, which ordinary “flat” games are not capable of due to technical limitations.
There were “a million” ways to complete the mission in other VR projects as well. The first thing that comes to mind is Defector, an Oculus platform exclusive. But in this game, all levels are strictly linear, and the variability is limited to a step to the side with the addition of an extra 2-3 minutes to the passage. Defector gives you a choice of already generated and written pieces of history, which are lined up depending on the player’s actions.
Hitman 3 VR works differently, like a kitchen. The game provides a set of products. What kind of dish you cook depends on your imagination. This makes the new trilogy a unique VR project. One of a kind with such elaboration and such variety.
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Annoyance
Unfortunately, the game has some drawbacks. The first thing that catches your eye is the graphics. If we consider Hitman 3 as a standalone VR-product for the PlayStation 4 family, then we should take our hat off to the developers from IOI. Neither Resident Evil 7 in VR, nor Farpoint, nor any other project will provide a similar level of graphical performance. Bright, clear and detailed picture.With a huge number of objects in the location.
But if you compare with the version of Hitman 3 without VR, it turns out to be a disaster. Many graphic effects are missing, there are no shadows. There are crowds of people in front of your eyes, but with sharp turns of the head, they will disappear and appear. Suddenly and instantly.
Apex Predator’s mission, set within the rave club, effectively hides the console’s technical limitations through bright flashes, fog, and overall building architecture. But the mission in Dubai reveals and erases the sector of idle people and objects in locations in front of the player’s eyes. Mind, of course, everything can be understood and accepted. But such tricks are disappointing.
As mentioned above, it is normal to aim in a PlayStation VR helmet, as on other VR devices, you will not be allowed to. The fly will always get lost and walk back and forth.
There is no teleportation in the game, only sliding. Or the body turns following the turns of the head. Or the body is static and rotates with the right stick. Unfortunately, there is no perfect balance due to the limitations of Sony’s VR headset.
You can, of course, play while standing, rotate 360 degrees around you, examine objects, and look around corners. Yes, only the camera will forever lose sight of the controller’s small light sensor, which instantly leads to the loss of the track and the madness of 47’s hand!
Imagine that you are slowly walking after your victim with a noose in your hand, completely immersed in the process and forgetting to constantly look into the camera. Turn the corner, and your hand begins to wave convulsively by itself in the air, striking now against the walls, now against your enemy. Not only will the adversary react, but also his colleagues will come running to the noise of blows to the metal!
All this forces the player to sit strictly straight. And this does not guarantee the accuracy of tracking your hand, which is forced to always be in front of the nose, so that the camera reads the position of the Best grenade spots dust 2 better. Throughout the passage, the player rushes between a rock and a hard place, plunging into the magnificence of what is happening and constantly emerging from it due to disgusting technology.
Best but beaten
The colossal work of the developers to recreate a unique game with reworked mechanics and content deserves flattering diferambs. But why did IO Interactive make the best (since Shadow Blade 5e) VR project for a platform with the worst tracking system in the industry and obsolete technical stuffing?
IO wanted to bring the masses to VR? But now there are no fewer users on the PC, and more possibilities. Sony funded? But why does a corporation need such a monumental project on an already irrelevant platform? Perhaps this is the groundwork for the future PS VR 2. But when will this helmet be released? And will it come out at all?
The bald hitman’s VR adventures scream desperately about the possibility of two-handed control with complete freedom of movement in space. If the game had it all, Hitman 3 VR would triumphantly lead the VR direction as the best game ever in a niche. I would lead …
Diagnosis
Hitman 3 VR has only one flaw, but a serious one – the exclusivity of the PlayStation VR platform. It makes you suffer, but it cannot affect one simple fact.
Hitman 3 VR is the best there is on the PlayStation VR platform. This is the game that has set the standard for quality in all VR products for years to come. Even serious technical limitations could not spoil the aftertaste.
Pro
- Three games and all additional content carefully transferred to VR
- No other VR game on the market can provide such variability, depth and quality of development.
- Best PlayStation VR Graphics
- A huge amount of content for dozens of hours of play
Contra
- Exclusiveness of the mode for the PS VR platform imposes monstrous technical limitations on perception
