Honored Contributor

Question

The destructive force of GREAT VR games getting mediocre or no reviews

132 replies
20107 views

When telling my friends and colleagues that VR is mankind's most impressive invention since the wheel, I keep hearing that many will consider buying a VR headset when great games arrive. I can then tell them about the many awesome VR games, but the problem arises when I have to show some reviews of such great VR games. Often there're no reviews or the authors of VR game reviews seem keen to do their very best bashing most VR games for not being good enough - quite contrary to my experiences.

I know Oculus took great pride getting a top-ranked VR game on Metacritic, and they succeeded with Lone Echo last year. But where do we stand this summer? - Here's today's list of the best PC games, including VR games, from Metacritic (and my friends read such lists):

According to that list there are no games you can't play without a VR headset. The only game on the list you can play in VR is The Forest, but it works in 2D too. If the list is expanded to show all current games, Gunheart also receives 83 points like The Forest, and again you don't need a VR headset to play Gunheart. My friends easily conclude that since there're no VR-only high-ranking games on the Metacritic list, it's because current VR games are of poor quality and VR is something no one truly needs.

I can't blame them for drawing such conclusions, and even showing 2D trailers don't help much, because you can't communicate the greatness of VR games using a 2D video.

I think it's a great problem that new and awesome VR games don't get good reviews or do not get reviewed at all. Let's take Moss - it's a VR-only game arriving a few months ago:

Moss Metacritic Score for PC: No score due to insufficient number of reviews.
Moss User Score in the Oculus Store: About 96% average.

There're just 3 Moss reviews for PC VR on Metacritic, scoring the game at 79, 80 or 90 % - which in no way reflects user experiences. And often I see a similar trend.

The reason behind the few Moss PC reviews are probably that many reviewers reviewed the PS4 version and then didn't want to do another review for PC VR. Thus compared to the 3 reviews for the Rift/Vive version, there're 62 reviews of the PS4 version! Interestingly many reviewers have no problem reviewing different game versions for PS4, XBox One and PC - like Battlefield 1, Fifa 18 and Rise of the Tomb Rader just to name a few titles. Why didn't Moss PC VR get a similar treatment?

This is a great problem - Moss for the Rift and Vive is not the same as the PS4 version; PS4 has no controllers matching the Rift or Vive, and the PS4 has much lower resolution (also when using high levels of super-sampling on the Rift and Vive). But the greatness of Moss PC VR was never communicated to the masses, because there're almost no published reviews of one of the greatest VR games so far - and certainly the best one thus far in 2018!

Another problem of mixing VR and 2D games on Metacritic is to compare apples and oranges, or probably more to compare grapes and watermelons 😉

To illustrate: Is Subnautica 2D the same as Subnautica VR? Is Elite Dangerous 2D the same as Elite Dangerous VR? I'd personally consider Subnautica VR about 10 times better than Subnautica 2D, even if the VR version does have some problems. So should we rate Subnautica 2D at 10 % and the VR version at 100 % ? Of course this would not be fair, but I'd have no problem rating Subnautica 2D at 65 % and the VR version at 95 %, if we really want to compare apples and oranges - and want to rate both on the same scale.
I believe that many reviewers rate VR games just as if the games were in 2D. Comparing 2D and VR games, I'd have a hard time rating a 2D game more than 70 % - and that would be for the very best AAA 2D games, while I'd have a hard time rating any high-quality VR game below 90 %. This is due to the fact that VR games are so incredibly more visually impressive and immersive than any 2D game can be - and Touch controllers add a lot to provide a truly unique VR experience. For example I'd have no problem rating a 2D version of Marvel Powers United at maybe 60 %, and to rate the VR version at 90 %, because the immersion - the feeling of being present in the game world - is so much better in VR.

If reviewers fail to clearly communicate how much better VR games are compared to 2D games, how are persons - who know very little about VR - going to know how much better VR games are compared to 2D games? The current bashing of Marvel Powers United is a great example of this - and it's a great destructive force limiting VR adoption when VR game reviewers constantly criticize gameplay as if a VR game wasn't different from a 2D game. A new VR game which is the best within it's genre - compared to other VR games in the same genre - is per definition the new reference and should carry a rating reflecting that position. - And such a VR game should not carry a rating that reflects a reviewers preference for 2D games in the genre.

I think it would be great if Oculus representatives could ask Metacritic not to mix 2D and VR games; there are plenty of VR games to support having their own category.
We need to stop comparing apples and oranges.

Finally we could take a look on the current top three PC games on Metacritic, namely these:

Into the Breach - rated 89 %

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - rated 88 %

Final Fantasy XV - Windows - rated at 85 %

I do think that some of these games look impressive, but are these games way better than the latest and greatest Rift games? Personally I'd consider the following games so much better; compared to 2D games I'd happily rate Moss at 97 %, Seeking Dawn at 93 % and Marvel Powers United VR at 90 %

Show previous replies

nrosko

Up and Coming

RuneSR2 said:

This game is currently the number 1 PC game on Metacritic - it has a Metascore of 92, not even Lone Echo got that high. Thus this game is significantly better than any existing VR game according to reviews and Metascores :'(

https://youtu.be/jp_XgQjgGNY

I'm pretty sure I'd find it hard to give that pancake game a higher rating than 2 % - maybe 3 % if it's a sunny day - compared to the best VR games. I guess there's so much truth to be found in this drawing:

It gets a high score because (i will assume) it's a great rogue card game maybe as near as damn perfect.

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

Haven't been visiting Metacritic for a while - and was greatly surprised to see not just one VR game in the top 10, but two! And most importantly, the top 1 position was taken by a VR game - simply awesome and well deserved:

Current PC reviews seem to agree, not one below 90:

I hope this may stimulate to more VR adoption. Also nice to see Gorn on the list, although I probably could mention a large number of VR games I like even better, lol. But Gorn has come a long way, performance is awesome - even using ss 2.0 I get solid 90 fps using CV1 in Gorn - and also using the Index (Index just a ss 1.0, but still looks so much better than CV1 ss 2.0). Beat Saber has even better performance than Gorn - maybe performance is key...

But big congrats to the devs for such great reviews!

https://youtu.be/IfVzeg2iNAQ

https://youtu.be/khsYz8oqm28

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD "Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

Just made a post about the amazing Beat Saber Metascore here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/crld8y/beat_saber_is_the_best_pc_game_according_to/

BTW, even though some of us may not care much about Metacritic, previously such Metascores have been considered important to Oculus:

Although Beat Saber isn't an exclusive Oculus game like Lone Echo, at least a VR game has now moved beyond 90 on Metacritic.

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD "Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

This was a fun video - I guess there are VR games that may not deserve many reviews :D

https://youtu.be/kvdaKtrYPuw

But back to this thread - sad to see that so few liked Boneworks, although the game has it shortcomings, it's still an awesome experience. I doubt many pancake lovers will care for a game with a 74 points Metascore...:

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/boneworks

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD "Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

kevinw729

Inspiring

RuneSR2 said:

And another totally awesome VR game is getting the silent treatment - no reviews, few may know it exists, sadly :(
.....

It's a incredibly relevant point - the factors of why we experience this is fundamentally broken down into three key issues:

1. Pseudo-Journalists
We are living at a point where most of those writing are not trained editorialists, but are self taught (first time) writers, and in many cases have fallen into this position. They are lead by the nose by their editors and are writing towards a certain template needed to achieve the Click-Ratios demanded by the site owners. If it does not fall into their pigeon-hole then it gets blocked or attacked. They are unable to think for themselves, and are part of the sausage-machine for employment in that sector (life (job) expectancy 10-months).

2. Burnt-Before!
Those very editors, were the same ones back in 2014 that were trying to block the reporting of the explosion in interest in VR (for the reasons above) as many of their then editors remembered what happened to their predecessors who reported on VR back in the 90's and did not want to end up in the same mess. That is why so many were like elastic-bands going from one extreme of ignoring, to snapping to the other of over saturation (hypetrain) with ever story including the ubiquitous picture of the VR user with their mouth open. All built on promises from execs pouring free "support" into editors to get them to report their particular flavor of VR, [remember the OC4 media party?]

3. Who-paying?
Unlike the console game scene, there is a clear graft that is generated out of reporting Nintendo, Sony or MS console gaming - there is money [soft and hard] in the pockets to editorial team - and there is also a gravy-train for reviewing content. There is a direct corroboration between giving a game a strong reviews, sales and advertorial support for the editorial service. Most publisher/owner metrics work with this - and adding a VR game to the review stats is just confusing - especially as it has failed to achieve any of the sales promises the hype proclaimed, so is treated as a busted flush (no matter the "not enough AAA titles" comments).

In reality, VR gaming shines a light on all that is bad with the current consumer game reviewing and editorial circuit. And seeing what is happening to the remaining online game reporting services (such as the situation at InsideGaming), it is clear that the lack of good reviews for VR is the tip of a very nasty iceberg that is only going to get worse in the face of paid-reporting for the Streaming game scene. IMHO.

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

inovator

Inspiring

I apologize if I'm being redundant since I havent read all these threads but most people not wanting to put out the money for PC VR are the perfect candidates for the quest. Hopefully anyone that just shows off their PC VR setups will keep that in mind.

PhoenixSpyder

Up and Coming

Part of the problem is that the majority if not all game critics or reviewers don't own a VR HMD. Those that do, sadly, are very few and are not enough to clearly make an impact on opinions.

Personally, I just ignore critics + most reviewers as they are usually summing up their reviews by either racing through a play thu of a particular title or they don't give a particular title a chance based on the first moments of a play thru. Users are always the best reviewers due to that fact they had to buy the title in the first place...they also have to give it play time, or they are just throwing their cash in the garbage if they don't. Then comes word of mouth.

User experience is by far the most important hurdle to overcome. That comes down to both software and hardware. The gaming industry in general has had to deal with this since it began. Unfortunately, the majority (I mean nearly all, based on % of users) of gamers are not yet convinced that VR is the way things are going. It's going to take a long time.

I myself, have been working on a VR project that is far from being complete...and it will take me quite some time to get there, but I'm not doing it for any type of financial return or 'high reviews', etc.. I'm doing it for the love of VR and for what I would like to experience myself (gamer since the 80's) and to add to the world of VR in general. What I'm doing (can't say for certain reasons just yet) will bring some new and fresh ideas to the venue and will give the user the ability to do things not yet done in the way I am approaching it. Even if someone beats me to the punch, I'll just make sure it's done properly. I already have a portion of what I'm talking about implemented (very early stages) in my project, but for now I'm mostly working on environment (which currently is nearly 3 times the footprint of say...Skyrim). I may post some early screen shots here and there in the days ahead to create some interest, but again, when it comes time for reviews, the driving factor will be word of mouth driven by user experience. I could care less what the critics say!!

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

Forbes has published a nice article about the greatest VR games last year - top 50 VR games:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessedamiani/2020/01/15/the-top-50-vr-games-of-2019/

Always good to see great VR games getting more attention.
So Asgard's Wrath and The Under Presents are the winners. I've more or less sworn never to buy more low-poly non-textured Quest ports, but maybe Under should be an exception to the rule... But only if it works with Index res 200% in solid 90 fps B)

The Under Presents has no reviews according to Metacritic, very sad if Forbes is right and it's the VR game of the year 2019 😉

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-under-presents

The game now has 24 ratings in the Oculus Store (Rift), but nearly all are 5.0

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/2109995092457108/?locale=en_US

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD "Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

KarstenS80

Inspiring

MowTin said:

Then you have PSVR which lacks the positional tracking and touch controls.

FYI: PSVR has positional tracking. The area is not really big (so around 2x2 meters). But it is still bigger than my Oculus Quest when using Oculus link (caused by the limited USB cable length).

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

Btw, another issue may also be that many VR games are demanding, and before the current high-end gpus from Nvidia and AMD many games needed reduced settings and image quality. Of course that's not the entire reason for giving mediocre ratings to awesome PCVR games, but performance and image quality are important for immersion.

After getting the RTX 3090 the impact of solid 90+ fps and being able to use highest possible in-game settings have been a real eye-opener. Most games feel much more alive and responsive - thus immersion has greatly increased.

A game like Robo Recall receiving only a 75% from UploadVR is close to criminal activity to me, lol:

https://uploadvr.com/robo-recall-review/

No way Robo Recall is 75% - alone the average rating in the Rift Store is 94% based on more than 10,000 ratings. Now Robo Recall does have a very high Metascore of 85:

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/robo-recall/critic-reviews

- I really don't understand how UploadVR can give that game its lowest official review score. No one rated the game below 75%. Maybe UploadVR used a GTX 970 and super-blurry CV1 ss 1.0, lol.

Robo Recall is one game that I enjoy much more with the brute force of the RTX 3090 - I would rate it a lot higher now than before. You really need high fps for the movements and action - and using Ultra high settings and res, image clarity greatly increases immersion.

My point being with this post: if you got new and better hardware, try some of the games you had problems running before - maybe you're in for a treat and many positive surprises 🙂

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD "Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

Zenbane

Honored Contributor

RuneSR2 wrote:

After getting the RTX 3090 the impact of solid 90+ fps and being able to use highest possible in-game settings have been a real eye-opener. Most games feel much more alive and responsive - thus immersion has greatly increased.

A game like Robo Recall receiving only a 75% from UploadVR is close to criminal activity to me, lol:

- I really don't understand how UploadVR can give that game its lowest official review score. No one rated the game below 75%. Maybe UploadVR used a GTX 970 and super-blurry CV1 ss 1.0, lol.

Doesn't this just perpetuate the very problem that this thread was intended to solve?

The title of this thread is, "the destructive force of great VR games getting mediocre reviews." The reason this tends to happen is because... some users will rate a game LOW if the Game doesn't meet specific Graphic specifications. Such as being able to support SS with a high FPS.

There have been times where you have gladly and openly rated a game 1-star simply because of the lack of SS support. So it is confusing to, on one hand, rate a game low simply for lacking SS support, yet on the other hand begin a discussion aimed to address games unjustly getting low ratings. As clearly, it is unjust to ignore everything great about a game and rate it low simply because it doesn't support SS.

This comment only amplifies the problem:

"I really don't understand how UploadVR can give that game its lowest official review score. No one rated the game below 75%. Maybe UploadVR used a GTX 970 and super-blurry CV1 ss 1.0, lol. "

That rhetoric still tries to limit a video game to its graphic quality; which only perpetuates the very problem that this thread was trying to resolve. You are suggesting that UploadVR should rate a game high based solely on its visual quality while ignoring everything else about the game.

Throughout your entire post, you really only speak to your 3090 GPU; you don't actually talk about RoboRecall as a gaming experience.

As any gaming enthusiast can attest to, a video game is rated the same whether played on a low-end GPU or a high-end GPU. The GPU is a near insignificant portion of what makes a game great. RoboRecall doesn't become a better game simply because the user went from a 970 to a 3090.

And to suggest that games should be rated solely on the experience with a GPU is exactly why so many "great VR games end up with mediocre reviews."

By ignoring everything about a game that makes it great, the problem of mediocre reviews is only amplified instead of solved.

I beat RoboRecall when it was first released. It is a "good" game, but it is not a "great" game. Upgrading the GPU doesn't change that fact.

Show more replies

Get Help

Sign up

Login with SSO

Login to the community

Login with SSO