Honored Contributor

Question

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

132 replies
20106 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

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

"Games reviews have nothing to do with good or bad VR sales. It's nonsense to say people are looking at game review sites and then saying I am not buying a VR headset. "

I'm convinced that Oculus does not agree - I think it was mentioned at Oculus Connect 4 in a presentation/speech that it was a milestone for Oculus getting top-ranked reviews for a VR game, which Oculus achieved with Lone Echo. I can remember I thought it was unfair that the Oculus rep didn't mention Rez Infinite, because Rez Infinite received similar awesome reviews; then again Rez Infinite isn't VR-only (and isn't an Oculus exclusive game). I'm with Oculus on this one, great reviews are key (and very bad reviews are definitely not ;-).

Found it - now tell me that you don't think Oculus cares about reviews - and especially reviews on Metacritic B)

It took me more than one hour to find that quote :s - I need a medal for this! And a cold beer! :D

Source - jump to 1:22:00 (it's an OC4 speech by Jason Rubin - Oculus' vice president of content)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAa1GjiLktc&t=3097s

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"

JohnnyDioxin

Inspiring

It took me more than one hour to find that quote

- I need a medal for this! And a cold beer!

...and a shrink? :D

Johnny's Scale Models Showcase i5 9600k @4.5GHz; 16GB DDR4 3200; 6xSSD; RTX2080ti; Gigabyte Z390D Mobo Rift CV1; Index; Quest; Quest 2

Anonymous

I must confess to not writing that many reviews so far. I keep on meaning to do more but I just haven't got around to it yet. :blush:

Fazz

Honored Contributor

Into the Breach looks shite..

Zenbane

Honored Contributor

RuneSR2 said:
True, of course we can try to promote VR locally to our best efforts; I don't know how much it'll work on a larger scale. I can't even convince my friends to get a 1080 or better, although they really need it and easily can afford it.

Agreed. This type of conversation is important. While some people may be limited in their ability to expand intellectual discourse, I think a lot of what you have addressed is meaningful. Open discussion about these things is beneficial.

bigmike20vt

Honored Contributor

I gotta admit I think the whole no killer apps for vr is long since not true.
We have pure vr games like lone echo, moss, Robinson journey, flat screen with vr like elite D, pCARS2, fallout, and from tomorrow hellblade. We have edutainment experiences like Apollo 11, hybrid game/educational like lunar flight, social stuff like rec room and then media stuff to watch movies at a cinema.
Imo the only things that need to improve to increase adoption is the quality of the experience and the cost of entry. Both of these will be fixed in time. Till then we just need to keep showing those still interested. I know I have sold at least 4 rifts, 1 vive and 1 go since showing mine off

Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR :)

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

bigmike20vt said:

I gotta admit I think the whole no killer apps for vr is long since not true.
We have pure vr games like lone echo, moss, Robinson journey, flat screen with vr like elite D, pCARS2, fallout, and from tomorrow hellblade. We have edutainment experiences like Apollo 11, hybrid game/educational like lunar flight, social stuff like rec room and then media stuff to watch movies at a cinema.
Imo the only things that need to improve to increase adoption is the quality of the experience and the cost of entry. Both of these will be fixed in time. Till then we just need to keep showing those still interested. I know I have sold at least 4 rifts, 1 vive and 1 go since showing mine off

Love that you mentioned Robinson. As time goes by this game could easily just be forgotten. Maybe it's worth mentioning that Robinson easily qualifies as an AAA title, and it's so much better on the Rift than PS4:

"No one knows how to better eek out gorgeous graphics from CryEngine than Crytek themselves, the company who built the engine and developed Robinson: The Journey atop it. As far as VR games go, Robinson is easily in the top five best looking VR games made yet, bringing a feel of AAA quality to the VR content landscape.
And, if you’re playing on Rift, you may be able to make it look even better. In the game’s Settings menu, a new Graphics option (not present on the PSVR version) lets you toggle Resolution Scale, Shadow Quality, SSDO Quality, Anti-aliasing, and Distant Object Quality.
While the default options are set to allow the game to run great on hardware that meets Oculus’ recommended spec, those of you with more capable PC hardware will be able push the games graphics even further.
The Resolution Scale option is going to make perhaps the biggest difference. This effectively ‘supersamples’ the game, rendering each frame at a higher resolution, and then downsamples to fit the Rift’s display. This results in sharper edges thanks to finer data available during anti-aliasing. The difference between the 1.0x and 2.0x options is significant.
With the rest of the settings maxed out (testing on the Exemplar 2 with a GTX 1080), the game’s lush world and high quality lightning really pushes the graphical bar for VR games, giving you what feels like a ‘AAA’ visual experience."
Source: https://www.roadtovr.com/robinson-the-journey-oculus-rift-graphics-settings-visuals/

I could not agree more - using SS 2.0 and all settings maxed nothing beats the graphics in Robinson. It looks and plays exactly like this in 90 fps (ok, maybe I'm down to 45 fps here and there, but I don't notice it - and yes, you do get to explore the jungle and so much more):

Then again, who wants to play a low-ranking VR game like Robinson (where you even can scratch a real longneck's nose - and truly be in "Jurassic World" for the first time ever) - when you can get this potential game-of-the-year-2018 instead?

https://youtu.be/FqBj2IGg6Uw

I stopped laughing at Celeste's incredibly poor graphics when I saw the reviews:

PC - 17 reviews - metascore 88 (= the second highest ranked PC game this year).
XBox One = 9 reviews - metascore 94 (by far the highest ranked XBox One game this year!).
PS4 - 7 reviews - metascore 91 (this year only God of War got better reviews on the PS4).
Switch - 34 reviews - metascore 92 (= highest rated game on Switch this year!).

It does look like an awesome game - for my Commodore 64, ok maybe more for my Amiga 500 (I've still got that machine <3 ), but I've moved on since the late 80s and early 90s. The take home message: VR game devs do not need to outperform 2D AAA games with $100 million+ budgets, they "just" need to outperform Celeste ;) BTW, if reviewers appreciate Celeste's graphics (and they do!) I'm going to get really mad if those reviewers ever complain about the Rift's SDE and resolution :D

It only took 2 years to develop Celeste - and it's a low budget indie game. (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/7tuubc/hey_were_the_dev_team_behind_celeste_ask_us/ )

Now I could continue with the 2D low-budget indie game Iconoclasts (21 reviews, metascore 87), but I can feel my blood pressure is already getting way too high, I better stop here ;)

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"

JohnnyDioxin

Inspiring

I actually feel I did my bit on promoting VR - which I can't say about much else. When I got my Rift I made dozens of 3D SBS videos for my YT channel using D3DGear, which records directly from the Rift (not the monitor). Most were flight sims but I also posted experiments in popular games with VorpX or TriDef.

I was never good (nor did I ever intend to be) at the waffle on vids and knew I'd never have one of these channels with thousands of subs etc (always been hopeless at small talk etc) - that would make me spend too much time on it instead of the stuff I really wanted to do - which was enjoying my VR apps and games. It takes a lot of time and effort to edit videos to a state where people will watch it and not go away after 30 seconds.

I was very encouraged when someone made a derogatory comment about me posting 3D SBS videos instead of standard pancake ones and someone else responded, telling them to bugger off, because this was the only way people without VR could get any idea of what it was like and asked me to keep uploading them.

The reason I bought the Rift myself was after watching many videos in 3D SBS on a phone with Google Cardboard. That's why I chose to do that when I got the Rift. It was really pleasing to see others getting that benefit from the vids I was uploading.

Since then I feel things have changed a lot. Mt YT channel was deleted when I closed my Google+ profile, and though I've started another channel, I have no intention of doing what I did last time. People know about VR now and they have their perceptions of what it's like and I don't think posting 3D SBS videos will actually help persuade the ones who are skeptical any more. Mostly because I feel it will affirm their negative view of things such as resolution. All of the players that show videos in 3D that I have come across so far show the video at a worse resolution than is actually seen in the Rift.
So, If they think it has crap res and is not worth buying because of that, watching one of those flight sim 3D SBS videos will only confirm to them that they are right.

This makes me feel kind of hopeless as far as promoting the Rift is concerned. I see people dissing it on Steam and game forums and I want to post and say "you're talking crap - it's nowhere near as bad as you say" or "...it's not going down the chute already..." but I think I'd be wasting my time - especially when said persons are well known "characters" of those forums and actually should know better, but probably just like to think they know it all or like to cause a stir. So I don't bother responding any more (except when I know for certain others will back me up).

That's a big issue for the promotion of VR imo - the know-alls of the internet spouting drivel about VR and people taking it as gospel. Until we have a way that can demonstrate it unequivocally, these people will have their stage to cast doubt and disdain on it.

Johnny's Scale Models Showcase i5 9600k @4.5GHz; 16GB DDR4 3200; 6xSSD; RTX2080ti; Gigabyte Z390D Mobo Rift CV1; Index; Quest; Quest 2

bigmike20vt

Honored Contributor

deleted

Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR :)

RuneSR2Author

Honored Contributor

It seems that Oculus is indeed focused on new killer apps:

“Stormland,” the next virtual reality game from the studio behind “Ratchet & Clank” and the upcoming “Spider-Man” game, is an open-world, narratively-driven first-person game that drops you into the rusting body of an android gardener out to save its world.
“The Oculus game is also the sort of seachange title that could completely alter the way people view virtual reality gaming, Oculus VP of content Jason Rubin told Variety. “This is one title that could encourage people to come onto the platform,” he said. “This is a title that could radically change their view of the platform.”

Source: https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/stormland-insomniac-vr-1202831285/

https://youtu.be/2Ak2h3PkY1I

Maybe Chronos, Edge of Nowhere and Robinson: The Journey should have been relaunched as "remastered" editions after getting Touch control support in order to get new reviews like Dark Souls Remasted ;) There was - I think - a 7 GB patch for Edge of Nowhere some months ago (similarly a 15 GB patch was released for Mage's Tale), I'm quite sure textures got improved.

Much has happened in 2 years, and many have upgraded video cards. Abilities to use high levels of super-sampling, full locomotion support (also in Mage's Tale), improved textures (Mage's Tale and Edge of Nowhere) are turning several older games into gold; it's just a shame the world knows nothing about these changes.

Just copied another Rift review to Metacritic - I wonder how many 10s I can give before they kick me out :D Then again, I only give 10 if I think it should be a 10... ;)

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"

Show more replies

Get Help

Sign up

Login with SSO

Login to the community

Login with SSO