Hubris VR - my game of the year 2022

[RuneSR2]

More than 3 years in the making (but I don't know how big the team is):

More info here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1265800/Hubris/

     

[Skiedragon]

pretty good man been playing it for a few hours, the performance is freaking impressive

[TomCgcmfc]

Wow, looks and plays even better than the Demo thanks to my nice new Quest Pro (highest res slider settings) and of course rtx3090 gpu.  Also good to see it can use the Oculus runtime. 

I'm sure glad I recently reinstalled msfs (because it finally got heli's) and then learnt how to use the openXR Toolkit.  For those not familiar with openxr toolkit there are lots of good demos around on YouTube.  Just do a bit of googling.  Cheers.

[RuneSR2]

The game looks perfect - but only when using Rift CV1.

My suspicion was confirmed as I changed OpenXR from Index and Steam to my old Rift CV1 and Oculus/Meta.

Now the game started in the Rift CV1. Ss 2.5 was too much, but got solid 90 fps or close with ss 2.0. That's using an oc'ed RTX 3090 and maxed in-game settings. Note that temporal antialiasing (TAA) is extremely blurry using lcd hmds, but totally sharp with Rift CV1, maybe due to the SDE fooling the brain (like scanlines).

Suddenly, gone was the blur, all looked as sharp as can be with the CV1.
Some lcd users have complained that ambient occlusion was wrong causing shimmering textures and incorrect depth perspective. And I get that too with the Index, so issues are more profound than just TAA blur. And some places are too dark for lcd, can't see a thing.

But using Rift CV1 (=oled panels) all is perfect, no blur, no shimmering textures and ambient occlusion is perfect - and inside dark caves I can see everything. Even controllers work better.

I think Hubris has been in development for 4 or 5 years, and that it originally was never designed for lcd.

It feels like an Oculus game, devs even followed Oculus advice of only supporting OpenXR. Feels like a true Rift CV1 game.

But could also just be a game made for oled - so might work wonders for Vive (Pro) too.

I'll be using CV1 going forward, even with lower res and the SDE, image quality is night and day better than blurry Index with some shimmering textures and lack of proper blacks.

So choose your hmd wisely for this game. 2c. 

[TomCgcmfc]

Ya, I hate to admit it but this looks a bit better than my QPro with my OG Vive Pro (amoled screens, Etsy lens mod and Index controllers) with SteamVR visuals set to 200%.  A bit larger FOV (esp. vertical) and better audio also helps.  I still prefer using my QP wireless with Air Link though.  Cheers.

[RuneSR2]

It must be difficult for devs when spending so many years making a game for one kind of hmds, and when your game is done, users are using all kinds of new/other hmds.

It's still a great experience with lcd hmds like Index, but getting optimal blacks, no shimmering textures and non-blurry image quality using oled significantly improve the immersion and presence to me. So hard to give up the big Index fov and much higher panel res, but this game is a clear win for the CV1 compared to Index.

Kayak VR had similar issues at launch, but devs have fixed it, the TAA blur is now gone. I've asked the Hubris devs to check out Kayak VR for inspiration. I saw that some Index users consider TAA a hard pass, and it must be really sad for the devs having to face these problems after spending so many years making the game.

Also we need the fast gpus, RTX 3080 or better is close to a must. RoadToVR used Quest 2 and a GTX 1080 and rated the game 5/10 - that's close to a crime in my eyes, lol.

Clearly using the optimal hmd and a sufficiently fast gpu will make all the difference. Using Rift CV1, I'd rate the game a 10/10 for now, but based on about 2 hours of playtime.

Btw, Vive Pro was on sale for Black Friday - was close to be getting one, but I still need the CV1 for native Oculus games, and 3 hmds connected may be too much of good things, lol. 

The nice thing about PSVR2 is that it's a separate system not affecting my rig.

[RuneSR2]

After a slightly rough start, Hubris is growing on me - right now I don't think any other game has impressed me more this year. But that's when using the CV1 for Hubris, not the Index. 

The game kinda feels like Lone Echo with a gun - so character models and npcs are stunning:

(All images taken while wearing the Rift CV1 - click to enlarge)

Your floating friendStunning modelsAwesome face qualityFaces are Lone Echo quality

Welcome to Hubris - and another world 🙂

Far away from home

Great view

Swimming underwater - and some say it's not healthy playing video games!

Me, my torpedo gun and my crash-landed ship

Finding the spaceport - a great view

Entering the underground tunnels

Hmmm... what's that moving over there...

Might look boring, but check out the level of details - it look very real-ish

Some ticks guarding my ... lunch ...

"Mr. Deadly-Machine-Gun-Drone, without this force field, you'd be dead by now!"

Dead aliens evaporateAn exploding drone dynamically destroyed the bridgeNice viewMy parking skills could be better, but it works 🙂

Not a sex toy, but a valuable ingredient for weapon upgrades

Weapons upgrade station

Upgrade station somewhat like in Alyx, but there's more than one type of resin in Hubris

My gun. I love my gun

Real light - not fake like in Quest ports (Red Matter 2, Bonelab)

You can climb pipes like in BoneworksRealtime reflections, see the gound

[RuneSR2]

So Rift CV1 has been with me for more than 5 years and actually is still going strong. Meaning I don't feel I'm getting a worse Hubris experience using CV1 instead of Index - I'm getting a better one. If Hubris had been made like Alyx without TAA, of course things would have been very different. Having more than one hmd still has great advantages in late 2022! 

Btw - got a new gun! 😮 😎

In my mind I keep hearing that song "Janie's got a gun" - but she kinda does, and it'll even make Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum look small, lol

Together with my two best friends - and we're late to a party...

Not too much gore if any

Fog effects look great

About 5 hours in, this is by far my game of the year 2022 - even if the AI might not exactly be able to beat Magnus Carlsen in chess 😄 Then again - much the same for the AI in Red Matter 2, and Hubris might here have the better AI. 

If Lone Echo and Alyx had a child, I think it could be named Hubris. Thus we're in space with some puzzles, and you get guns. Like in Lone Echo the violence is limited - no much blood and gore, but you do get to shoot several human-like opponents like in Alyx. 

[RuneSR2]

I'll try to limit the spoilers, but after the "crime" committed by RoadToVR and UpLoadVR when reviewing this gem, maybe it's time to show the full potential of Hubris. Here are some more reasons to why I consider this game one of the best VR games ever made. I even like the story. Immersion is awesome in this game - even if the shooting is relatively easy, some enemies do gain strength in numbers - and I've died several times. 

I now consider Hubris better than Lone Echo 1, but not as good as Lone Echo 2 or Alyx - but those two games are close to impossible to beat. The npcs in Hubris look better than the non-Olivia npcs in Lone Echo:

(Note that something is wrong with the Forum software or server - image uploads the last 2 weeks or so constantly fail - I hope the images below will work)

She does look beautiful - better than Olivia? 🙂

Nice hair 🙂

Getting help from a buddy

Some didn't survive

Waiting for the train... 

Reload old save if you miss this tool - an error in the game, I've informed the devs

My new gun - more awesomeness 🙂

Have to arrange the pool, before I can dive in with the deadly squids... 

[RuneSR2]

Added some more shots here - already more than 15,000 views. Hubris is by far my game of the year:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/zl6qw0/hubris_is_my_game_of_the_year_2022_even_with_its...

 

[RuneSR2]

Btw, the first half of the game may be considered the more quiet part - you do get into some demanding combat:

Drop ship delivers soldiers and drones with a tractor beam

Drop ship leaves after the delivery

Here's one heavy soldier - much harder to kill than normal soldiers

Btw, you select weapons much like in Alyx - hold down a button and choose a weapon

I really love the outdoor levels - as a child my dream was to discover new worlds in my own spaceship, but sadly hard to do that in the real world. Lone Echo was nice - but didn't really take me exploring new planets. Alyx had aliens - but I was still on earth. But Hubris delivers - here I'm actually living a childhood dream exploring an alien planet. And maybe a sim is ok - this could be dangerous in the real world, lol 🙂 

Did I already mention the sun? 🙂

I love being outside - I really feel like an outdoor person now!

A proper shot of the hands - not Alyx gloves, but nice ultramersion textures

All screenshot taken while wearing the Rift CV1 ss 2.0. Not easy - got a 5 seconds timer each time, takes the game 3 seconds to be active after Dash - so 2 seconds to get the right perspective!