First impressions using the Valve Index: 9/10. Here is the PCVR launch trailer:
Find the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707990/Skydances_BEHEMOTH/
https://www.meta.com/experiences/pcvr/skydances-behemoth/4240098972741206/
If you buy the Rift version, you get the Quest version for free.
According to UploadVR, the Quest standalone versions are very limited, downscaled, have many issues, and are hard to recommend:
"On Quest 2, the visuals fell short, suffering from blurriness that's commonly associated with ageing headset. Significant aliasing was also present, making some text in the game difficult to read. This translated into gameplay impediments for me, with noticeable frame rate drops in crowded areas or when facing the imposing Behemoths. For players seeking a good experience, Quest 2 seems a poor choice and one that I am no longer recommending for games that have recently released.
Switching to Quest 3, there were slight improvements in graphics, but aliasing persisted, although with the headset's higher-resolution displays and pancake lenses, text readability issues from the Quest 2 version were no longer noticeable. Performance also improved overall, though playing on Quest 3 still wasn’t free of the occasional slowdown. Similar to a few other big titles I’ve played this year, like Metro Awakening, it became clear that BEHEMOTH was most likely optimized around the limitations of Quest 2, leaving Quest 3’s additional horsepower underutilized."
Source: https://www.uploadvr.com/skydances-behemoth-graphics-comparison-impressions/
The PCVR version was much better according to UploadVR:
"Between the various platforms, the true behemoth visually here was the PC VR version. With the power of a high-end gaming rig, the graphics are outstanding, but the game keeps crashing. I tried repeatedly to play the PC version and this frequent crashing made it impossible to get more than five minutes of playtime. However, David Heaney found greater success and played the PC VR version for over an hour with some stuttering but without experiencing any crashes."
Source: https://www.uploadvr.com/skydances-behemoth-graphics-comparison-impressions/
Not sure what hmd they used - using the Index, I've had no crashes at all, the game feel rock solid. I've tested the Steam version.
Note that the great graphics to aid immersion aren't cheap - these are the recommended specs for the PCVR version:
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i7-12700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
- Memory: 32 GB RAM
- Graphics: GeForce RTX 3080 (10240 MB) / Radeon RX 7700 XT (12288 MB)
- Storage: 50 GB available space
- VR Support: OpenXR, Meta Quest 2+3, Index
The game feels like true PCVR, this does not feel like a Quest port - or I have many exclusive PCVR games of much lower quality. The start of the game kinda reminded me of Asgard's Wrath 1, and that's not bad at all.
The sense of scale, and the vistas, are amazing when cranking up the rendering distance to Ultra. I doubt you'll get same rendering distance on other platforms than PCVR. You have many graphics options in the game, and the game should perform great even on slower rigs.
Using an RTX 3090 I got solid 80 fps with Index res 300% and maxed out settings (=Ultra). I kept antialiasing on Medium though, as I could not see any improvement with High. I disabled motion smoothing.
Index controllers are fully supported and recognized by the game - but no finger tracking. No big deal though. I greatly appreciate having arms and not just hands:
The story feels great, and so does the combat. Handling the grappling hook took some practice, but works.
RoadToVR rated the game 8.5/10, but reviewed the Quest 3 standalone version, which is significantly reduced compared to the PCVR version:
https://www.roadtovr.com/skydances-behemoth-review-quest-3-psvr-2-steam/
Quote: "Skydance's Behemoth combines satisfying physics-based combat, immersive visuals, and dynamic mechanics to deliver a standout VR action-adventure experience, though its predictable story and occasionally artificial-feeling AI detract slightly from its otherwise polished execution. The game's intense Behemoth battles and well-woven locomotion mechanics combine for an impressive showcase of how a deft hand at VR-native design can elevate even mediocre narratives to monstrous heights."
I'm ready for a new fight 🙂
Gamerant rated the game 9/10:
https://gamerant.com/behemoth-vr-game-review/
Quote: "It's not perfect, but that doesn't stop Behemoth from being one of the best VR games to date. It's an action-packed adventure that should greatly appeal to fans of games like The Legend of Zelda and God of War, with a healthy balance of gritty combat, satisfying puzzles, and immersive exploration. It's the latest must-have VR experience and one of the best virtual reality games to release all year."
My new buddy So far Behemoth feels like a 9/10 game also to me - or even better, but of course nothing beats Alyx or Lone Echo 1-2. Maybe this will be my favorite VR game of 2024, we'll see, I still need to play a lot more 🙂
Fun thing - Beardo Benjo was as impressed as I am - he's using an RTX 4090 with Quest 3:
Btw, seems like Behemoth is tanking on 25,000,000 Quest standalone hmds with very low sales compared to the number of hmds - today's numbers of ratings:
Quest 2/Pro & 3/s = 185 ratings
Playstation PSVR2/PS5 = 247 ratings
PCVR (Steam & Rift) = 92 ratings
That's 339 ratings for the high-end version, and about 50% less for the lowest-end Quest standalone versions.
Does seem like devs should be very careful betting on Quest sales these days - the bigger profit may lie elsewhere.
Very impressive to see the PSVR2 version getting more ratings than all the Quest hmds combined. But we saw the same with Metro Awakening. I guess the average Quest standalone user does not buy games for adults.
PSVR2 users also love the game the most:
PSVR2. Average rating 96%.
Quests. Average rating 90%.
PCVR. 70% are positive on Steam (78% average rating in the Rift Store).
PCVR has the usual problem of too many different hmds - and many not using Meta or Index hmds have compatibility issues. This caused devs to suddenly remove Vive support.
Forgot to show the nice real-time lighting - maybe not that easy to see in this shot, but the closer your arm gets to the light, the more the arm gets illuminated:
Some criticized the combat for being clunky - but having completed Undead Citadel, the combat in Behemoth is similar. Thus you need two hand to optimally control heavy weapons.
I finally met Mr. Big 🙂
The sword is meant to be broken, but still works for what it needs to do 🙂
Impossible to really show the scale here - but the behemoth is awe-inspiring big. Also I was expecting some low-res Quest textures, but no - the behemoth has very detailed textures, even looks like some kind of bump-mapping here'n there.
You need a special sword to take care of Mr. B:
Note the extremely detailed textures on the sword
All weapons are extremely detailed - like shown here - note the tiny scratches and imperfections on the surface:
This image is taken using Ultra graphics settings and Index res 300% which is super-sampling to 27 million pixels per image - the game still runs in perfect 80 fps using an RTX 3090 with 24GB vram
- Apart from the behemoths, the environments help make you feel small too 🙂
Compared to Asgard's Wrath, the are some similarities in the beginning of the game, but entering rooms, the Quest design does start to show - there are much less interior decorations and ornaments in rooms, everything feels a lot more barren, and few npcs at a time. Still this game is far from the usual low-poly Quest environments, like seen in Metro Awakening, and there are nice round shapes to be found - like this plate:
In most Quest ports, we do not get very round shapes due to the lowest common denominator being a phone gpu - but everything looks fine in Behemoth.
I'm kinda sore in my sword arm today - all the combat and climbing the behemoth are physically demanding, lol - but I guess it's a great way to get a workout? 🤔 😁
- And today's ratings:
Quests 2/Pro & 3/s = 311 ratings, average 86%.
PCVR (Steam and Rift) = 190 ratings, average 70% positives on Steam, Rift = 76%.
PSVR2/PS5 = 413 ratings, average 95%.
That's 603 ratings for the high-end versions - and still 50% less for the Quest versions. Comparing trends between the 2 mill PSVR2 hmds and 25 mill Quest 2 & 3 hmds, Quest ratings should be at 3,000+ right now, but we're far from that. Ubisoft also cried about Assassin's Creed tanking on the Quests - as the game sold much less than anticipated.
Well, so far I'm keeping the 9/10 rating - if highest-end VR users are to get more Quest ports, Skydance shows with Behemoth how it's done. 2c.
I kinda liked her, we did spend some time together - sure, she wasn't the skinniest girl in class, but her sense of humor was second to none, and she was a hard hitter if there ever was one 😘
Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall 😅
Do not try this at home, unless you're sure not to hit any walls, furniture or persons in the real world - because this was a very intense fight, you easily lose your orientation in the real world 🙂
And dear Skydance, if this represents the level of quality in upcoming Quest ports, you won't hear me complaining anymore - this is impressive:
3D grass, nice high-res moss, great view distance and nice transparent water - this does not feel like a Quest game.
This is direct from the Quest 3 version - taken from a YouTube vid running in 1080p:
Now take a long look at the above Quest 3 screenshot - and compare with PCVR Ultra graphics:
Close to all grass and trees have been cut from the low-end Quest versions - but I didn't realize how severely the Quest versions were reduced before I saw the gameplay videos - as I do not own a Quest 2 or 3. This means that not just the lighting, dynamic shadows, textures are massively enhanced for PCVR - but the geometry (polygon levels) are also massively enhanced.
Here's some more vegetation only in the high-end versions:
The vistas with PCVR are amazing - like here:
Btw, found some dead girls, but details are very high - note the decaying skin:
This beard also look pretty real-ish:
Right now, I'm heading for the next behemoth - probably like this giant bat-thing here:
You also got your own trophy room - and can't help admitting that this skull would look good en every living room! And I'm sure the wife would agee!
The more I see, the more this game impresses. Still a 9/10 experience, even if the combat can be somewhat clunky.
I'd say there's no chance Alien: Rogue Incursion can beat Behemoth for being the best VR title this year. Behemoth has awesome textures, fine-tuned for PCVR and lcd hmds, while Alien Rogue Incursion feels like made for 6 years old oled hmds.
Here's the second behemoth:
My new favorite and very blood-thirsty weapon 😍
Also you need sturdy VR legs to swing across here - and especially to beat the second behemoth:
Here's nice dynamic shadow:
I did meet a sweet new girl, but she kinda was hung up on something else, sigh...
Beard details - and as close as I could go with no kissing!
This place seemed to have gotten a polygon bump for PCVR:
Some places do look beautiful:
Fun thing, compared to the title of this thread, RoadToVR also thought that Behemoth is the Game of the Year 2024:
https://www.roadtovr.com/best-vr-games-2024-awards-quest-3-pc-psvr-2/
I could not agree more. Skydance did an amazing job turning a lowest-end Quest port into a real PCVR experience by adding very high-res textures, adding many more polygons (grass and trees, insects and life), adding realtime lighting and adding dynamic shadows. This time Pinocchio looks like a real boy 🙂 And performance is awesome.
A big congrats to Skydance for their efforts making Behemoth a truly grand experience.
A few more screenshots:
I just got this axe - note the many details on its surface. Also Skydance added many trees and grass to the PCVR version
The third behemoth is reaaaally big - and textures are very high-res
As mentioned before, the textures in Behemoth are outstanding - and they greatly fuel immersion - like the red moss:
it cannot be seen here, but the res is so high I get a kinda shimmering effect - and I really cannot think of any game with better textures - even if some other VR games have similar textures.
Played some more last night, and there's no doubt that Behemoth is my game of the year 2024.
Let's see how it goes with the number of ratings:
PSVR2 = 906 ratings - average 93%.
Quest = 696 ratings - average 84%.
PCVR = 441 ratings - average 76% (Rift = 76%, Steam = 76% positives).
That's still 1347 ratings for the high-end versions, and 50% less for the low-end Quest versions.
Those of us who enjoy premium VR experiences may be very happy for Sony - PSVR2 is turning out to be a stronger force to support high-end VR than I ever thought it would be.
Thus to focus on PCVR and PSVR2 instead of Quest may really start to matter for VR developers - a change that many would never dream of happening just a few years ago.
