Review: Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded
Hitman has had a bumpy road when it comes to implementing the game into Virtual Reality, with the PSVR and PCVR versions releasing with massive mistakes that reduced the all important immersion for the medium. So, when it was announced XR Games were completely rebuilding the game from the ground up for the Meta Quest, I was excited that we could be getting the full VR version of the game the franchise needed.
Release Date: September 5th 2024
Developer: XR Games
Publisher: R Games
Price: £24.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
Stop Providence
It is important to mention that unlike the World of Assassination versions on PSVR and PCVR, this version only allows you to play Hitman 3 and not the previous games – with Hitman 3 being the end of The World Assassination trilogy. This will complete the story of Agent 47, Diana and Lucas Grey’s fight against Providence. But, can they take down this powerful organisation, who are playing puppet master to the rest of the world?
The Good, The Bad
If you have played Hitman before on flatscreen or the other VR iterations of the franchises you will know what to expect from the aim of the game. You will be visiting different locations and settings around the world to take out your targets and complete your missions. How you approach the assassination is down to you and your current gear, which allows you to approach it again in a different way. With the numerous ways to take them out, the amount of paths to take and shortcuts available to get to your target leaves it open for many ways to do so.
As aforementioned Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded has been build from the ground up for the VR, where this is the most VR version of the game, some choices have left me confused. What is a big improvement in the game is the ability to use both hands fully, something that both the PSVR and PCVR version failed to do. This is what makes this feel like its the best use of the VR elements – but this is where that ends. For some reason although this is build from the ground up, most of your interactions are going to be done by button presses, be this climbing ladders, vaulting over obstacles or opening doors – which them removes the extra immersion the game has. I am not sure why the team decided to take this approach, when this is not just a port but being rebuilt. This then continues with the inventory system, with a button press bringing up a flat menu to take you items from, again it seems like you could have used the VR interactions for this in a lot immersive way.
The next issue you will find is, with Hitman games if you are spotted the best approach is to find away to evade the person/people following you until the alert drops. However, the game suffers from pop-in and this includes guards, so where you might think a room is clear, you can at times run into a room and a guard/enemy could just appear – meaning you have to think fast. This can be a major frustration and at times made me just choose to engage in shoot outs, which would effect your overall rating.
These choices and issues are a real let down, because when it comes together and works without coming across bugs and issues, this feels like a Hitman game and you can have a lot of fun with the gameplay. But, then when it all goes wrong with something outside of your control, it makes you want to just stop playing.
And The Ugly
The biggest let down in the game is the visual element which unfortunately is quite ugly. I am reviewing the game after the big patch to address some of the graphical issues with the game. Where I can see improvement in the amount of anti-ailasing that is visible it’s still present and can be distracting at times. Also, I really wish XR games had either gone full cell shaded or full realism for graphics, because I think this mix of styles coming together adds to the overall ugliness of the game – which is shame, as at first I thought this style could have worked.
There are noticeable improvements in the textures, but they are still look bad overall, just better than they originally did. Although, it seems that some levels had have more love than others, with the Dubai level standing out the most. Entering the event in the Atrium it feels much better – of course still not on the level of the VR version of World of Assassination, but this would not have been possible on the mobile chipset.
Where they have made improvements there are still some fixes that need to be done, which I am not sure how they will manage to pull off. In busy areas and especially on the Farewell mission, you suffer some drastic frame drops and stuttering – I am not sure how they can combat this, without making changes that would damage the experience. Also, there are still some questionable models and texture and model pop-in, which again breaks some the immersion and can be distracting.
When it comes to audio, there is not really any point I could pick out as being bad. With the game offering solid voice acting, great environmental sounds for each setting, and the weapons sounding great.
Comfort
The Verdict
Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded really had the chance and potential to give the franchise the VR game is deserves with being created from the ground up for Virtual Reality. Where the team at XR Games have created the most VR feeling gameplay allowing the full use of both hands, making it feel more natural when taking down targets, other choices around the interactions like opening doors and climbing ladders being button presses pulls you out of the immersion. Add this to the visual issues that despite being improved by the patch still have an overall ugliness to them, the frame drops and pop-in, it still feels like the franchise still hasn’t been done justice. Which is a shame as when the game comes together and works it does feel like a great re-creation of Hitman for VR, but this isn’t frequent enough to make it worth considering.