Remember 2001: A Space Odyssey, the seminal Kubrick film? Now imagine what it would be like to play a game from that universe. Floating around in that iconic space station motif that created the mold for movies to come for over a decade. The beautiful ambiance, the awe-inspiring vistas of planets and deep space, the wondrous feeling of weightlessness – experienced for the first time. Now imagine approaching that characteristic piercing red light, behind which was the most advanced computer ever created – The Hal 9000.

Now imagine seeing only an empty space, and a note saying “Hardware Not Installed.” That is Downward Spiral: Horus Station in a nutshell.

Built to be a VR game, Horus Station can be played in good-old 2D, but it relies heavily on the VR gimmick in hopes that this would be your first experience. It must because there is little to no game here, nor is there a story to keep you interested. Two modes of play are available, one with enemies, and one without. If you want to stay awake, I suggest you choose with.

Consisting of heavily reused assets for each level, the game leaves you to divine where to go using screens with bountiful information such as, “Activate Command Center”. Expect no compass, way-point markers, or even a notebook to call upon if you forget just what you are supposed to be doing. The levels are guidedly linear, and not especially maze-like, but the similarity gets tiresome before long.

Initially the game had my interest. Instead of walking, you use your hands to move yourself around in zero-g. It takes a bit to get the hang of, but this new concept of motion in a first person game had my hopes up. Shortly thereafter, you receive a magnetic hook that will allow you to pull yourself around with. It’s much faster, but there is no momentum when swinging around.

This is a wasted gameplay mechanic, as it could have been used for puzzles or combat. Building up enough speed to successfully pass by an enemy for instance, or swinging around objects to avoid getting shot – ala Spiderman. As it stands, you can instantly change directions just by grappling to another surface. I don’t have VR, but this seems like it would be jarring to me.

Later in the game you get a thruster, which is a much faster way of locomotion. It has three levels of boost, and could have been an additional mechanic to learn, but it too instantly changes your course with a single press of the button – Newton be damned.

Much of the station is interactive, but little actually does anything. I searched every storage compartment I could find on the entire ship, and found exactly one object that was already in my inventory over the whole game. Many dials and switches move, which is a nice touch, but nothing ever happens so what’s the point?

There is also a lot of debris floating around on the ship. Useful objects will have a yellow glow, such as weapons, but you can actually pick up anything. Again, it has no function save for the blue and yellow cards. Blue cards will slot into readers to open doors, and yellow cards are the only collectible you will get any credit for. They do nothing, but if you collect enough, you get an achievement.

Health stations are available within the ship, but I was never near one when I was hurt. You just recover naturally within a short period anyway, so really, they are superfluous – assuming they do anything of course. If by chance you actually die, the punishment is a Bioshock-like close respawn – with all weapons and items intact.

Co-op is available for the campaign, but I struggle to understand why. Aside from not suffering alone, there is so little to do within the game that would merit it. There is a separate horde mode available for you and your friend to fight a never ending attack of enemy bots, but the combat is simply not fun enough to bother.

The heart of the game is a walking simulator. There are light puzzles, weak enemies, and a lot of roaming around. The why of it all is non-existent within the game. If you never read the store page, you would be completely in the dark. There is no voice acting, no notes, no diaries, no journals, no exposition of any kind.

Again, such wasted potential.

This game had a good stage to build an interesting story upon. Had it contained a Hal 9000, or a Shodan, or even a Wheatley within, it could have been so much more. Especially considering the jarring otherworldly sequences that are just thrown in at random, but never followed up on. Looking back at the game as a whole, I could completely build a narrative based on what was there. Instead, you’re left with a disjointed collection of samey-looking levels, and no real reason to play - or even care.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station offers nothing to keep your interest except the gimmick of VR. If you are a VR vet, and over the whole “wow, cool” factor of the tech, then expect your level of enjoyment in the game to be summed up within the first two words of its title.

Originally written for Backlog Critic in May 2018, but never published.