Metal: Hellsinger VR Review - Devilishly good rhythm shooter or cacophonous hellfire?
Check out our review of the PC version of Metal: Hellsinger VR to find out if the VR version of the popular title is worth your while.
Metal: Hellsinger is essentially a rhythm shooter that works best when you have the beat of the music in your blood. The mix of first-person shooter and rhythm game is inspired by titles such as Doom and Guitar Hero. Read my review to find out what you can expect from the VR adaptation of this acclaimed genre mix on PC.
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Review of Metal: Hellsinger VR in a nutshell
Metal: Hellsinger VR is a wild ride through hell that will delight shooter fans and rhythm junkies alike. When music and gameplay merge, it feels fantastic. Eventually, however, monotony wins out over creativity.
- Release: September 26, 2024, for Meta Quest and October 3, 2024, for PC-VR via Steam and Playstation VR 2.
- Tested: PC VR version
Metal: Hellsinger VR is suitable for you if ...
- you like first-person shooters and rhythm games
- you like metal
- you are looking for a new VR challenge
Metal: Hellsinger VR is less suitable for you if ...
- you have problems coordinating movement and music
- you don't like repetition
- you are looking for a game with a lot of story and variety
To hell with you
I stand in an arena of hell. Lava is pouring down the walls, the floor is glowing red. All I can hear is a booming bass and the clicking of my weapons as I reload them. Suddenly, the first demons appear.
My muscles tense and I aim my twin pistols at the targets. As the drums begin, I pull the triggers — perfectly in time. The demons burst and my anger multiplier rises. The guitars kick in, the beat accelerates. I dodge an attack, switch to the shotgun and pump it in time with the music. The shot rips through a group of enemies.
My rage is almost at its peak. Just a few more timed perfectly kills and I reach the highest level. Once there, all hell breaks loose. Vocals begin, distorted guitars scream. I am one with the music, one with the destruction. A dance of death to the beat of hell.
Unfortunately, only a short joy
In Metal: Hellsinger VR, everything revolves around rhythm. The better you perform your actions to the beat of the music, the higher your fury multiplier increases. At the highest level, you not only cause massive damage, but the songs also unfold their full splendor.
Booming bass, banging drums and screeching guitars become an inferno of sound, led by the vocals of well-known metal greats. This merging with the music as you sweep from horde to horde of enemies, plucking the strings of destruction, is a fantastic feeling — at least for a while.
Unfortunately, the magic doesn't last forever. This is mainly due to the monotony of the game. Apart from a few visual differences, the eight circles of hell offer hardly any variety in terms of gameplay. The bosses are also a bit of a disappointment, both visually and in terms of gameplay.
Only the unlockable challenges in each circle provide some variation. Here you have to fulfill certain requirements within a time limit, such as killing several enemies with melee attacks. However, these also have to be repeated regularly.
The paths between the arenas are often somewhat barren and without opponents. | Image: Funcom, Lab42
Technically mixed
Graphically, the PC VR version of Metal: Hellsinger VR delivers a solid performance, although the textures look a little muddy even on high settings. On the other hand, the game runs smoothly.
Unfortunately, the VR implementation of the weapons is not as good as I would have liked. I had some problems with the shotgun in particular, as the gesture didn't work as cleanly and smoothly as I'd expected. The sword, at least, has been translated well to VR and can now be swung freely.
I didn't notice many bugs overall, but I must have entered the arena too quickly once, causing the ground to load incorrectly. As there are no save points, I had no choice but to restart the level.
The fight with the sword in Metal: Hellsinger VR. | Image: Funcom, Lab42
My verdict on Metal: Hellsinger VR
Metal: Hellsinger VR is a wild ride that is completely convincing audio visually. When it comes to the feeling of music and gameplay merging, there is no better feeling. However, the game does not maintain this state for long.
The levels and bosses are too monotonous and the challenges too repetitive. After three hours at the latest, the monotony had caught up with me. It's also a shame that the VR implementation of the weapons can't keep up with the main game, and some annoying bugs disrupt the flow of the game.
The bottom line is that Metal: Hellsinger VR is a double-edged sword. The rhythm gameplay is great at first, but eventually monotony wins out over creativity. Those who like metal and an innovative genre mix will still find a few hellishly entertaining hours here. Everyone else should keep their expectations in check.
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