Hubris is an impressive looking VR sci-fi action-adventure game that mixes climbing, swimming, crafting and shooting into a very focused, polished but also short VR game. All the elements are mixed well and are all fun to engage with minus the crafting which feels like an afterthought. Instead of just picking up health packs these need to be crafted in inconvenient ways because the inventory management is so damn fiddly. And making your 20th healing item in a space mixer isn’t exactly exciting. There is also a lot of scrap lying around that can be fused into materials which then can be used to upgrade the player’s pistol. Besides damage and magazine upgrades there are two unlockable fire modes, a shotgun and an SMG. Certainly more motivating than mixing healing items but ultimately just a way to lengthen the playtime.

Luckily, the rest of the game is a lot more fun. Climbing, swimming and shooting enemies doesn’t come with any greater depths or complex mechanics but still feels very satisfying and immersive. Enemy variety is limited but enough for the short runtime of 4-5 hours. The story is generic sci-fi that also feels like the middle part of some random TV show instead of a coherent storyline. Lots of background is missing and the characters are bland. But the artstyle of the locations and atmosphere are very good. And that completely without tapping into the horror genre and using cheap thrills. There aren’t creepy underwater monsters, just harmless looking jellyfish. There are also no jump scares. This can be a pro- or contra-point depending on what you are expecting from a space adventure. For me it was a nice change of pace after Resident Evil 4 and Vertigo 2.