Metamorphosis VR Review – Buggy Bug Game

Metamorphosis VR Review

Metamorphosis VR is the second iteration of this game. The first being the well received flat version released in 2020 by developer Ovid Works. This time it’s game developer, Black Sun Productions, who does a VR version. One of the crucial decisions Black Sun made was to do their version on the Meta standalone platform. A decision that appears to have a major impact on the released state of the game. This is more true if you play the game on a Quest 2, which is what I own, rather than a Quest 3.

Metamorphosis VR is a metaphysical fable that takes a regular bloke and changes him into an insect. A cockroach, to be specific. The game story is loosely based on the story by the surrealist writer Frank Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis. Black Sun Productions saw the opportunity to take the absurdist setting of the novella and flat game to magnify those aspects in VR. The scale change of the everyday world as a human and then an insect perceives is perfect for VR.

In Metamorphosis VR, you play the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, a clerk who wakes up one morning in an unfamiliar bedroom. He is in a foggy state of mind, having woken up in the aftermath of a birthday party held at his boss’s home. As he makes his way out and about the house, the world around him changes. Portrait pictures in the hall become larger and higher on the walls. More disturbingly, from certain angles, the visages of people in the paintings take on insectoid aspects.

By the time Gregor has reached the end of the hall, his hands have turned into insect appendages like those of an ant, or in this case, a cockroach. The transformation is complete when he enters a room and the scale of everything is off whack. Furniture, books, an ironing board, and everything else in the room are on a gigantic scale.

Story & Scale

From this point on, the game becomes about two things: navigating environments and saving your friend. As you work your way through the levels, there is a fair bit of story for you to experience. The game is very narrative driven. There are around 4,000 lines of spoken dialogue headlined by Gary Schyman(Bioshock) and Mikolai Stroinski’s (Diablo, Witcher). An additional twenty voice actors round out the narration.

The game uses the power of VR to not only depict real-world environments at a much larger scale, but they also include several fantastical realms for you to navigate. In these areas, the first cracks in the game appear. It is understandable that textures would have to be toned to accommodate the hardware limitations of standalone headsets. It is also understandable the developers would target Meta headset as they make up the lion’s share of VR headsets.

However, the goals of the game developers exceed the technical limitations of the hardware. There are jarring instances of clipping when climbing or interacting with objects. This jars even more because of the scale of the game. Clipping through a chair leg or book cover really destroys the sense of immersion and, more importantly, the illusion of scale change.

From the start, the game puts players on their heels. There are no options. You cannot select any VR comfort options, cannot select smooth turning over snap turning, nor can you calibrate your height. The game allows you to play seated or standing. The lack of options might not be a deal-breaker, but these are things that VR gamers expect. Players should have the ability to make choices so that they can tailor the game to their preferred play style.

Metamorphosis VR Options & Movements

To be fair, there are some in-game options. You can move about the game in two manners. The first method is by motion. This rarely turns out to be an optimum choice. The only real time movement by motion works is when a VR Game simulates swimming. In Metamorphosis VR, you can imitate insect movement by swinging your arms back and forth. This becomes old quickly. Thankfully, you can also use the left joystick for movement.

Another thing with the use of motion controls is they are awkward enough when trying to imitate a human’s movement. Trying to do so with a creature with a different number of limbs, with a differing number of joints, just does not feel intuitive at all. Also, jumping is very floaty and makes judging distances difficult.

Where the game does shine is in its sense of scale. Coming into a room and seeing everyday objects at such a monstrously large scale is both eerie and awe-inspiring. There is a palpable sense of height as you navigate. However, the graphics are very Questy and marred with pop-in. Not just far off objects, but close ones too. The game is also marred by audio glitches with sound effects not timed right.

Metamorphosis VR has limited replayability with three distinct endings. The game also includes the two levels that were released as DLC for the flat game. One of the new endings is a “Win” outcome where you save your friend and regain human form.

A Different Point of View

Exploration takes up the bulk of the game, and as an insect, you must employ a new mindset. You will go into areas not possible as a human, such as cracks. Also, you can use sticky liquids to aid in climbing. Fortunately, if you die, you will restart at the point just before death.

Metamorphosis VR leaves one with the impression that the game’s scope surpasses the platform on which it was developed. Either it needed more time in the oven or the game should have been made as a PCVR title instead. Sadly, an all too familiar story plays out here as the developers state they have an upcoming patch that will rectify many of the launch issues encountered. Hopefully, the patch will indeed do that, but it’s another case of a game closing the barn doors after the initial reception horses have already escaped.

While the story-telling, environments, and narration might intrigue, Metamorphosis VR has too many technical issues to allow one to truly enjoy the experience.

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