One of the things that is interesting about Downward Spiral: Horus Station is how it is an “anti-gravity game”. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I will have to say that the controls of this game are unique as they are confusing. I played it on the PS4, and what you need to do is use the left controller to grab on to an object, and then push off.
That’s right, you are trapped in an area (a space station) that has no gravity, so you must push yourself in order to get someplace. I suppose that is as close to being in space without a shuttle, and it creates a unique way of movement.
I will say that from the get go, I found the game was very difficult just to get around. Fortunately, this was quickly remedied when I found a gun that fired some kind of magnetic line which allowed me to reel myself in onto any wall.
Wait, wait, wait. I think I am getting very far ahead of myself. I think I had better start with the setting. The player finds himself (herself) in some kind of space station, which must be the Horus Station of the title. This would account for one half of the title, and I can only guess that something has set it on the Downward Spiral involved in the title.
Seriously, this game doesn’t really tell you what’s up. It starts out with some guy (done from a first-person POV) who looks like he’s walking on Mars, maybe, and then it goes into the space station. This is one of those games that has a lot of quiet atmosphere, which means that something creepy is definitely going on. I’ve been seeing a lot of games like this, such as The Station, for example. No, I’m not saying Horus Station is a rip-off.
Remember how I said that you are floating in this game? Well, once you get that aforementioned grappling/magnetic line, it is much easier to get around. This is one of those games where you can interact with objects, but of course, it is only the ones that the game allows you to. So not only can you get a grappling line, but you can also get a gun that can shoot enemies.
Yes, there are enemies. For some reason, some kind of automated floating robot guard thingys are trying to kill you. You can shoot back, and this is required to advance.
From what I can tell, this is one of those games that is linear in its format, requiring you to go through certain rooms at certain times to accomplish…something. From what I can tell, it would appear to be getting the Horus Station back online.
But how did it get offline? What has happened to it? Yeah, you can see the point of a game like this. So if this is your cup of tea, then I highly suggest drinking from it. So far, it is available for the PS4, and I would recommend the VR mode, as it is undoubtedly made for it.
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