PREVIEW Hubris: the SF PC VR game of 2022?


It is on the fringes of Steam NextFestival that we were able to try our hand at producing Cyborn, the Belgian studio behind what promises to be one of the beautiful PC productions VR of the year 2022. Welcome in Hubris, the new space saga with sweet airs of action and science fiction. In this game, we play as a rookie in training to become an agent OOO (Order Of Objectivitysupposed to bring order and avoid wars between the planets and the factions of this universe).

Hubris is shaping up to be one of the most promising productions of 2022.

Episode one of this saga (yes, there will be several), takes us on a mission to the heart of the planetoid belt of a system of terraforming twin planets, accompanied by lucia, the pilot of our ship. In this new hostile environment, we are tasked with searching for the mysterious agent Cyanha. Our journey will not be easy. Even though we are part of theOOOthis planet, as friendly as it may seem, will not welcome us with open arms and many challenges await us, and many threats await us. We are not alone here. So beware of the factions you come across and the local wildlife!

There is no need to say, it’s graphically top notch. So we wanted to find out. Armed with a RTX-3080 with a i5-9600k and 32 GB of RAM, we immersed ourselves in the demo and… oh surprise! There’s no denying it’s beautiful, extremely beautiful even. We are in terms of graphics in a clever mix of Kayaking RV (read our preview) and of Half-Life: Alyx. Textures are photogrammetric and the reefs that line the ocean are as beautiful as those in the real world can be. The rendering of the water and the seabed, filled with small fish and very endearing large jellyfish, the cavities, parts of the vessel, etc. are extremely well rendered, as are the plays of light, reflection and shadows are very flattering.

hubris 11But that’s not all, the studio is state of the art in animation and works, in addition to the field of video games, in the cinematographic world. Thanks to his system of motion capture, Cyborn is able to offer ultra believable characters. The studio, with its multiple hats, is also the first and only Belgian studio equipped with the motion capture system Vicon Shogunhighly intelligent and used worldwide in high-end movies, capable of generating data from mocap high quality and more than realistic animations. The studio will also publish a mini-series after the release of the game called “Terra-former”.



It is therefore necessary to highlight the excellent work of the developers. The world is very well modeled, as are the protagonists, and the gameplay turns out to be rich. We were able to attest to this by trying the demo. Although it does not cover all facets of the title, it is clear that we have before us a game worked both visually and functionally.

The gameplay combines action, reflection, fights, exploration and crafting.

hubris 8We thus observe worked environments offering us a certain degree of freedom in our movements. The title appeals to our agility by taking up certain aspects of the discipline of parkour. So we can run, jump, climb, overcome obstacles using an organic cable, etc. Hubris does not stop there and invites us to take the plunge for many reasons. It is therefore by simulating swimming that we can move in the ocean or cavities. Even if the mechanism seems to work rather well, it does not seem to us to be up to a FREEDIVER: Triton Down. The aquatic scene will therefore give pride of place to this new universe and, to take a dip in complete serenity, our best ally will be the blaster aquatic to de-zinc what is under the surface. But the fights also promise to be terrestrial and rather dynamic, offering various types of creatures, humanoid and mechanized enemies. should be approached with different tactics.

the crafting is also a significant facet of the game, so it will be necessary to collect resources to advance, unlock situations, craft weapons, tools, etc. For this, a holographic backpack will come to support us. the gameplay don’t stop there because the player will have to drive various mechanical devices and vehicles. The scenario does not seem outdone with various humanoid and cyborg protagonists, with dubbing and neat animation, as well asa story revolving around the famous Order Of Objectivity and its secrets.



Demo requires, the title is not finalized and there are still some bugs, which although they should be corrected, deserve to be underlined. During our course in the reef and its caves, we fell many times in crevasses without dying or being able to go up. When we lose life, a red halo frames our screen, but the latter has also tainted our adventure. We couldn’t even die to erase that stain. Even returning to the entrance of the level we remained in the same state of agony. In addition, the climbing phases sometimes gave us a hard time and our screen tended to flicker in certain scenes. We would also have liked to explore the combat phases a little more, but remember that this is a demo.

Our first impressions: Strongly!

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The title should appear this year in the first half. This will be the first episode of a space saga. Hubris propose a rich universe and a gameplay workauthorizing aquatic and terrestrial combat phases, the piloting of machines, the crafting and climbing between two breaks to admire the sumptuous decorations, and a graphic realization with small onions, all proposed by Cybornthe Belgian animation studio which also holds the prize for the most promising game at the Belgian Game Awards 2021. For once, we are curious to see more and discover this production from top to bottom.

If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, you can treat yourself to a Meta Quest 2 at Bakerthe Fnac, Darty Where Amazon for €349.99.

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