Into Black comes to new headsets with a sharper resolution, an intriguing sci-fi narrative, and electrifying action. Read on for our full review.
Into Black is an ominous title. It prefaces a darkness that reveals nothing more of what it truly is. Outer space is pitch black, but then again, so are caves and black holes. Luckily, all three of these elements convey what Into Black is about rather succinctly. Stranded on an alien planet, your goal is to repair your ship by going on expeditions to gather resources. This straightforward premise is a vehicle for a fully formed FPS campaign and gameplay mechanics that tempt players to come back for one more session.
A veritable sci-fi journey disguised as a looter shooter, the at-first simple narrative makes way for interesting twists and turns later on. An explorer finds himself on the edge of space in a region aptly named the Bermuda Quadrant, only to be sucked in through a black hole in a dark cave with his ship in ruins. Accompanied by a quirky robot called Jonathan who serves as the comic relief, they must find a way to get out of this mess. With the ship working as the main hub, you can launch new expeditions, fabricate new items and upgrades, and customize your appearance.
Throughout each main mission, most of the story is told through audio logs and abandoned alien structures. It’s a smart way to keep the game moving along because the damp caves have gigantic bugs that will surprise you as you listen to the voice recordings. With a trusty gun by your side and a fun timed reloading mechanic, the game is off to the races. In the first mission, there is a giant sandworm that chases you unexpectedly, making a peaceful exploration mission all the more nerve-racking. Into Black is committed to showing unique scripted sequences like this sprinkled all over the narrative.
Although Into Black is by no stretch of the imagination a horror game, the spontaneity of some bugs’ movement will surely surprise unsuspecting explorers. The sounds these massive critters make are quite unnerving, offset by the upbeat electronic music once you engage in battle. Akin to Starship Troopers: Continuum when playing co-op, every single mission played with friends certainly alleviates any fear incurred by facing the dangers presented alone. Discovering that friendly fire is toggled on in the heat of the moment can lead to hilariously failed expeditions, too.
From a story mode where you receive very little damage to an insanity difficulty where all resources gathered are lost on Game Over, Into Black is flexible. This helps because even though the fast-paced action could be enticing enough for some, each biome is gorgeous to explore. Underwater areas give a sense of wonder that the initial caves lacked. The color palette, ironically, is quite bright to the point that the boss arenas themselves are quite pleasing to the eye.
The verticality of each map presents a distinct challenge to traverse. With a useful hologram of the map on the wrists, it is impossible to get lost, and it also nudges you to new areas where forgotten chests with shiny loot await. It’s not essential to look for loot but rather for schematics to upgrade your tools. Not all items can be easily mined by being pulled like plants. Some need to be extricated from the ground, and while they are flung through the air, they must be shot at, adding to the dynamism of what otherwise would become a tedious task.
Shooting flying bugs is fun, as long as they don’t get too close.
Several types of missions beyond the main story round out Into Black’s package. Resource runs and Extraction incursions that are rotated hourly, for example, provide another way to engage with the environment thanks to different modifiers and rewards. Finally, a Singularity mode offers a PvPvE mode that is a spin on the usual expedition of going in and out to recover a few resources. I could play these modes with a friend, but with up to 11 additional players, we could see a thriving community playing this every weekend or so.
My start with Into Black was buggy. My first mission, which had me collecting ore before extracting it back to the ship, did not recognize the goal was reached, which had me repeating it to be able to progress. In another mission, the music cuts abruptly, and some enemies fall off the map. They eventually pop out again so I can shoot them, but hearing their footsteps and being unable to attack is equally jarring.
Using your laser to mine for materials is both rewarding and convenient.
Not many things can be grabbed with the hands, and understandably so, as it is rather difficult to recreate that illusion in VR. Sadly, those actions miss the mark. For example, a hacking mechanic where you find beacons and have to jack in some cables feels particularly unwieldy. When everything feels snappy, this small minigame would benefit from an option to be skipped to avoid having to struggle with these tricky mechanics. These are not game-breaking issues in the grand scheme of things, but they are worth mentioning regardless and hopefully will be patched out soon.
Into Black has comprehensive accessibility features. The usual turning style from smooth to snap at certain angles is there. Left-hand support and wrist UI changes to make it bigger cast a wider net for all types of players. Finally, Teleport mode, entirely removing the haptics and adaptive triggers and changing some buttons for comfort, is available.
On a personal note, a friend with whom I played was colorblind. Though there is no option to toggle on the menu, she said that patterns to be able to play were already implemented into the game, so credit to The Binary Mill for that.
Into Black – Final Verdict
While The Binary Mill previously released Into Black on Quest, this new port’s improvements on PS VR2 make this a great choice. Touted as the definitive way to play, better textures, dynamic shadows, and eye-tracked foveated rendering are all welcome additions to an already solid offering. Playing on a PlayStation 5 Pro’s smooth 120Hz feels great when the action ramps up, while haptic feedback and adaptive triggers do a fantastic job honing in on the feeling of each weapon.
An intriguing sci-fi journey that’s improved by playing with friends, Into Black brings all it has to the table for one more round. While some bugs still need to be ironed out, and not the huge ones that attack you in-game, the experience itself is rather satisfying. Resource gathering is the bedrock of the gameplay that will keep players coming back, but its serviceable story, wondrous biomes, and ever-expanding missions seal the deal.
UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.
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