We'd be hard-pressed to think of a more obvious example of a PlayStation 4 game so clearly optimized for play on PC than Hyper Scape. It actually gets to the point where you question why Ubisoft bothered with the console port in the first place. However, this is a free-to-play Battle Royale title and so the idea of restricting its player base to a single system would probably give the higher-ups at Ubisoft a heart attack. So, while we don't want these damning statements to dissuade you from giving Hyper Scape a shot, they do confirm for us that this futuristic take on the genre won't provide much competition for Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends.
It's not that Hyper Scape performs poorly on PS4, but more the fact that its gameplay flows at such a ludicrously fast pace that it can be next to impossible to keep up. Neo Arcadia is your virtual playground and the buildings which give it structure are merely a minor roadblock in your path to victory. A speedy sprint will get you about the map in no time at all while a double jump can clear rooftops -- place jump pads on top and you quickly realise that brick and mortar isn't really an obstacle at all. It's a tool to get you into an advantageous position, but one on a time limit since an enemy can just as easily reach your position. This may sound like a good thing, and that's because it is.
The freedom of Hyper Scape is its crowning achievement, but that very same movement speed is also what holds it back on PS4. While we can completely understand how you'd be able to keep up with a mouse and keyboard at your fingertips, the same cannot be said of the DualShock 4. Action and confrontations pass you by at such a pace that it can be extremely difficult to work out what just happened and what you need to be doing next. Players can be right beside you one second and then way off in the distance the next. Enemies will engage in combat on top of one building before taking the fight to the streets in a flash. When you're in the thick of things, the thumbsticks of the PS4 pad simply cannot keep up with this rapid action.
But that's not the only problem associated with the device sitting in the palms of your hands. You're going to have to dive head-first into the game's setting if you want to come up with a satisfying set of aiming controls because the default options are chaotic to say the least. The reticule reacts violently to even the slightest push of the right analogue sticks, meaning you'll miss your shots more often than not. Iron sights on regular weapons don't offer any benefit either with scopes that take up nearly the entire screen. It's far too much to handle and presents newcomers with a pretty steep learning curve that we're not convinced many will bother to overcome. There are too many better alternatives already on the market, after all.
It does bring some of its own ideas to the table though -- a couple of which we wouldn't be surprised to see implemented into other Battle Royale titles. The introductory looting stage of Hyper Scape might be the shortest the genre has ever seen, but it continues to give you a reason to hunt down extra weapons no matter what stage of the match you're in. That's because if you find the same gun you have equipped somewhere within Neo Arcadia, you can upgrade the weapon by absorbing it. This leads to five tiers of enhancements, each of which improves your magazine size and damage output.
This is a pretty cool mechanic that ensures loot is always an important factor beyond the first couple of minutes of a match, and the same goes for Hacks. These perks range from abilities granting you invisibility all the way through to a giant hamster ball that can be used to traverse the map at great speeds. It's certainly a bizarre sight the first time one crosses your path, but these too can be upgraded should you come across a copy out on the digital battlefield.
As such, these neat ideas find themselves trapped in an experience that isn't going to take off on PS4. The community on PC may take Hyper Scape to new heights, but in an already crowded genre, it all feels too little too late. The DualShock 4 controller cannot keep up with what Ubisoft is trying to do, leading to messy in-game battles that can be tough to follow. Throw in an awkward aiming system on top of that and it quickly separates the veterans from the players giving the game a chance for the first time. The world works in strange ways and Hyper Scape could be the biggest thing going in six months time, but we can confidently say that won't happen on a PlayStation console.
Have you been playing Hyper Scape on PS4? Do you agree with our assessment? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 10
Gave this a couple of hours and the combat is just bad. Most guns are irrelevant as the mini gun is OP and the rest do nothing at all, I've been shooting people in the head to only die to what seems like a couple of shots from the same person and get told I did 48 damage. For a game thats just came out its soo catered to hardcore bangouts. Other BRs are great so yeah no reason to come back to this. I like different sectors becoming unusable though.
The whole experience is just bad.
TTK is atrocious. I've put entire clips into people and had them just shrug it off and blast me 2-3 times and kill me.
The revive mechanic is so stupid broken it's insane. You need to use an enemy's fallen corpse as a revive spot, which... okay? But it forces revives into the field of battle, so there's no option to sneak away and revive and come back with a strategy. You have to cross your fingers and hope for the best in the midst of fire fights.
There's no quick melee (nor doors), so getting into buildings for loot gives your position away and can leave you severely vulnerable. There is a HUGE push for interior play (because that's where most of the loot is), but it's so fast paced and vertical, none of the gun play feels good in such cramped quarters. Stealth is never an option. If you don't like fast run and gun/spray and pray, look elsewhere. There is one gameplay style this game caters to. Aiming down your sights will literally get you killed 9/10 times.
All the pick ups look nearly identical at a distance, so you're forced to walk up next to nearly everything to even determine if it's worth grabbing/swapping to/upgrading with, which slows your pace down tremendously and makes looting feel bothersome, when it's a core part of the experience (if you don't upgrade to max tier, your weapon is going to get you killed).
Specific hacks and weapons are SEVERELY OP right now, to the point that 2/3 of them are outright a hindrance to even have on hand.
The controls are outright the worst I've ever experienced in an FPS game on console. You have to significantly LOWER your sensitivity in order to SPEED UP your aim/movement. Let that sink in.
Fast-paced FPS on console is possible. Titanfall 2 is one of the most chaotic, but controlled multiplayer shooters I've ever played. No one would ever argue it's slow or for the faint of heart. Hyperscape could have provided the same sense of movement and speed, but it fails on nearly every level.
It's bonkers bad. I legitimately do not know how it got released in the state it's in.
Tried it yesterday and I was getting absolutely destroyed. I felt helpless lol. Figured I'd give it a go since it's free but I definitely won't be revisiting it.
I can't even play. Violet-68 error. And Ubi wont let me connect accounts to fix it.
I hope it bombs as bad as Radical Heights
A longer TTK is what sets it apart from other BRs, not dying in less time than you can react to something makes the game different and great.
If you're complaining about nailing 2 clips into someone and them not dying and instead insta-killing you, you're missing your shots and they're not. TTK is the SAME for everybody and weapon damage isn't random.
Sounds like a good candidate for motion aiming, it sounds like it could improve the flow of the game and make it more manageable.
The one thing that bothers me is there's no auto-sprint, everything is so insanely fast I wonder why they have a walking pace at all? having to click L3 everytime after doing anything is pretty irritating. Full button mapping is also needed rather than presets, the core gameplay is chaotic fun, just controls badly which can be fixed, let's hope sooner rather than later
Yay, another battle Royale... just what we needed 🙄
"we can completely understand how you'd be able to keep up with a mouse and keyboard at your fingertips"
Then why the hell didn't they include support for them and provide the option? Especially as it's cross-platform. The PS4 supports mouse and keyboard, and I think Xbox does too these days.
And there can be no excuses about expense, because anyone can pick up a USB mouse and keyboard for under £15.
I have no interest in the game (or any BR-syle game), but things like this still irritate me.
Tap here to load 10 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...