CONVRGENCE VR Early Access Review

Here's a tragic story. Once upon a time, there was a little VR game called called Paradox Of Hope. An ambitious shooter made entirely by one person. It felt like a real passion project, a little rough around the edges, but with unique assets and a setting and gameplay not found anywhere else in the realm of Virtual Reality gaming.

The frightening feeling of the post apocalyptic underground was unmatched. Updates were consistent and over time it got better and better, less rough, my optimism and excitement for this game only went higher. Paradox Of Hope was called "Metro in VR" by so many for its underground metro tunnel setting and generally oppressive slavic vibes.

Then, suddenly, it was gone. Destroyed by a DMCA strike from an unnamed company, shortly afterwards an official Metro VR game was announced.

Metro VR was announced shortly after Paradox Of Hope was hit with a DMCA strike.

Now I'm no conspiracy theorist, but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to see a connection here, though the source of the strike was never confirmed. Anyway, that's history, because the one person developing Paradox Of Hope, known as NikZ, has just released a new VR game into early access on Steam, called CONVRGENCE.

New Game, Same Dev

Now I'll be honest, I'm inclined to be a little more charitable to this game than usual because of what happened to this man. He had to create a whole new game just because a larger studio couldn't stand a little honest competition from one dev making a project by themselves. Not to mention I've still got plenty of Paradox Of Hope nostalgia that's been waiting for an outlet, and oh boy did CONVRGENCE give an outlet.

This game is a lot like Paradox Of Hope, and despite being pretty rough around the edges and having a new setting that (hopefully) won't result in legal action, still slaps.

Ambushing an enemy in CONVRGENCE.

So what do you do in CONVRGENCE? Mostly you collect stuff to sell, buy stuff, and use that stuff to avoid getting killed while you collect more stuff. It's a surprisingly entertaining system.

You've got a home base to store items and do your trading. You get tasks to complete to upgrade your trader level to be able to purchase better gear. Oh, and you can also clean your weapons, refill your water so you don't die of dehydration, eat some food so you don't die of hunger, pet your dog (more on that later), and add modifications to your guns.

Adding a laser module to a pistol in CONVRGENCE.

You can also smoke a ton of cigarettes if that's the vibe you're going for. As far as I know, there's no cancer mechanic in this game, which is good because cigarettes actually not the most cancerous thing you'll run across while you're raiding. There are anomalous artifacts as well that are highly radioactive.

I say raiding because that's how the game is structured. Once you're ready to hop over to your car and have a fun interactive driving loading scene until the procedurally generated level is created.

Each level is loaded while you drive this car in CONVRGENCE. A nice touch.

Then you fight and loot your way through until you find an extract and stand next to it for a few seconds. Then you're back in the base, sell your stuff, buy whatever you want or need. Rinse and repeat. Oh, and if you do die you lose everything, unless you have insurance, then you lose everything except for what's in your backpack.

Nothing in your backpack is ever safe.

The mutants are very deadly if you wake them up.

There are multiple different location types to go and raid with different enemies, dangers, and surroundings, and overall I'd say the gameplay loop is solid. It's very similar to Paradox Of Hope's Raid Mode, though unfortunately there's no story mode in CONVRGENCE.

That means this game does rely heavily on procedural generation, so it does have the downside of seeming a little repetitive once you've raided a location type a lot. You'll notice patterns, especially now that this game hasn't been around for long. I think like a lot of procedurally generated games with this problem it will become a lot less apparent when more possibilities are added for generation.

Right now there just aren't a whole lot of map pieces that can be picked, and enemies don't really patrol or do anything other than wait around until you get close to them. So, I think with some updates the amount of possibilities will become greater, and so the game will stay interesting for longer. As it is I became very tired of both of the level types after around 3 and a half hours of play.

There are multiple levels to explore in CONVRGENCE.

The Garage Collective didn’t pose a challenge at all after I got used to it, and the Underground levels are more of a stealth than a combat challenge, so right now they're really just an exercise in patience.

Why? Well because if you wake up any of these absolutely horrifying looking demon creatures, then all of them wake up, and it's not going to be a good time for you. I doubt it's even possible to win fighting five of these at the same time.

A humanoid mutant in CONVRGENCE.

The Best Dog In VR Gaming

Speaking of possibilities there are a ton of different guns to unlock and buy, but your most important companion and weapon will be your dog. Yep, look at that good boy.

This big guy is probably the best dog ever implemented in a Virtual Reality Game.

Look at that good boy.

You can pet him, whistle at him to tell him to attack enemies, and also sometimes he pees, which is hilarious. Oh, and your dog can also dig up items from time to time.

He also functions as an early warning system, growling when he senses an enemy nearby and is ready to attack. I'm honestly not sure why the dog is in this game. The constant companionship makes the whole atmosphere a lot less tense, especially coupled with the fact that enemies won't surprise you because the dog will point them out even if you don't hear or see them.

You can always choose not to bring the dog if you don't want to though... but it's kind of hard to give up the advantage of having them.

So I love the dog, but I'm not exactly sure if he's the best fit for this game. Still, I'd like to see CONVRGENCE come a little further along before I really manage to say no to this adorable mug. Still, I don't think I've ever seen a friendly dog in an environment as openly hostile looking as that in this game.

You can pet the dog, and they are very helpful.

Even outside of the underground labyrinths, the sound of gunshots is very common, and so is the chatter on your radio directing various units to fight to the death. There's stuff floating in the air and some notes I've found talk about aliens and mutants of terrifying caliber. The feeling of CONVRGENCE is bleak.

Now keep in mind CONVRGENCE is in early access, and so a ton of enemies, locations, and features are yet to be implemented, and there are a fair amount of bugs and jank to be overcome. If NikZ's track record is anything like it was with Paradox Of Hope though, we'll definitely be seeing a lot of fixes, expansions, and improvements coming to CONVRGENCE.

Hopefully to the combat more than anything, the combat is kind of janky. The enemies are all stiff and unrealistic looking as they switch between animation states and hardly seem to react to the dog biting their crotch. It's early access. You know the drill, but I'm optimistic it will get better.

Fighting a bandit with the dog in CONVRGENCE.

If you're interested in picking up this game it's 19.99$ on Steam, and you'd be supporting a solo indie VR developer with a good track record and terrible legal luck.

If warm and fuzzies aren't enough to get you to fork over 20 dollars, and I wouldn't blame you if they weren't, then I'd recommend waiting to pick this game up, but definitely wishlist it. This is a Virtual Reality game to watch. There have already been several dev diaries posted to the store page, and major updates will be included in an article here, at Realty Remake. Enjoy!

Paradox Of Hope Is Yet Another Indie Game Destroyed By A Copyright Claim

Unfortunately the fantastic indie survival shooter game Paradox Of Hope is no longer available for purchase, and will not be receiving updates from its singular developer anymore. Why? The usual reason, a copyright claim from a larger company.

Here we’ll go over the details of this latest copyright claim, and talk a little about what this means for you and your access to games that you would enjoy.

The Paradox Of Hope Copyright Claim and Details

Let’s start with what we know about this. Most of what we know comes from this Discord post by the only developer working on Paradox of hope, NikZ.

NikZ breaking the news of Paradox Of Hope’s shutdown

The summary is that his game is being taken down due to a copyright claim and will not be available for purchase, or receive any more development updates. For a single developer working on a game with as much ambition as Paradox Of Hope, NikZ had been making great progress in a very short amount of time.

Paradox Of Hope featured not only a singleplayer campaign three chapters long, but an endless “Raid” mode that was also seeing constant changes and improvements. Recently NikZ added bandit enemies, new weapons, and a laundry list of improvements to this mode while he was adding campaign content.

The pace of development makes sense, as Paradox Of Hope was his full time job and only source of income. A project in the making of four years of his life, it’s hard to imagine what a disappointment losing that much time and effort must feel like.

Consistent updates by the Paradox Of Hope Developer

NikZ’s claim that Paradox Of Hope uses no specific assets or lore from another piece of copyright protected media is accurate. Anyone looking at this might draw the conclusion that, of course, the Metro series of games is clearly the copied IP here.

Paradox Of Hope does look a lot like a Metro game. It has a similar setting, similar enemies, and similar game mechanics to the first two Metro games, Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. It takes place in a post apocalyptic series of metro tunnels, and is set in Russia.

It’s likely that the copyright claimer holds the Metro series IP. Due to the similarities between Paradox Of Hope and the Metro games in setting and gameplay, you might think that there is some merit to this copyright claim.

Did Paradox Of Hope Copy Metro?

The thing is though… a setting and gameplay elements aren’t copyrightable. Paradox Of Hope does bear striking similarities, but in ways that aren’t subject to copyright protection.

Of course you can reasonably claim that the opposite is true and the claim is valid. Copyright law can be hard to interpret, especially as a non legally trained observer without access to any of the legal documents pertaining to this claim.

That’s what courts are for, to decide if the law in a specific case is validly being applied. Whether or not Paradox Of Hope is being shut down justifiably or not, that’s what is so sad here. This game and its developer will likely never see their day in court to get a more thorough ruling, why? The same reason as always, money.

Court cases are expensive, and NikZ is a single person that is not a lawyer. Fighting a copyright claim is expensive, and one person can’t match the resources that whatever large company is doing this claim has. So the only option is to fold.

Fighting a mutant spider in Paradox Of Hope

What this amounts to is bullying. It’s doubtful that an official Metro VR game is even being developed, but it’s easy for a larger entity with a lot of resources to shut down a small developer who might take a little bit of their fanbase away. Much easier than actually making a competing product to compete fairly in the market.

So that’s the repercussion for you, the gamer, the consumer. Copyright claims like this mean less independent developers that can make games for a living without being subjected to the whims of large publishers. This means less great independent games like Paradox Of Hope, which many will no longer be able to enjoy.

So, fewer passionate people making games, and fewer games you can buy and play if you like them. Especially in the VR gaming space, this hurts, as many of the greatest VR games are made by independent developers. Even if there is a Metro VR game in a few years, wouldn’t you rather have both Paradox Of Hope and an official Metro VR title?

Frivolous copyright claims that are tough for a small development organization to combat are a trend lately, just like with the noteable case of Nexon vs Ironmace, where ex Nexon employees who formed their own company were threatened with arrest by the much richer Nexon. Luckily Ironmace has so far beaten this claim and has released their game, Dark and Darker, in early access with great success.

There’s also the case of the GTA V VR mod being taken down by Take-Two Interactive that we covered here.

So that’s that, another game with great potential demolished in the name of squashing the competition while they’re still small. It seems that games featuring a Russian post apocalypse in underground metro tunnels with mutants are now illegal. Unless you have the resources to win a court case that is.

Paradox of Hope VR Could Be the Next Best VR Survival Game

Paradox of Hope VR released to Steam Early Access on September 15, 2022. It has quickly become obvious that this game has a ton of promise. It takes mechanics and lessons of other successful and very fun VR games of the Survival Genre such as The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners and Into the Radius VR, and puts them into a compelling post apocalyptic setting.

This is a setting of dark metro tunnels and hulking mutants, of humanity struggling for survival in a darkness of its own making, in tunnels of their own construction. Basically the setting of the popular Metro 2033 series of books and games. Except now in Virtual Reality.

What’s so Great About it?

Paradox of Hope VR brings the same tense feeling of survival against the unknown and unknowable as Into the Radius VR does, in that way they are similar. They also both take place in Russia, though they are also different. While Into the Radius VR or The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners has you walk through a wide and expansive world covered in buildings and places to hide, Paradox of Hope VR takes place in decaying metro tunnels under post-Soviet post-Nuclear Russia.

The corridors are generally dark, damp, and full of strange radioactive weeds. Not to mention mutants, and when those mutants find you, there is no building to run and hide in. They’re faster than you, once they have your scent, there’s nothing you can do but win the fight. The cramped metro tunnels offer no other escape.

Since everything is underground, light is a resource you will constantly need. Since everything is old, lights won’t always work. While you always have a lighter on your chest, it’s glow is limited at best. Get your hands on a headlamp, though it’s expensive. So be careful, even that fancy headlamp will turn to dust if you perish out in the tunnels.

The constant ambience of the groans of old steel and concrete, and the quiet whispering that may be in your own mind, or may be something more sinister, are your other companion in the tunnels. When you are picking through the abandoned stations for whatever scraps you can sell you will be lucky if the corpses are your only companions. Mutants dwell in the darkness as well, and those mutants will not stop once they detect you. Try to sneak by, or shoot your way through, there are no other options.

Game Modes

So how are these explorations and fights through the old tunnels structured? Into two game modes, Story and Raid. Story plays out a lot like Metro 2033 does. It is planned to be a series of mostly linear missions that follow a narrative. What is available now during the limited Early Access release is already impressive, atmospheric, and intriguing. Saying anything more about it would spoil the surprise of the experience, but if you are familiar with any of the Metro games, or linear story driver shooters in general, you will know what to expect.

Until the story is completed the bulk of the game will lie in the “Raids” game mode. Where the story is a linear and set experience meant to follow a set progression pattern and series of encounters, Raids is exactly the opposite. Instead of doing the same mission again, each is randomized. Instead of always receiving the same equipment at the same time, what you have to survive with is up to your own discretion, and your monetary success at scavenging the metro tunnels.

The progression of the Raids game mode in Paradox of Hope VR is centered on scavenging for things to sell to get Rubles, and completing missions to unlock higher reputation levels. Reputation levels allow you to purchase more powerful, versatile, and expensive equipment. While Rubles are of course needed to afford anything, like new equipment, as well as bullets, health kits, air filters for your gas mask when traversing toxic areas, and accessories and mods for your guns.

There’s a whole modification system for weapons in Paradox of Hope VR. Oh, and make sure to keep your guns clean between raids, or they might jam. Not to mention keeping your magazines full of bullets. Overall the more you can afford, the higher your chance of getting to the exit and successfully leaving a raid alive.

If you die in a Raid you do not load a save, you do not start over. You are forced back to your home base with nothing but a Makarov on your hip. All your equipment, except for permanent upgrades, is lost. Hope you had some spares stashed, or some rubles saved, because otherwise you will have a really tough time in the next raid.

Broke and bulletless you might be able to take on one mutant with a knife, otherwise you’ll have to sneak through. Raids are procedurally generated and completely randomized. If you’re a little smart and a little lucky you can get through an entire map without running into a single mutant. Just keep your ears open, the breathing of the huge beasts can be heard, and stay in the darkness. If they can’t see you, they can’t eat you.

Continuing Development

The story of Paradox of Hope VR is not yet done, and the Raids mode, as fun as it is, definitely has a ceiling of progression that you hit really quickly. Soon you’ll be able to recognize the rooms you’ve seen before, and the repetition of it will sap away the suspense. Fortunately, being an early access game, Paradox of Hope VR is still in development, and there is bound to be loads more content coming.

The entire development team currently consists of one person, and despite all the early access bugs and jankiness that are present at the time of writing, their ability to accomplish so much already only adds to the sense of anticipation at the potential of this Virtual Reality Survival Shooter. If you want to see what’s been done so far, you won’t regret it, give them some love on Steam where you can buy it for 19.99$.