SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix

I remember playing this previously on a friend's system. It's part of what made me want to get a VR system. But.... if I'd actually gotten to the same 'place' in the game as I am now, I'd have probably been put off getting into VR.

The music is annoying after about 5 minutes in each level. The puzzles vary from reasonable to obtuse.
I honestly ended up stuck in the pirate ship, trying to figure out how to get a door open. The game was no help in my being stuck and when I looked online for help, the closest I got was a "never mind I figured it out". I also ran into the controllers issue and had to resort to the developer method of 'editing the app data file' to bypass it.

If I could request a refund, I probably would, but I was sadly determined to try and solve the issue.

Edit: For anyone else stuck on the pirate ship - it involves a sword and a cannon. I had to watch someone else have the exact same problem with a Dev response to get that solution.

One of the earliest VR games and it really shows: items interactions are clunky and visuals are very outdated. There are some nice puzzles there, but also a a lot of bland and frustrating ones.

Pros:
+ Pirate ship level is really great: it got the best puzzle in the game and even decent looking environments

Cons:
- Item handling is janky and does not have any physical feedback. And a lot of time it's impossible to tell if the object is interactable by looking at it
- Visuals are bad even by 2016 VR standards
- Final chapter got some really obscure abstract puzzles, especially compared to logical environmental puzzles of previous levels
- Loading time is very long
- Story doesn't make a lot of sense

At this point, in 2019, I'd have to say no on this. $20 for this in 2017 was probably okay. But for today, it's short-ish (3-5 hours), the voice-acting is not great, the story is utterly typical, it's a little buggy, the load times for a PC game are pretty bad, and the hard drive footprint is strangely massive. If you're hard-up for a handful of 'escape the room' puzzles in fairly interesting graphical environments and don't mind spending $20 for a 4-hour game, go for it. Be aware though, this is part 1 of a story that appears to have been abandoned in 2017.

Game too frustrating. Poor feedback as to whether what you are interacting with is progressing the game. And worst of all, no mid-level saves. I got to the floating stone puzzle on the last level, and had to quit the game before solving it. No way am I going through that entire freaking level again, especially as frustrating as it was to get those three items to float on top of the pedastals. At least I got it on a good sale. Will uninstall uncompleted, and just hide it in my steam list, so as to try to forget my shame.

Update: There are better escape room games on the market now. I expect you to die, The Room VR, Abode. If you have exhausted the better games and still want more, check this game out. Some jank to it at times but I was hooked enough to finish it.

Not great with escape room games and the train of thought that goes into solving the puzzles. I did get stuck on some puzzles (some simplistic and other a little weirder). Did get fustrated and would end up wandering not knowing what to do for minutes.

In the end I recommend this game. It adds a little more narrative to the "escape room" plot which is a nice touch. Not an instant buy but if you see it on sale / in your price range, an OK pick up.

This game is like six escape room games each played out on a grand scale and linked together by a pretty interesting plot. To me that was the big alure of this game, instead of spending $5 on a game that will take me roughly an hour to complete and then never touch again (the sad reality of escape rooms, they're only fun once) I picked this little gem up on sale for $10 and got around six hours of amazing gameplay!

Pros:

- The price, even though I got it on sale I can enthusiastically say that I would not have minded one bit paying the full price.
- The graphics, the places this game takes you are all very visually engaging and in some cases absolutly breathtaking!
- The voice acting
- The overall tone, this game managed to create an intense and at times creepy atmosphere using only music and visuals (this game has NO JUMPSCARES). Their were also some humorous moments too!


Cons:

- A couple of the puzzles had very unclear instructions and I had to look up a walkthrough to figure them out

Honestly, this is in my top 5 list for favorite VR games I've played so far and I look forward to more from this developer!

This game was great. The atmosphere was creepy, and although there are no enemies, you constantly feel like you're about to get caught or run down by a creature. I loved the puzzles, and they required a bit of thought at times.

My only problem with this game was the ending. It was very forced, and made little sense. I guess I'll have to wait until part 2 before things make a bit more sense.

"One of the longest VR games to date" - Boy, we sure are lacking in long VR games, then, aren't we..

The premise is interesting, and I do love a good puzzle, but I didn't really find this one all that compelling. The puzzles aren't exactly groundbreaking, and while the story has potential, it's marred by poor writing and awkward voice acting. A lot of visual glitching, too, like rocks that only exist if you're not looking at them.. Textures are pretty bad overall, except for the "important" objects, and there's a lot of loud ambient noise that makes some of the puzzles headache-inducing in the wrong way.

The fact that it was easily completed in 4 hours (and only because some of the puzzles are of the "what the f*** do you even want from me?"-style until you find the one object you need to poke the other object with) with no replay value doesn't help it either, and the whole thing really just feels more like a demo.

On the whole, if they improve the writing and get a little less awkward in the voice acting department for the next one, I'll probably come back to the follow-up, but I won't hold my breath.

Edit: After some consideration and a bit of sleep, I'm changing my opinion slightly, I would recommend a playthrough, especially given the price point. It wasn't mind blowing, but it did keep me entertained for the 4 hours it took. And really, 4 hours at that price is completely reasonable.

Aside from a slightly obtuse puzzle in a later mission I found this game to be thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. I often felt like I was in a 3D version of Myst.
Many clever, interesting, and varied puzzles to solve with beautiful and sometimes creepy environments.
Very much looking forward to more adventures!

I'm a sucker for sci-fi, so this game was a no brainer for me. Atmosphere was great! Finding yourself on different worlds, from archaic civs to high tech alien societies was a nice touch. Throw in some decent puzzles with a Myst like gameplay and you will find this is a pretty well thought out game. It took me a little over 5 hours to complete with its current content. My only gripes for the game would be how some areas are extremely dark, even using the flashlights, and just as I was about to become part of AlphaHelix, the game ends! AHHHHH!

Can't wait for the next installment!

i have only had the HTC Vive for a couple off weeks and after all the "experiences" and free stuff i wanted to get into an actual game, so i picked this up in the xmas sale, when i 1st loaded the game and saw the whole NDE intro i was hooked straight away ( just finnished a book all about the subject).
the 1st level is quite easy to start with and alot of the puzzles in the game are straight forward with 1 or 2 exceptions (bloody stones!!!!!!!!!!!) and this comes from a person who basically plays fps's, so a person who plays puzzle games may find it easy,

As this was my 1st VR "game" it has helped me get used to the whole teleporting system alot of vr games use, it has really helped me get my vr "legs" because of the slow pace of the game

the graphics are pretty bland but do the job and i had no issues on my system (i7 6700k, gtx1070, 16gigs of ram)

only downside i can find is that it has no replayability and i have no reason to go back to it (until the DLC comes out)

Back when the demo for SVRVIVE was released, it was my first VR experience. I absolutely loved it, the atmosphere it created and really hoped the rest of the game would stack up to it. It didn't, but it was a good experience.

When I played the demo the idea of travelling to the 1970's felt epic, creepy and a little like something straight out of Stephen Kings The Dark Tower mixed with the visual aesthetic of Se7en. When I appeared in the 70's it felt like a different place and time, especially compared to where I was previously. That, coupled with the creepy visuals, the fact that you could HEAR the guardian walking around upstairs and THAT moment with the purple light-bulb, it promised something that was more horror sci fi than anything else. However, the full game just didn't live up to what the demo promised me.

I expected and wanted to perhaps transport to a German Bunker during WWII on the brink of being bombed, on the Orient Express amid a murder mystery, under a Colosseum in Rome while a gladiatorial fight is taking place overhead, or in an apartment of a cyberpunk hacker in the year 2150, searching for a digital Helix before some futuristic Japanese death squad blast their way through the door. Though the worlds presented are OK, they're never that interesting, and it's not a good thing when your best level idea is used on the first mission. Instead of an endless stream of possible great ideas, we get samey Alien Worlds and a pirate ship, none of which really inspires.

I know it sounds like I'm shitting on the game, but after such a great demo, I was disappointed. I still recommend the game though, but for no more than around €10/E8/$10. The game would take a typical player around 5 hours.

PROS:
+Interesting story, and ends with a decent, if predictable conclusion
+Great voice acting
+Some great puzzles
+Good array of different locations

-Item physics can be way off
-Levels jump between being good to just plain boring
-No real consequences during missions. For instance, why can't the guardian in the first level find you if you're too loud?
-Some graphical glitches. Found myself inside walls from time to time, etc. No game breaking glitches though.
-Sound Design is poor. Could have been incredible. For instance, on the last level a generic cave hum sounded flat. Because of this the game lack atmosphere is could have otherwise had.

The devs did a good job, but dropped the ball a bit nonetheless. SVRVIVE could have been a great game, but it has settled to just be a good one.

After playing the demo, I knew this game could become something really good and I'm glad my intuition didn't let me down : this game turned out to be a beautiful and mysterious adventure game similar to The Gallery ep. 1. This one will be added to my list of top Vive games!

I'm a fan of puzzle games like this so it was instantly appealing to me. Overall I enjoyed it, it's fun. The game is beautiful. I didn't have any gameplay object issues like others but I do agree the physics are rough and basic things like opening drawers and doors is frustrating. The one area I wish would be more fleshed out is sound design. It wasn't noticable at first but some of the later levels (especially the last one which looks amazing) would have been much more compelling with better sound design.

I found myself being surprised by SVRVIVE (Which I presume is more a pun of Survey and Survive rather than exclusivly the latter, but that could be anyone's guess). In the two hours I've gotten to the fourth 'Room' and I feel like I'm in a position to make a first impression.

PROs

+ Limited 'Adventure Game Logic' outside of a single entity thus far. That axe knows what it did. I wouldn't of thought of using an axe to do that.
+ Some really nice enviroments. SVRVIVE Studios go to town with their time-travel concept. You'll find yourself going from some dingy basement on earth to the CEO's office of a dying alien world. Its varied and when allowed, colourful (more on this in the cons section).
+ Is actually a finished product. There's no 'Early Access' tag here. This is a complete product. It may not be the most lengthy, but it certainly feels worth the buck.
+ The levels themselves are nicely self contained - These aren't marathon affairs for the most part.

CONS

- It's too damn dark. This first level and the ship level are definitely criminals of this, which made my first attempt of the first level long winded because I missed a certain key item because it was crammed in a room that lacks an actual natural light. Likewise for the ship level where some bits are just so enclosed it's hard to see - even with a light. I've yet to play either of these stages post patch mind. Maybe it solves this. Will update when I know for sure.
- Bugs - Sometimes litterally with the GIANT COCKROACH I stumbled upon in the third level. Made me panic that's for sure...well, till I chucked it away. Moving on though this game has a few game breaking bugs. I managaed to get an item on stage 4 WAY earlier than I should of because it popped out of the desk by accident when I was messing with the unlocked draws. I also had a key item drop through the floor and managed to solve a certain rotating puzzle without the aid of a final lever, practically skipping an entire level. It seems like a chunk of these are resolved with the latest patch mind.
- That axe in the first level.

I loved the experince thus far, although I would personally wait till the price drops down to the £12.50 price margin That said, this is a game i'd pay to see more DLC for. A couple quid for one or two more stages every now and then would be fantastic.

7/10 Recommend.

Svrive is a fun and immersive experience.

The Good:
Excellent visuals.
Responsive controls.
Great ambience and sound.
More playtime than the average Vive game.

The Mediocre:
Decent story, with a couple of twists.
The puzzles can be finicky.

The Bad:
Can occasionally lose progression items in spots where the game doesn't consider them lost, so they don't respawn.


All said, the game is definitely worth playing if you like puzzles, or escape the room style games.

Wow. This game looks great! Loved the demo, so cant wait to continue the story. Got to the third level at this point, and i cant wait to play some more. I highly recommend this game to everybody who likes "escape room"type games.
Big up to the neighbour country for making this game 👍✌️

So i just played the first two missions and have to say that i like this Game alot. As others wrote this is a Escape the room type of game where you have to solve puzzles to progress. The difficulty is just right in my Opinion, but im not very good at puzzle games so maybe others would disagree with this. The Story as far as i experienced it is good too. I really want to know what the Deus Helix is and if my "employer" is telling the truth. And there seems to be more than one faction involved too. That is what VR needs most in my Opinion: A good story that keeps the player interested. There are way too many VR Games that have no Story at all and you just shoot things up. Another thing thats good is that they finished the first Chapter before releasing it. Im fed up with EA Titles that promise alot and deliver nothing. So keep up the good work Devs, i hope this Game sells well so that you can continue this project.

Pretty good so far. I played the demo so I was primed to get the full version when it was released. I am stuck on the second level, I think because a key item glitched into the floor, but oh well, I'll just play it again. I do think the title is a little on the pricy side, but at this point, I am willing to invest in good Vive developers. The game has a good atmosphere and enjoyable environments with a great sense of detail. It feels like an extended escape the room game, which I love. Don’t feel bad about picking this one up!

Since nobody is reviewing this game, I'll give my first impressions after a bit less than an hour of gameplay (and update it once I'd played more). Note that I progressed quite fast in the first level because I already played the demo before (it's the same level).

First of all, despite the game, this is not a survival game, but a riddle or escape-the-room-like game.
It feels really cool to be driven into a story in VR, I must admit that this seems to me to be one of the first games on Vive to offer a real scenario.

Graphics are really good, and scenes are made with an obvious sense of detail, although it looks like for some reason, I'm more annoyed by Vive's halo glares in this game than on most of others (maybe because of a high contrast in luminosity within the scenes). Aliasing is barely noticeable given this kind of detailed graphics.
Physics are good (like not as good as Cowbots vs Aliens, but much better than a Chair in a Room), they sometimes glitch a bit, but nothing ridiculous or making everything fly miles away, and it feels right to not see objects pass through each others (should be mandatory in VR).
The game is well polished, and I'm pretty sure that the devs (that communicated quite well so far) will hear the little complains in order to make it even more polished (something like being able to autolock the flashlight in the first level, etc).

What stands out in this game is the atmosphere, those who tried the demo would understand. I've only reached scene 2 at this moment, the atmosphere is very different (not that creepy), but the sense of presence is strong and the ambiance is intriguing.

Devs claimed that the game's play length is about 4 to 5 hours, so 20 creds seems to be quite a correct price considering that I still have to play a (full-) VR game that offers that much game length with a story.

So for the moment, for what I've seen, I recommend it, and if the rest of the game is as good as what i've seen so far, for 5 hours, I'd even highly recommend it !