The Binary Mill’s latest VR title, Into Black, begins with a literal bang. Known for past titles like Mini Motor Racing X and Resist, The Binary Mill has a reputation for delivering solid VR experiences, and Into Black continues that trend. You are immediately thrust into an event horizon sequence that warps space-time, pulling you into the titular black hole. From the get-go, the game feels promising, a clever blend of exploration, resource gathering, and combat on a mysterious alien planet.
But as you dive deeper into dark caverns and vast alien cities, the game reveals a duality. It’s a technical marvel at first glance, but it starts to stumble as it moves toward its conclusion.
Exploring the Abyss
You step into the shoes of Ben Mitchell, a deep space scavenger who, along with his AI sidekick Jonathan, find themselves in an alien world after being sucked into a wormhole. The central hook of Into Black is simple. Explore, collect resources, upgrade your equipment, fight alien creatures, and try to repair your ship in order to escape. But this is not just one person’s experience. You can bring up to three friends to join the campaign in co-op, adding social dynamics to the core gameplay.
The game also has several different modes. The main campaign explores caves, magma chambers, sunken cities, and more, with Jonathan providing humor and light commentary throughout your journey. In addition to the campaign, there are resource gathering missions, perfect for players who want to enjoy the game without focusing on the story. There’s also a PvPvE mode, Singularity, where 12 players battle across an ever-shrinking map, fighting aliens and each other while searching for resources. On paper, this package is very appealing, offering variety, action, and a decent amount of replayability.
Gameplay Mining Gold
The first thing that stands out about Into Black is the fluidity of its movements. Binary Mill’s VR pedigree is on full display as you run, jump, and shoot across vast and dangerous landscapes. The mechanics feel polished, and interactions with the world don’t feel jerky or awkward. The controls are intuitive and smooth, so even the most mundane actions, such as mining resources, feel satisfying.
Shooting with Into Black is really fun. A variety of weapons are available, including pistols, shotguns, SMGs, and even a return ax for a God of War feel. The game also doesn’t shy away from borrowing mechanics from other iconic games. Gears of War’s quick reload system, Super Mario-esque mushroom bouncing, and other clever nods to classics are sprinkled throughout.
That said, cracks are starting to show in the gameplay. Shooting feels good, but the combat loop becomes diluted if you play for long periods of time. The boss fights in particular are disappointingly lackluster, with these bullet-and-sponge encounters dragging on and not offering much tactical depth. You have to avoid projectiles and send bullets into barely moving alien statues. This is a shame, because the game’s combat has so much potential, but these moments feel undercooked.
cavernous eye candy
Graphically, Into Black is truly a masterpiece. Stylized visuals work wonders in VR, especially when combined with the game’s amazing lighting effects. One of the most memorable moments comes early on when you fire a flare into a cave and watch it illuminate the exotic landscape in real time. It’s breathtaking. The game’s biomes are diverse. Magma chambers, ancient alien ruins, and underwater caves all offer a sense of discovery that keeps you feeling fresh, at least for a while.
However, the longer you play, the more technical issues you will encounter. There are both literal and figurative bugs, such as crashing through walls, getting stuck in the environment, or not reacting properly to the game’s physics. There were moments during co-op where my teammates suddenly started levitating, or plants were slightly floating off the ground, which took away from my initial immersion in the game. These bugs are annoying, especially if you’re playing a game that initially feels very polished.
stand up jonathan
Into Black’s audio has highs and lows. The standout here is Jonathan, your trusty AI sidekick. His witty banter and occasional comic relief do wonders to break up the game’s sometimes dark atmosphere. Some players even confuse his voice with that of Pete Austin from the 6DOF review. The weapon sound design is punchy and satisfying. The gun sounds heavy and the feedback you get when firing is obvious.
However, the game stumbles when it comes to music. The soundtrack is repetitive, with the same adrenaline-pumping tracks playing over and over again, especially during battles. This repetitive score feels like a missed opportunity to enhance the emotional beats and dramatic moments in the game.
See also
bug out, black out
The deeper you get into Into Black, the more it feels like the game is held together with duct tape. Small problems keep adding up. Creatures glitch, environmental elements don’t respond properly, and some aspects of the game design feel underdeveloped. For example, the puzzles could have been a great way to break up the action, but they remain simplistic throughout the game. There are no gradations in difficulty, and it often feels more like a time-killer than an actual brain teaser.
Manufacturing resources, which are a key element in upgrading equipment, can also be a very tedious task. This interface doesn’t allow for batch crafting, so you’ll have to sit through long animations for each individual item. This is an incredibly tedious process and slows down your pace significantly[31† Source].
Long play, short patience
On the plus side, Into Black offers a lot of content. Between the main campaign, co-op options, and PvPvE modes, there’s plenty to keep you occupied for dozens of hours. But as mentioned above, the longer you play, the flaws in the game start to become apparent. I really feel like the scaffolding that holds this experience together could use a little more structural support.
Into the light, but not completely
Into Black starts out like a dream with great mechanics, gorgeous environments, and captivating audio work. The experience is immersive and addictive, sucking you into an alien world with fierce confidence. But the deeper you go, the more the game starts to feel like it’s losing its grip. Bugs, repetitive music, and lackluster boss fights hold this game back from greatness.
Still, aside from the boring boss battles, all of these issues are fixable, and if The Binary Mill supports the game with a patch, Into Black could easily become a standout in the VR world. If you’re seeing this review after these updates, consider it an 8.5/10. But for now, we’re not there yet.
Into Black
TLDR: Overview
Into Black offers a visually stunning and immersive VR experience with fluid gameplay and engaging audio production, but it’s hampered by repetitive mechanics, shallow puzzles, and occasional technical bugs. It is being With possible updates, it has the potential to become a VR classic, but for now it’s an ambitious game that’s far from being a great game.
Strong Points
Immersive and sophisticated VR mechanics with smooth controls.
Stunning visuals, especially the lighting effects and bioluminescent environments.
Multiple game modes: solo campaign, co-op, and PvPvE add replayability.
Gathering and upgrading resources will give you good progress
Fun weapon variety and satisfying combat mechanics.
Cons
Repetitive puzzles that do not change in difficulty.
Boss fights feel lackluster and bullet-sponge-like.
Numerous bugs and glitches, especially in the second half of the game
Boring resource manufacturing process with no batch options.
Music can become repetitive and fail to enliven important moments
