Bulletstorm VR gets hefty patch following broken launch

Making good on their word, People Can Fly and Incuvo have released a rather chunky patch for Bulletstorm VR on PlayStation VR2 and Steam VR. This follows an earlier update on Meta Quest sets, which took aim at crashes and more.

Bulletstorm VR had a broken release earlier this year, with players complaining about the port’s botched physics and censorship, among other issues. Back in January, the team subsequently said it was “committed to improving the quality” of its release, and would be prioritising fixes based on their severity.

This new patch will provide fixes for multiple crashes and bugs, as well as improving the AI on select enemies. Other quality of life improvements, such as holding down the trigger to automatically skip a cinematic, have also been added.

You can read the full notes for this PlayStation VR 2 and Steam VR patch below:

Key Fixes

• Fixes for multiple crashes covering a wide range of scenarios.
• Added Enhanced VFX (Leash, Explosions, Peacemaker Carbine Muzzleflash and Firing)
• Fixed instances where loading screens appear as a black screen
• Fixed a rare crash connected with changing languages multiple times with specific inputs.
• Fixed location where players die and respawn under the train moving train platform.
• Fixed a common crash caused by repeated reloads with the Headhunter.
• Fixed a bug where Boneduster charged shot did no damage to Vultures.
• Enemies hit by flail gun are now correctly stunned and unable to move/find cover.

Optimisation and Quality of Life Improvements

• Additional optimisation on loading screens and game HUD.
• Holding down the trigger when entering a cinematic will automatically skip it.
• Fixed the ammunition port on the Bouncer weapon to no longer be off-center.
• Fixed the Charged Shot VFX on the Headhunter.
• Fixed a culling volume in the bomb room in Act 4-2 that made parts of the level disappear too early.
• Smashing bottles now counts against collectibles found.

AI

• Improved AI on Driller Miniboss
• Fixed unresponsive AI in the Act 2-1 boss fight

Sound/Music

• Removed secondary background music in the game’s credits
• Added missing sound effects to Ishi walking

The Bulletstorm VR team said other issues will be addressed in future patches, which will be released across all platforms in “the coming weeks”. Current known issues include rare cases of the player getting locked behind an elevator after kicking it at an unusual angle and explosions that don’t trigger sound effects.

People Can Fly and Incuvo hope these patches will ultimately “give players a thrilling, kick-ass virtual reality Bulletstorm experience they’ll enjoy playing for years to come”.

Eurogamer’s VR aficionado Ian Higton took Bulletstorm VR out for a spin on release, and he was left pretty disappointed by the whole thing, calling it sloppy.

“It really is quite shocking how bad the VR version of Bulletstorm is,” he wrote. “Bulletstorm deserves better and, even though I really do appreciate the fact that this was done in the first place, we as VR fans deserve better than this too.” You can see Ian playing Bulletstorm VR in the video above.