Codemasters and EA revealed its next official video game of the Formula One World Championship, F1 24, which includes VR support when it launched on PC next month.
Coming to consoles and PC on May 31st, F1 24 is set to launch with PC VR support, letting you race down digital versions of real-world F1 tracks.
In comparison to previous F1 titles in the series, Codemasters says F1 24 includes “[a]ll-new suspension kinematics, an upgraded tyre model, advanced aerodynamic simulation, and new engine and car setup options enhance the driving experience.”
“All driving aspects are improved with cornering, rolling resistance, brake pressure, ambient track temperature, and variable conditions enabling drivers to receive immediate feedback to maximise their on-track performance,” the studio says on the game’s Steam page.
“Our biggest Career innovation since 2016 delivers more of what our players want with greater variety away from the track. Alongside new handling and Career innovations, updated circuits, new audio, and a refreshed broadcast presentation give players the feeling of being closer to the grid,” said Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director.
The game’s VR mode will be exclusive to PC, the studio says. If it’s anything like the prior F1 23 (2023), racing fans are in for another gripping driving experience in VR, as the entire game is playable from within the headset.
There will be two versions of the game in pre-order right now, a Standard Edition ($70) and the Championship Edition ($90), which features a number of extras, including stuff like more in-game currency and more liveries to show off on track.
SOUL COVENANT is an action RPG from the core members who brought you the SOUL SACRIFICE series. While the game does a few things to translate the franchises’s melee combat and giant monsters into a VR-native experience, adherence to the series’ repetitive wave-based missions and clunky narrative style takes it one step too many from feeling like a fresh and modern immersive experience.
SOUL COVENANT Details:
Available On: Quest 2/3/Pro, SteamVR, PSVR 2 Reviewed On: Quest 3, Quest 3 via Link Release Date: April 18th, 2024 Price: $40 Developer: Thirdverse
Gameplay
An artificial intelligence has taken over humanity. The few humans left to oppose it fight with their lives, or in your case, with a clone-like avatar that lets you live, die, and repeat. Hosting up to four players in co-op mode, you take on the game chapter-by-chapter either alone or together to defeat the evil AI ‘Adam’, who assumes the role of a wrathful god and tosses out a ton of weird and wild bosses.
That’s about as much of the story as you’ll really need, since the game’s narrative structure and dialogue make it feel like a chore to digest, rather than something that draws you in to binge multiple missions in one sitting. And I’m not blaming it on the translation from the game’s native Japanese either, which feels like an accurate reflection of the source material. More on that in the Immersion section below.
Image courtesy Thirdverse
At first, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why SOUL COVENANT left me feeling so bored. Why didn’t I want to binge this anime-inspired sci-fi fantasy, which is totally up my alley?
On paper, the game has a lot going for it. It has a cool array of giant fantasy melee weapons that are doled out as you move up the ranks through the story, a points-based upgrade system that lets you beef up both your character and your giant weapons, and it’s all set in an anime-esque world teeming with inventive and awesome-looking enemies, which are an absolute visual treat on PC, less so on Quest. After an hour or so past the tutorial level though, it was pretty clear: the tutorial never really ends, and the game never really gets any better.
Image courtesy Thirdverse
Some of this comes down to SOUL COVENANT’s reliance on a system that is fairly emblematic of its overarching, obsessively-regimented structure, which leaves basically no surprises for the player to uncover.
Every level is housed in a menu folder and sub-folder designation, which contains a ‘story-combat sandwich’. You get a little story, you get a battle, then you get a little story again until the next subfolder opens up so you can rinse and repeat. Nice and neat.
Image captured by Road to VR
While the system is helpful for teaming up with other players and allows you to seamlessly transition from the multiplayer ‘Limbo’ lobby to the action at any moment, playing through the six-hour campaign can feel overly regimented. I played mostly alone, but waited until post-launch to get in a few multiplayer sessions to see if that changed my opinion. It didn’t.
Still, all of this is layered on top of missions that feel so samey that, even if you can look past some pretty lackluster combat (more below), level objectives and maps repeat with so little variation that you begin to wonder why you’re even playing in the first place. If not for the story, then surely, the combat? Right? Right?!?
Image courtesy Thirdverse
For a melee-based VR game from 2024, the nuts and bolts of the game feels painfully and unintentionally retro, essentially forcing the player to frantically wave a giant buster sword at randomly spawning waves of baddies, or at a giant boss’s highlighted weak spot with little care for tactics or even some sort of narrative payoff in the end.
Immersion
Besides its heavy-handed level structure, one of the things that could have enhanced SOUL COVENANT was its story, which makes absolutely zero effort to sweep you up to discover what’s at stake, who the characters are, and why you should care at all.
Rather, the game prefers to lay out everything logically, like you might in a Power Point presentation about a storyinstead of how a first-person narrative-driven experience ought to—with voiced characters that act out and reveal important plot points at unexpected and natural intervals. Cutscenes are typically just 2D images flashed in front of you, and dialogue is so painfully repetitious that you’ll pretty soon figure out where the ‘skip’ button is to get past the bland and terrible shit.
Image captured by Road to VR
What worries me more is that may have even been the objective all along: provide such a forgettable and skippable story that you and other online players only show up for the combat missions. I would hope not, because there’s a lot of space to tell a gripping 2D, manga-style, cell-based tale if the studio wanted, but didn’t.
And I could look that if it were in service of fun and immersive combat, but that simply isn’t the case. Despite their giant sizes, the game’s weapons have no weight, which effectively lets you waggle your controllers around at the equally transient enemies for what feels like undeserved results once they collapse and give you in-game currency, called ‘MONADS’.
Image courtesy Thirdverse
That’s a shame, because the weapons, which are made out of the bones of your fallen comrades, look awesome, and all provide a cool secondary two-handed mode, which usually improves stuff like reach or kickback effects, offering a smartly-balanced drawback of not letting you use your free hand to activate a temporary shield.
Unfortunately the Quest version of the game has a very noticeable hit in visual quality over the PC version, both of which I tested in preparation for this review. Textures on Quest are fairly dull, and do a lot to reduce the visual richness seen on PC. This is a notable change of pace, as PC VR players are long used to games being more or less ported directly from Quest, and not the other way around.
Comfort
Besides having the ability to jump high into the air and dash around the map, SOUL COVENANT is a very comfortable game, providing a good assortment of VR comfort options to keep most people feeling at ease with the game’s constant stick-based movement.
‘SOUL COVENANT’ Comfort Settings – April 18th, 2024
Turning
Artificial turning
Snap-turn
Quick-turn
Smooth-turn
Movement
Artificial movement
Teleport-move
Dash-move
Smooth-move
Blinders
Head-based
Controller-based
Swappable movement hand
Posture
Standing mode
Seated mode
Artificial crouch
Real crouch
Accessibility
Subtitles
Languages
Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Rust-inspired VR multiplayer survival game 'Strayed' reaches Quest App Lab and Steam Early Access today.
Developed by Crustacean Interactive, Strayed takes place on a procedurally generated island where you begin with a rock and torch. Featuring base building, crafting and loot gathering, Strayed supports dedicated servers for a maximum of 100 concurrent players with weekly wipes. There's also PvP combat with guns and melee weapons where you can defend against raids or take the fight to others.
According to the Steam FAQ, Strayed will remain in early access for "approximately one year," and the launch build includes all of the game's main features. Crustacean Interactive states that during the early access period, they will use onboard feedback to improve the core gameplay. Additional content like new areas, weapons, animals, vehicles and more are also planned.
Strayed is available today on the Meta Quest platform and Steam today for $19.99. Pico 4 and PSVR 2 versions are planned "by the end of 2024," and you can learn more through the early access roadmap.
These represent significant discounts of more than 50% compared to the original pricing. The price of these accessories had already been cut, though far less drastically, from January 1 this year.
This new accessory pricing is being announced less than a month after the company cut the headset itself to just $200, it's lowest price ever, and two months after 256GB model went out of stock across the Meta Store and retailers. It remains unavailable.
This Is A Clearance Sale
Meta's continued cuts to Quest 2's headset and accessory pricing, alongside the disappearance of the 256GB model, strongly suggest the headset is nearing the end of its time on the market.
As it stands, if Quest 2 was off the market the entry price for Meta's VR platform would become $500, the 128GB model of Quest 3. But there's strong evidence that Meta plans to introduce a cheaper headset to directly replace Quest 2, a headset rumored to be called "Quest 3 Lite" or "Quest 3S".
A Meta hardware roadmap meeting leaked to The Verge in March last year revealed the company planned to release a new headset after Quest 3 in 2024 "at the most attractive price point in the VR consumer market".
Highly speculative render of rumored Quest 3 Lite by XRCarlos for UploadVR.
XR2 Gen 2 has a more than twice as powerful GPU, which some developers are already using to deliver much better graphics.
It seems likely that Quest 2 headset and accessory price cuts are in fact clearance sales, and have already successfully cleared stock of the 256GB model. But how long will it take for the 128GB stock and official accessories to deplete too, and will the cheaper alternative to Quest 3 soon follow?
Well today the company confirmed that the discount on both Quest 2 and its accessories is permanent going forward. While Quest 2 (128GB) got a nice discount from $250 to $200, a handful of accessories got a massive 50% cut. Here’s the breakdown:
These Quest 2 accessory discounts finally bring the company’s official accessories much more in-line with third-party offerings.
But the question remains, is this a fire sale?
While Quest 2 (128GB) has been easy to find, stock of the Quest 2 (256GB) model has been seemingly wavering in recent months. And with such a low price for Quest 2 (128GB) and accessories—now confirmed permanent—it certainly feels like Meta is trying to offload stock.
Quest 2 is almost four years old now, and while it’s certainly a great value for anyone wanting to test the VR waters, rumors have been swirling that Meta could be working on something like a ‘Quest 3 Lite’ headset which would be a lower cost version of the company’s current flagship device. If it seems like Meta is trying to rush Quest 2 stock out of the warehouses, this could be why.
Umurangi Generation VR offers a compelling post-apocalyptic photography sim that shines in its environmental storytelling. Read on for our full thoughts:
What would you do if the world was ending all around you? I don't think anyone can truly answer that. The more realistic outcome doesn't bear thinking about, though it's a hypothetical question you've probably contemplated at least once or twice, maybe imagining yourself as the hero of some unlikely tale that ultimately overcomes the odds. Umurangi Generation VR takes a different approach.
Developed by Origame Digital, Umurangi Generation is a post-apocalyptic sandbox photography sim that launched for flatscreen platforms in 2020. Influenced by Māori culture and Neon Genesis Evangelion, it transports you to Tauranga, Aotearoa. We find the world recently attacked by alien invaders as the United Nations rallies soldiers to resist this kaiju-sized threat.
Your job isn't to fix this insurmountable problem. As a courier, each mission involves taking photos that meet some oddly specific criteria. For example, one photo might require capturing ten solar panels, while another may require four tires and two boomboxes with a particular lens. Bonus objectives extend this further, like snapping a group photo of your friends.
Better-quality shots earn more money, and once you've cleared every objective, you can send the package off and move on to your next mission. However, I sometimes found the game didn't register when I completed an objective. On one occasion, I couldn't clear an objective that mentioned snapping the word 'Cops' in a shot after ten attempts, though moving to a different graffitied message with that word instantly registered.
Handling your camera feels perfectly adapted for motion controls, though the minor platforming during exploration remains rather janky. I also appreciate how Umurangi Generation VR lets you get creative by adjusting the photo's exposure, color balance, contrast, and more. Some settings and camera lenses unlock as you progress through the main story, creating a nice incentive to replay those missions again, and there's no limit on how many photos you can take.
Umurangi Generation VR - PSVR 2 screenshot
This isn't a story told through cutscenes or a more traditional narrative. Umurangi Generation VR relies exclusively on environmental storytelling that gradually becomes more explicit. Whether that's NPCs gathered around a memorial, graffitied UN recruitment posters, or the level set entirely on an evacuation train, it's a relevant reflection on the modern world that remains compelling four years on.
Umurangi Generation VR effectively conveys a sense of hopelessness that many of us feel, the thought that our situations won't ever improve no matter what we do. The game doesn't pretend to offer solutions for these problems but it does arm you with a spray can for optional graffiti, letting you creatively express your frustrations and leave your mark. Combined with the unambiguous political messaging, there's defiant tone that immediately resonated with me.
I recently said that VR can further enhance flatscreen games, which rings true again with Umurangi Generation. The environmental storytelling approach plays to VR's immersive strengths, and traveling through Aotearoa feels even more impactful in a headset, even with the game's strong but low-poly visual presentation.
Umurangi Generation VR - PSVR 2 screenshot
There's a good range of comfort settings, too. Umurangi Generation VR supports artificial stick-based locomotion and teleportation movement. Snap and smooth camera turning are present with adjustable angles and speed. Vignettes are also available and you can adjust your movement speed. Even with minimal comfort settings, I found this world easy to explore.
It's a relatively short game; the main campaign only takes 2-3 hours to complete, though the VR version bundles in the Macro DLC levels to extend this further. However, Umurangi Generation VR quickly makes its mark with a compelling story. Four years later, it's themes feel even more impactful thanks to VR and I'd consider this the definitive way to play.
OhShape Ultimate gets a free fitness-oriented album today, and the PSVR 2 port will soon follow.
Over a year after the OhShape Ultimate revamp, Odders Lab confirms it's preparing for the upcoming fifth anniversary of the VR rhythm game inspired by Japan's 'Hole in the Wall' TV show. Calling this the 'Power Up' album, today's update promises a full-body cardio workout with six new sessions across two difficulty levels. The Steam version also receives the Ultimate update today.
0:00
/0:10
Power Up marks the latest in OhShape's numerous post-launch updates, such as a new difficulty level and party mode. Following the Ultimate update last year on Quest and Pico, a mixed reality mode followed when Quest 3 launched. No specific details were provided about the PSVR 2 version other than it's coming "later this month." We'll update this article when we learn more.
We praised OhShape in our 2020 review, considering it “a more instant, accessible iteration” of rhythm VR gaming.
It’s a smart, straight, no-nonsense rhythm game with an energetic core mechanic and plenty of options to tailor the experience to your liking. There’s a few presentation hiccups and the initial track list could be more inspiring, but these are minor and very fixable issues. If you’re growing tired of slashing or shooting beats in VR, then you should definitely try throwing some shapes here instead.
OhShape Ultimate is available now on the Meta Quest platform, Pico and Steam, while the PlayStation VR2 version will arrive later this month.
