Old enough to remember classic videogame Duck Hunt for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) back in the 80s? Well don’t worry if you’re not as Stress Level Zero has released its homage to the title, Duck Season, for Oculus Rift and HTC Vvie today, albeit with a slightly darker twist.
Described by the studio as: “A throwback to the golden age of 1980’s gaming and movies with a hint of horror in a Spielburgian universe.” Duck Season is a wave-based shooter featuring – surprise, surprise – ducks. Armed with your trusty shotgun, it’s up to you to take down these feathered beasts as they mockingly flyby. But all is not as it seems as the developer has included a horror element to the proceedings.
On the Oculus Blog Duck Season’s Director Alex Knoll revealed a little more about the more twisted side of the experience saying: “Adding horror elements came while I was thinking about how even children’s movies of the 1980s had fairly intense moments.
“Most people who have played Duck Hunt still hold a grudge against the dog for all the taunting, but the real anger stems from the player’s inability to actually shoot it. Also, 1980s sci-fi/fantasy/horror movies always seem to have a murderous cryptid terrorizing children via a cursed artifact—with Duck Season, the dog was a natural fit for the antagonist.”
Knoll also mentioned that’s there’s more to Duck Season than just shooting ducks. “Helping push the nostalgic atmosphere, we added the minigames and VHS tapes to expand the player’s choices for taking breaks between rounds of duck hunting and story segments. Certain minigames and tapes only show up after specific hours or when something special has happened in-game.”
You can by Duck Season on Oculus Store or through Steam. For any further updates keep reading VRFocus.