Dinosaur fans are in for a treat over the next couple of months as two big dino filled titles are coming to virtual reality (VR) headsets. For those that want a part action, part educational experience Snail Games’ ARK Park will be released next month. For a purely action oriented adventure, CloudGate Studio has confirmed that Island 359 will be leaving Early Access next Monday, 26th February, 2018.
As part of next weeks launch, CloudGate Studio will be introducing a new survival mode that aims to truly test your skills on a huge six square mile jungle island, teeming with hungry dinosaurs. Dropped in alone, you’ll have barely any gear and there won’t be any of the loot drops from the main campaign to rely on. You need to venture out into the dangerous jungle to look for supplies, encountering raptors, T-Rex’s and more. Then it’s all about finding a safe place to camp as it gets even more dangerous at night.
Survival Mode means not only choosing strategically sound weapons but also what can be carried in the backpack. Players will need to hoard crafting supplies, and head to one of the numerous crafting tables on the island to create even better tools, weapons or food. The military grade holographic smartwatch will help players monitor their stamina and health, resting in found beds or pitching their tent, as well as managing hunger through both man-made and naturally found consumables.
CloudGate Studio released Island 359 back in August 2016 via Steam Early Access for HTC Vive, adding support for OCulus Rift and Oculus Touch the following year. When VRFocus previewed the title for Oculus Rift we said: “Island 359 is shaping up to be one of the best first-person shooters (FPS) available on any headset.”
Since then, the studio has added plenty of updates including an experiment with full body tracking using Vive Trackers. Next weeks release will included a Virtual Self in Survival Mode, allowing players to see their entire body in VR, and have their VR avatar move like they do. Virtual Self works for both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, expandable on HTC Vive with the addition of the Vive Trackers for even better body tracking.
Island 359 will launch out of Early Access on Steam, Humble, and Oculus Home on 26th February for $24.99 – there will be a 20% launch sale dropping the price down to $19.99. For any further updates keep reading VRFocus.