Developer 3rd Eye Studios is working hard on their upcoming virtual reality (VR) title Downward Spiral: Horus Station. Ahead of release VRFocus’ Nina Salomons sat down with Greg Louden, Lead Designer at 3rd Eye Studios for a chance to talk about their upcoming title.
Louden talks about the title as a mystery that is to be discovered rather than told, allowing users to explore the title and uncover the story of the title rather than being spoon-feed. Louden explains in the interview about how the environmental story telling that is accompanied by a stunning soundtrack is how the narrative of the title is delivered, as traditional cutscenes and voice-over are not present. Players will need to explore and witness events throughout the world in order to uncover the full story and piece together what is going on.
3rd Eye Studios released Downward Spiral: Prologue last year as a proof of concept for the Downward Spiral: Horus Station but Louden explains that this release is much bigger featuring eight times the enemies, eight times the weapons and eight chapters. When asked how long the title would take complete Louden said that some testers were taking up to ten hours to finish the title in co-op. Of course, if players speed through then they will likely finish it in less time.
The multiplayer for Downward Spiral: Horus Station will work with Stream VR to allow users to play together. Though cross-platform play is something that Louden comments is something they might explore in the future, it is not a feature at launch. Downward Spiral: Horus Station
Louden also reveals that the team at 3rd Eye Studios would love to build the title into a much larger franchise but will see how the release of Downward Spiral: Horus Station goes. He also commented that their are clues to their future plans found throughout the title and maybe even in the promotional material for the title.
VRFocus’ Editor Kevin Joyce previewed Downward Spiral: Horus Station saying: “3rd Eye Studios is aiming for eight chapters lasting over an hour each, combining puzzle, exploration and combat challenges into a varied space-based VR experience. What was seen in this initial chapter holds promise, but just as Downward Spiral Prologue before it leaves the player wishing for more depth: the mechanics of movement and combat seem disparate from the world, not cohesive in the way that the aforementioned BioShockcleverly made you believe in its world through mise-en-scene.”
For more on Downward Spiral: Horus Station, stay tuned to VRFocus and check out the full interview in the below video.