Spanish indie studio Vertical Robot revealed its second virtual reality (VR) title Red Matter during Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) last year. Today, the studio has announced that the official launch date has been set for 24th May, with pre-orders now available through Oculus Store.
Red Matter is a narrative-driven puzzle experience specifically for Oculus Rift. Set in an alternate future where an ongoing cold war ensues between two superpowers: the Atlantic Union and the People’s Republic of Volgravia, you play Agent Epsilon, an astronaut from the Atlantic Union dispatched to an abandoned base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons. Your mission will be to recover top-secret information concerning research carried out by members of the People’s Republic of Volgravia.
“For this game we wanted to create a distinct, out-of-the-ordinary sci-fi world,” remarks Tatiana Delgado, Vertical Robot co-founder in a statement. “We found inspiration in Soviet space race visual propaganda, because of how bold and iconic those images are. However, we wanted to distance ourselves from reality by creating a dystopian fantasy in which the Cold War is waged between two made-up nations: the Atlantic Union and the People’s Republic of Volgravia.”
To succeed you’ll need to solve puzzles in the highly-detailed yet brutal environment which only becomes more and more surreal as the story progresses. At your disposal are an array of hi-tech tools to decipher hidden messages and mechanisms whilst uncovering ever deepening secrets in the facility.
Vertical Robot has sought to offer players complete freedom of interaction with all objects and the environment in a natural, unrestricted way. To do this, the team decided to feature the Oculus Touch controllers directly inside the videogame world to which different tools can then be wielded. “One of such tools is a set of claws that allow your to interact with the environment in a surprisingly natural and intuitive way, allowing players to grab, inspect, and handle objects and solve puzzles encountered in-game with literally no restrictions,” the team points out.
With the launch taking place in a couple of weeks time pre-orders are open at a slightly discounted rate. Red Matter can be purchased for £22.99 GBP rather than £24.99 up until release. For any further updates on Red Matter, keep reading VRFocus.