Sports titles in virtual reality (VR) have proven to be very popular, especially if they have a strong multiplayer element to them. Last year indie developer One Hamsa launched a futuristic, tennis style experience called Racket: Nx for HTC Vive, subsequently bringing the experience to Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets for cross platform gameplay. Now the team has revealed its on course for a full release in July.
Featuring both single-player and co-op, PvP multiplayer, Racket: Nx is a frantic, point scoring experience inside a 360-degree dome. Players have to hit different coloured wall panels to accumulate enough points to progress to the next stage when playing solo, or score enough to beat their opponent in multiplayer.
While the Steam Early Access time has seen plenty of additions, the main gameplay modes have remained the same throughout; two single-player modes (campaign and endless play) as well as competitive multiplayer (online and local). The final build will include even more features including dozens of new handcrafted levels, an extensive powerup system, new tile types, environments and more.
Due to Racket: Nx’s gameplay, decent spatial audio is a must to keep track of the ball. To do this the Racket: Nx team partnered with global audio brand Waves to use their Nx spatial audio technology, allowing for high quality realtime positional audio simulation, not only aiding players immersion but also allowing them to rely on their ears as well as their eyes to tell them what’s where.
Featuring an original soundtrack which includes popular Progressive Trance artists such as Mr Bill, Electrypnose and Digicult, Racket: Nx will continue to offer full cross-platform compatibility between HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
Currently One Hamsa and publisher Keshet International Gaming have given a launch window of July 2018. When the teams specify a concrete released date for Racket: Nx, VRFocus will let you know.