Virtual reality (VR) dungeon crawlers like The Mage’s Tale, The Witching Tower, Gates of Nowhere and In Death offer some of the best, and most immersive experiences, transporting players to majestic fantasy worlds they just want to get lost in. If you are a fan of these types of videogames then you may want to keep an eye on Steam Early Access next month, as indie developer The Pixel Mine will be releasing its debut title, The Morrigan.
Sounding like some ancient beastie – the Celtic Queen of the dead as it happens – The Morrigan looks to be more of a playful action-adventure instead of some gruesome journey into the bowls of hell. The role-playing game (RPG) is all about raiding the dungeon of the Morrigan, defeating her legions of the dead using trusty weapons like the sword and shield for when they get too close and a bow for those distance kills.
Looking at the early access trailer The Pixel Mine has released plenty of the gameplay will be physics-based melee combat, with players having to learn the classic basics of block, parry and counters – which most VR gamers should already be well versed in. There will be just over 20 weapons to choose from to perfect your combat moves, and when you’re not fighting there will be puzzles to solve and traps to avoid.
It also seems that the studio has catered for all movement eventualities – which is always welcome – with both smooth locomotion and teleportation options available.
On top of all this The Morrigan does look rather good, doesn’t it? With a cartoon style, cel-shaded aesthetic, the design flits between the rather haunting to the ‘ah doesn’t that skeleton look adorable’.
The Morrigan is scheduled to arrive in March via Steam Early Access, supporting both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. There’s no specific release date just yet, with the studio expecting early access to take around six months. The initial release will feature six levels of the dungeon, with the final version adding more. When The Pixel Mine release further details, VRFocus will keep you up to date on the latest announcements.