Virtual reality (VR) developer Archiact has shown its skills a number of times over the past few years, with the most recent project release being the first-person shooter (FPS) Evasion. Today, the studio has unveiled its latest videogame, taking a somewhat different approach with a single-player experience called FREEDIVER: Triton Down.
As the name suggests, FREEDIVER: Triton Down is very much an underwater adventure, challenging players to stay alive in an environment that’s quite hostile with limited access to air. The story premise is that you play as freediver Ren Tanaka, who must navigate a capsizing research ship, the R.S.V Triton. As the ship sinks and water surges all around you, you need to find a path to the surface, whilst managing your most precious resource, the air in your lungs.
In VR it’s easier to fly around in space than it is to accurately swim in the ocean, so the Archiact team have paid special attention to the way movement is handled in FREEDIVER: Triton Down, with a gesture-driven system that aims to offer intuitive and immersive swimming and diving mechanics. At the same time, the issue of air is always present, affecting every decision you make.
“Immersive games offer players new worlds to inhabit; our games change how players inhabit virtual worlds,” Kurt Busch, studio head at Archiact, said in a statement “FREEDIVER: Triton Down is a focused, intense experience that pulls you under from the first breath, and doesn’t let go until you put the headset down.”
Looking like a classic disaster movie blockbuster, FREEDIVER: Triton Down is scheduled to launch in May, supporting headsets such like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive vis the Oculus Store and Steam, retailing for $8.99 USD.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Archiact creates its own titles such as Evasion, Waddle Home and FREEDIVER: Triton Down as well as publishing titles for other developers, bringing Secret Location’s Blasters of the Universe to PlayStation VR in 2018 for example.
Check out the 360-degree trailer Archiact has created below, and for further details in the run-up to launch including a specific date in May, keep reading VRFocus.