Today’s PlayStation State of Play broadcast by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) featured several virtual reality (VR) titles, one of which was the now delayed stealth title Espire 1: VR Operative.
Espire 1: VR Operative was due to launch today for PC virtual reality (VR) headsets like HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Valve Index as well as Oculus Quest. But the team issued a statement delaying that release, now stating a ‘Fall 2019’ release window. The reason for this was said to be new issues found which could crash the videogame.
The State of Play broadcast featured the PlayStation VR version still claiming a release date of ‘September 2019’. While great for PlayStation VR owners, what’s unclear at this present time is whether that release window is now out of date or could the PlayStation VR version could arrive before the PC one.
The title is the first virtual reality (VR) experience from Australian team Digital Lode, with Tripwire Interactive (Killing Floor: Incursion) publishing. A stealth experience giving players full control over whether they want to play it sneaky or go in all guns blazing.
As an Espire agent on a top-secret mission, players don’t need to risk their own life anymore, instead dropping into an Espire model 1 robot which can be remotely controlled. This machine offers superhuman abilities to scale heights and leap massive distances to stay ultra-quiet and remain unseen. Of course, if spotted then the unit can take a few hits in a firefight, respawning in a new body if the old one gets destroyed. To make for a comfortable first-person shooter (FPS) Digital Lode has created the ‘Control Theatre’ (seen below).
VRFocus previewed Espire 1: VR Operative back in June 2019 during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), finding that the title: “As a single-player VR experience Espire 1: VR Operative needs two aspects to keep players engrossed, an entertaining storyline and variety of gameplay. VRFocus can’t comment on the former at present. The latter, on the other hand, looks like it has plenty of potential.”
If the release delay does also include the PlayStation VR version – the video probably wasn’t updated in time – then VRFocus will let you know as soon as possible.