Free ‘Farpoint’ DLC Adds 1v1 Multiplayer Combat & Expanded Weapon Selection, Now Available

Farpoint (2017), PSVR’s bug-shooting showcase for the mightily impressive PS Aim, has had one free expansion so far, the ‘Cryo Pack’, which added additional co-op levels and challenge mode. Now the game has just received its next free DLC in the form of ‘Versus’, an update that greatly expands the game with two different 1v1 multiplayer modes while bumping the game’s weapon roster up from 5 to 20.

Update (12/06/17): Impulse Gear has finally pushed the free update to PSN. which includes two truly game-changing 1v1 modes; deathmatch and a point capture mode called ‘uplink’. Both require players to have PS Plus memberships.

Impulse Gear co-founder Seth Luisi explains the new gameplay modes in a PlayStation blog post announcing the DLC’s release:

“A key part of the gameplay is capturing enemy spawn points. If you capture them the enemies will fight on your side. Each enemy type has a different function and abilities so choosing which one to spawn, and when, is a tactical decision. As an example, Grunt enemies will stay near you and act as body guards. Drones will scan and search for the other player. You can follow them to find out where the other player might be hiding. The Goobers act as artillery, lobbing acid balls down on the enemy player and enemy AI. You can only have a limited number of active allies at one time so you will want to be selective who you summon.”

Original article (10/31/17): The multiplayer mode is offering a few different game modes, including death match and a capture-the-point mode. There’s also a few different maps as well, although it isn’t clear at the time of this writing exactly what those will be. Keep your eyes peeled to the PlayStation blog for more information.

You’d be right to think 1v1 sounds pretty lonely, but Impluse Gear has thrown in map objectives to capture which summon a small army of computer-controlled enemies (the one’s you’re already familiar with from single player mode, yeech) who attack the opposing player for you. This adds a tactical element that a simple 1v1 can’t, and we can’t wait to try it for ourselves.

image courtesy Impulse Gear

When we spoke with the Impulse Gear devs at a special Sony event yesterday, they told us multiplayer mode was the number one feature requested by players—no wonder, considering informal death matches have been going on since the launch of the game back in May.

As for the weapons, the 20 weapons aren’t exactly distinct guns in their own right, as they’re more variants of the 5 original guns found in the game: Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Precision Rifle, Needle Gun, and Plasma Rifle. Simply put, you’ll be able to get your hands on four different Assault Rifles, four different Shotguns, etc, each with their own skins and stats.

There’s no word on exactly when ‘Versus’ will roll out, but we’ll be updating this article as soon as we know.

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‘Doom VFR’ PlayStation Aim Support Isn’t Perfect, but It Is Welcomed

Doom VFR, Id Software’s made-for-VR Doom franchise game, is launching soon on all major VR platforms, including PSVR, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift. PSVR users better dust off their PS Aim controllers from the last time they played Farpoint (2017) though, because Doom VFR is putting its iconic guns in your own two hands.

playing Farpoint with PS Aim

Bethesda, Id Software’s parent company, confirmed with us that the game will support DualShock, PS Move, and PS Aim at a special Sony event yesterday, and gave Road to VR executive editor Ben Lang a chance to go hands-on with the PS Aim integration. Lang says that the newfound ease in two-handed shooting was a clear highlight.

Compared to playing Doom VFR with motion controllers, I quite preferred the feel of the PS Aim controller which brings more intuitive aiming and makes wielding some of the game’s massive two-handed weapons, like the Plasma Rifle, feel far more natural. Holding a weapon like the Plasma Rifle in a single hand hand (with Move controllers) just feels wrong from an immersion standpoint since (in VR) it lacks the mass implied by its form.

Although Lang calls its game engine “well suited from a performance standpoint for Doom’s classic speedy gameplay,” there are a few niggling bits that may take some time to get used to when moving around the virtual hellscape with Aim.

In my time with the game I felt like the supremely awkward control scheme on the PS Aim controller—which equally blends buttons, sticks, head aiming, and controller aiming—prevented me from feeling in tune with the fluid gameplay pace that the developers are trying to build. Sure, more time with the game would make me more capable with the controls, but there’s an immersion penalty for unintuitive interactions in VR, and it felt like a total overhaul of the user interaction design would greatly benefit the game.

To its credit, according to Lang, Doom VFR “looks absolutely gorgeous on PlayStation VR, easily qualifying as one of the system’s best looking titles.”

We first saw Doom VFR at E3 2016 where it was featured alongside Bethesda’s other big release heading to headsets soon, Fallout 4 VR (Skyrim VR was announced a year later). Doom VFR represents Bethesda’s/id’s first made-for-VR title which doesn’t retroactively support VR headsets. The story is a unique addition to Doom (2016) that lets you play as a cybernetic survivor who is activated by the UAC to fight the demon invasion, maintain order, and prevent catastrophic failure at the Mars facility.

Doom VFR is launching December 1st, and we’ll be bringing you our review then, so set your calendars for what promises to be the hottest winter on record.

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CCP to Shelve VR as It Shutters Atlanta Office, Sells Branch Behind ‘EVE: Valkryie’ in Newcastle

According to a report by Icelandic publication MBL, CCP is shelving virtual reality as it closes its Atlanta location and sells its Newcastle office, two important VR branches that produced Sparc (2017) and EVE: Valkyrie (2016). The report contends CCP will be shifting its focus from VR onto PC and mobile games for the foreseeable future.

MBL reports the move will affect about 100 employees of the company, which tallies more than 370 across its Reykjavik, Atlanta, Newcastle, London, and Shanghai offices. Some developers have had the offer to move between offices, although some aren’t so lucky, including long-time CCP Atlanta dev Sigurdur Gunnarsson, who claims he isn’t being relocated.

Some layoffs have even touched the home office in Reykjavik, including the company’s senior PR and social lead ‘CCP Manifest’ and community developer ‘CCP Logibro’.

The Newcastle studio was tasked with creating arguably one of the most successful VR games to date, EVE: Valkyrie, a successful title supporting cross-play on Vive, Rift and PSVR. Valkyrie recently pushed a major update that added traditional monitor support to it’s widely diversified VR platform—somewhat foretelling of today’s news. The space-based arcade dogfighter was one of the most influential VR games from the very beginning, back to the first time we get our hands on an early version at Gamescom 2013, right after the studio changed its name from EVE-VR and committed to releasing it as an actual VR title.

image courtesy CCP Games

The Atlanta studio was best known for Sparc, the PSVR sports game that launched in August. The game has garnered an impressive following on the PSVR platform since launch, although it was actually first intended for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The switch from SteamVR game to PSVR exclusive was a surprise move that left many hypothesizing trouble in paradise.

CCP’s mobile VR game Gunjack (2017) was developed by the Shanghai office, which considering the news, will likely be repurposed for the company’s intentions to create more PC and mobile titles.

Despite this, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson told MBL he hasn’t lost faith in the industry though, saying “[w]e have faith in virtual reality in the long run,” adding that new technology comes in ever-changing waves. Even though Pétursson says VR could offer the company slight growth in the next few years, they want to focus on the markets where they see more opportunities, thereby putting virtual reality on ice. “Virtual reality will eventually change the world,” Pétursson reassures.

It’s uncertain at this time what will become of the company’s VR titles, and whether they will continue to see maintenance, or be left collect dust as consumer headsets march forwards. We’ve reached out to CCP, but haven’t received a reply yet. We’ll update this article as news comes out.

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‘Moss’ to Launch on PSVR in February 2018, Pre-orders Starting Today

Announced today at Paris Games Week, Moss, the insanely charming third-person action-adventure puzzle game from Polyarc, is confirmed to launch on PSVR in February 2018. Pre-orders for the game are starting today.

First revealed at E3 earlier this year, Moss follows a pint-sized hero named Quill, who with her trusty blade and puzzle-solving abilities must make her way through an idyllic forest into somewhere much less forgiving. We got a hands-on back at E3, and it proved to be a highly-polished experience that seemed to offer an engaging story, even though both you, a disembodied observer, and Quill, your faithful pal, don’t actually speak.

Originally intended for holiday 2017 release at around 3 hours of gameplay length, release is now slated for February 2018. Pre-orders are being taken both at PlayStation Store and GameStop for $30. Links to both stores will be active starting today at 12:00 PM PT (your local time).

Polyarc is giving pre-order customers instant access to an exclusive dynamic PlayStation Theme and PlayStation Avatar featuring Moss’s hero Quill and her forest home. European fans pre-ordering Moss will receive their pre-order bonuses at launch this February. You can preview the dynamic theme and avatar on Polyarc’s social channels.

Check out the short gameplay video below to see what Moss is all about.

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Sony Offers More ‘London Heist’-style Cockney Carnage in ‘Blood & Truth’, Teaser Trailer Here

Paris Games Week hasn’t officially started yet, but Sony’s pre-PGW keynote saw a number of announcements including Sony London Studio’s spiritual continuation of the highly popular (and all too short) The London Heist, a demo in the VR Worlds demo disc that came along with many PSVR headsets.

Called Blood & Truth, not much is known about the game besides what we’ve seen in the trailer. Like The London Heist, it looks to be heavy on the gunplay, a bit lighter on elements like lock-picking, setting time bombs, and engaging in quick narrative elements like smack talking a sleazy club owner—all of course with the Guy Ritchie-style Cockney swagger that fans have craved ever since playing The London Heist the first time around.

According to the developers, the game will be far beyond the length of a demo. In the game, you can move, dual-wield, reload, plant C4, crawl through vents, and do almost anything you would in an action movie, says Design Director Iain Wright.

There’s only one location for now, although Director Stuart Whyte say there’s “a load more levels to showcase the glamour and grit of modern day London. We’re just scratching the surface of what we’ve got and what we’re working on behind the scenes, and there’s definitely more to come in the future.”

There’s still no release date yet, but we’ll be following Blood & Truth closely in the coming months to see if it truly holds up to the promise of The London Heist, or becomes a glorified shooting gallery like so many others.

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Paris Games Week: ‘Sprint Vector’, ‘Ultrawings’, & ‘Dead Hungry’ Coming to PSVR

Paris Games Week saw the announcement of two newly revealed games for PSVR, and among the rash of PS4 trailers comes the news that Ultrawings, Sprint Vector, and Dead Hungry are all making their way across the aisle to PSVR.

Bit Planet’s Ultrawings is an aerial-themed, open-world game where you’ll pilot multiple aircraft to complete a variety of missions across an island-themed world. Ultrawings currently holds a [9/10] on Steam for its HTC Vive and Oculus Rift version.

Sprint Vector from Survios, the developers behind Raw Data (2017), are bringing their foot-racing game to PSVR too alongside the Rift and HTC Vive version. The locomotion scheme is brilliant, and offers a nausea-free, fast-paced experience. Check out our latest hands-on here.

Dead Hungry from Q-Games is also headed to PSVR, which as a low-poly game makes a lot of sense. It’s done well on both Rift and Vive, and we’d expect the same out of the fast-paced action game that works a bit like Root Beer Tapper (1983) except with a much more complicated order and, you know… with zombies.


This news is breaking. Check back for more updates soon.

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Newly Revealed PSVR Titles ‘Megalith’ & ‘Bow to Blood’ Coming in 2018, Teaser Trailers Here

Paris Games Week is starting on November 1st, but Sony’s pre-PGW keynote has seen the announcement of two all new PSVR titles today heading to headsets in 2018: Megalith, a hero shooter, and Bow to Blood an airship battle game.

Megalith comes from Disruptive Games, and promises to let you inhabit the body of a Titan on his way to godhood. Destructible environments combined with the game’s ‘free locomotion’ scheme (assuming ‘free’ means you’ll be able to move without teleportation), makes it an interesting entry. It’s unclear if Aim support will be added, but we’ll be keeping our eyes out for any updates as they come in. Check out the trailer below.

Piloting a high-tech airship, Bow to Blood from Tribetoy puts you in a sort of Reality TV show where you can both betray and make allies in a procedurally generated world. You battle other ships by controlling a console. It’s unclear if it will also allow co-op, although we can see two more consoles in the trailer itself, suggesting it will be a multiplayer game.


This news is breaking. We’ll be updating as news comes in.

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Pimax Kickstarter Nears $3.5M With Less Than a Week Left, Free Eye-tracking Module Unlocked

Pimax’s Kickstarter has passed the $3 million mark over the weekend, bringing them to $3.2 million and unlocking free eye-tracking module for every one of their backers who chose a VR headset funding tier.

According to an update posted to the Pimax Kickstarter page, all backers will get a free eye-tracking module as a part of the $3 million stretch goal. The company says the special eye-tracking module will be shipped separately from the headset at a later date.

Pimax first unveiled its ‘next-gen’ attachable accessories at the start of their campaign, including an additional facial interface, a moisture controlling fan, prescription glasses frame, headband with integrated audio, wireless transmitter for cable-free operation, and now modular eye-tracking. All except the ‘scent module’ shown in the announcement video is accounted for in the stretch goal gifts to backers (wireless transmitter is offered at a $100 discount for backers). The company says it will make all modules, including the scent module, available on its website.

Although not a part of a stretch goal, Pimax says adding $100 to your pledge will also get an attachable hand-motion module. No further stretch goals are being offered in the campaign.

All of these accessories could be the focus of a Kickstarter campaign in their own right, so if Pimax can pull it off, it’ll be an incredible feat for a relatively unknown China-based manufacturer who still hasn’t reported additional funding from outside sources. Having recently passed Oculus’ original Kickstarter campaign, and now all VR-focused campaigns on Kickstarter, Pimax’s ability to deliver everything it’s promised will make it either one of the biggest success stories in Kickstarter history, or a cautionary tale on not overpromising and underdelivering.

image courtesy Pimax

The company says the “5K”/”8K”/”8K” X versions delivered to backers will indeed be the final, consumer version.

Although Pimax calls their headsets “8K” and “5K”, they actually respectively feature dual 3,840 × 2,160 LCD panels and dual 2,560 × 1,440 LCD panels. The standard “8K” headset also actually upscales a 4K signal to 8K, hence the “8K” in quotation marks. An “8K” X is also on offer that removes the upscaler, and making it capable of accept 8K input, but the headset’s effective per-eye 4K resolution remains the same. Questionable marketing aside, these display resolutions are quite a bit higher than Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, which both offer dual 1080 × 1200 OLED displays.

The earliest window of shipment is due in January 2018, with the bulk of backers slated to receive headsets in February. We’ll be following Pimax in the coming months as they finalize the headsets.

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‘Morgan Lives in a Rocket House’ Offers a Peek into a Kid-friendly VR Future

You have a minor infestation of tiny people in your house. They don’t pay rent, they don’t like to brush their teeth, and they always want to use your stuff—the most important of which is your VR headset (even if they technically aren’t supposed to).

Nowadays you’re sooner to park your rugrat in front of a TV or iPad than give carte blanche with your precious VR headset, but as headset prices go down and the technology becomes more suited to the brains of little ones, this will invariably change. Despite some niggling issues with suitability for tiny developing brains in current gen headsets, kid-focused VR content is coming.

A forerunner to the trend: Morgan Lives in a Rocket HouseAs a CGI cartoon created for flatscreens, you follow Morgan, a kid marooned on an alien planet light years from Earth. Along with a cast of characters, you get to watch Morgan play and learn in the happy little village his ship crashed into many years ago—the sort of setup like Peppa Pig and Dora the Explorer that kids seem to love. Virtual reality versions of these cartoons, like the upcoming VR episode of Morgan Lives in a Rocket House in VR, may be what kids clamor for in the near future for good reason: it gets them paying attention to the magic of the world present all around them, and doesn’t just leave them immobile and dead-eyed sitting in front of a TV.

Created by Peter Monga, a New Zealand-based indie dev, Morgan Lives in a Rocket House in VR is the first VR episode in the series. At only 4 minutes-long, it’s more of a proof of concept, but it gives us a peek into the future of a kid-focused genre that hasn’t seen much attention until now; preschool entertainment.

Morgan Lives in a Rocket House in VR is launching November 3rd on Steam for free.

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Where are the VR kids’ shows?

There’s a few reasons why kid-focused VR content hasn’t popped up en masse since the launch of consumer VR in 2016. Besides the fact that VR headsets are simply too expensive to buy for small children and are designed for adult head-sizes (jammy fingers don’t help), the current generation of VR doesn’t replicate the exact way reality appears to the unaided observer. Because current gen headsets don’t give the user all of the same depth cues reality does, causing a phenomenon called vergence accommodation conflict, only sufficiency-formed human brains need apply—that’s the hypothesis anyway.

image courtesy Oculus

While technologies like foveated rendering are set to change this in the near future, giving a more ‘correct’ photon-to-eyeball experience, current gen headsets like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PSVR are staying on the safe side. Samsung and Oculus have a 13+ age rating for both Gear VR and Rift, and Sony maintains the PSVR “is not for use by children under age 12.” HTC hasn’t set a specific age limit, but offers warning about ‘young children’ using the headset.

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Admittedly there’s a lack of hard evidence that the headsets’ inability to replicate reality’s focus cues will necessarily do harm. Digital Trends spoke to Martin Banks, a Professor of Optometry, Vision Science, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the University of California at Berkeley to understand more on the subject:

“So far I’ve seen no so-called smoking gun, no concrete evidence that a child of a certain age was somehow adversely affected by wearing a VR headset,” said Banks. “My guess is that all they’re doing is saying that kids are developing and development slows down when they reach adolescence, and so lets just play it safe and say that while these kids are undergoing significant development, we’ll advise people not to let them use it.”

While parents should definitely take caution when throwing the quickly-developing brain of a young one into the current gen of VR, we can’t help but highlight the short and sweet Morgan Lives in a Rocket House in VR as it shows incredible promise to deliver entertaining stories and even a lesson or two from within VR, much like the award-winning Henry (2017)As creators like Monga further test the digital waters with their kid-focused content, it’s remains clear that VR for kids is coming, and it’s going to transport your kids to another dimension sometime soon.

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Where & When to Watch Sony’s Keynote @ Paris Games Week, Announcing New PSVR Titles

Paris Games Week (PGW) is just about to kick off, starting officially November 1st and lasting until November 5th. Sony is announcing a few new games ahead of time at their annual pre-PGW keynote though, which they say will include 7 titles spanning PS4 and PSVR. Watch the keynote here starting today at 8AM PDT (your local time here).

Sony announced on their US blog that the livestream will see 21 game updates, and 7 “all-new game announcements” for PS4 and PSVR.

Afterwards, the Sony Media Showcase promises to give you “an exclusive new look at the next wave of huge PlayStation titles.”

Check it out below, starting at 8AM PDT, October 30th. Sony is also streaming live on live.playstation.comYouTube, and Facebook.

Watch live video from PlayStation on www.twitch.tv

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