Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
4A Games has revealed Arktika 1, a new post-apocalyptic first-person shooter built for the new Oculus Touch controllers. It takes place a century into the future during a new ice age caused by something described as a "silent apocalypse."
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The Oculus Connect 3 event is in its second day but today has seen the main event, the keynote address, featuring Oculus’ CEO Brendan Iribe and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. There’s been lots of new announcements revealed and the keynote has now got to the Oculus Touch motion controllers. While lots of videogames have been previously revealed for the device now Oculus has debuted one that hasn’t been seen, Arktika.1.
Arktika.1 comes from the same developers behind Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, 4A Games. Just as those previous titles featured a post-apocalyptic world so does Arktika.1.
In fact the videogame looks to be a spiritual successor to Metro, with the video below taking place underground in subways and stations. In here there are monster aplenty, not just flesh and bone but mechanical as well.
Arktika.1 is a first-person shooter (FPS) that combines duel wielding with horror. So far guns showcased on the trailer include pistols, revolves and sci-fi weaponry.
With Oculus Connect 3 continuing tomorrow, VRFocus will be learning more about Arktika.1 so stay tuned for further details.
Today at Oculus Connect 3, 4A Games publicly debuted their first VR FPS title for Oculus Touch, titled Arktika.1. Previously, they had teased the game leading up to the reveal and was met with anticipation, as the high quality assets, as well as their elevated pedigree with the Metro series, were evidence enough. Today we finally know what that title is, and I’ve had the opportunity to give the demo a shot. Needless to say, it was an impressively rendered experience with high quality art rarely seen in current VR games, but let’s dive into what buttons it really pushed (and those it might not have).
First of all, this game will cater to those who crave high-tech firearms. The best thing I can say about the whole experience is that I wanted nothing but to Touch and experience the tactility of my guns, pun intended. This is credited to the studio’s extremely high attention to detail in the art assets, and the physicality that they provide in VR.
Unlike most other experiences I’ve tried, this one really made me want to toy with all the knobs, switches, and other tiny mechanisms seen on the weapons you wield. That may also have to do with how they let you customize your loadout.
In the demo, I was given the ability to choose two different guns to take with me on a mission, from a selection before me, but beyond that, I could change what color I wanted the guns to be, and what attachments I wanted to put on them, like flashlights and digital scopes. I took a good amount of time investigating each and every gun, seeing what they looked like and how they operated, but sadly had to move on.
Of course, that was also the part where I got to test out the guns on a shooting range in-game. The feel of the weapons as they shot, the strong haptics induced in the Touch controllers, and the quality of the sounds, were all satisfying, not to mention the look of the projectiles and the trails in the air left by them. All of this contributed to the high quality AAA feel of the game. Out of the assortment, I picked what looked like a revolver that shot a scattering of bullets made of pure energy, and a handgun that also scattered but with what seemed to be green projectiles leaving light distorting streaks in the air.
The essential gun mechanics and handling were pretty simple however. After choosing which two guns I wanted to bring, I could holster them beside my waist. With the revolver, I only had to flick my wrist lightly and I could reload, similar to the double barreled shotgun in Hover Junkers. With the other handgun, I simply had to tap it to on my holster to reload. This kind of system would prove fitting for the fast FPS action in the mission to unfold. In addition, in the middle of the demo, I got access to a gun which had curving projectiles that could seek enemies behind corners, which added a twist on the gameplay. We could probably expect more interesting mechanics like that in the full game, as they’re planning for a wide array of weapons and customizations. In addition, they plan for a lengthy campaign, on par with what can be expected from most of their other games.
However, while it did feel smooth, some the action was not terribly novel. The plans for a lengthy campaign, driven by traveling through different levels, like in one of their Metro titles, might be one of the rarer occurrences in VR specific games. But a common occurrence in many of today’s VR first person shooters is teleportation on fixed points, and that’s the system of locomotion this game uses. They chose this system to prevent motion sickness in all users, and while it does work, some people dislike how sudden teleportation feels, even if there is a reason provided by the game about why you’re able to teleport, which this one seems to do in some way (it’s provided by futuristic technology). Otherwise, the gameplay was solid, encouraging physically squatting with your own body to duck behind cover, or teleporting somewhere to flank the enemy, while also leaning to fire from cover. It felt similar to Dead & Buried, except you’re able to teleport to different points whenever you want.
Overall, even if there are some potential caveats or limitations, Arktika.1 is shaping up to be a gem in the early days of VR gaming, bringing AAA production values to the table. But this is only one of the impressive new VR FPS reveals at Oculus Connect 3, standing beside Lone Echo by Ready at Dawn, and Robo Recall by Epic Games. We’ll continue covering the event and bringing the latest on all that’s new.
The post Hands-on: ‘Arktika.1′ is a Sci-Fi Gun Fanatic’s VR Dream appeared first on Road to VR.
The mysterious virtual reality title that has been teased by the acclaimed Ukrainian studio 4A games has finally ben revealed. Arktika.1 is the name of the game and it is a apocalyptic shooter for the upcoming Oculus Touch Platform.
I know this elevator is going to be scary. I know that the second I walk into it a swarm of deformed, mutated, cannibals are going to do everything in their power to break through the steel grates and devour me alive. Lucky for me, I came prepared.
I reach behind my back with each hand and pull out the laser pistol and shotgun holstered on each shoulder blade. With a deep breath I gather my courage and enter the rickety elevator. I pull the lever that will take me up towards the surface and prepare myself for the worst. What happens next consists of me screaming like a goat in the mid-2000’s.
The cause of my distress is Arktika.1, the long-awaited virtual reality video game from renowned Ukrainian developer 4A Games. The studio finally pulled back the curtain on this mysterious title in the press room at Oculus Connect 3 and the results are nothing short of astounding.
Arktika.1 puts you in the shoes of a well-armed mercenary tasked with defending and supporting your small group of survivors in what’s left of a once prosperous city. The title is being built specifically for Oculus’ new Touch platform and will be released exclusively for the Rift headset, according to the game’s executive producer, Jon Bloch. Bloch explained that Oculus helped to fund the game and that he does not believe it would exist at all without their support.
Bloch was also able to provide a few more key details on a game coming from the highly respected developer of Metro: Last Light.
Essentially, Arktika.1 takes place around 100 years in the future. Some unknown disaster has decimated the human population and given rise to small pockets of barely recognizable civilizations that have to fight and scrap over limited resources. Standing out in sharp contrast to this depleted backdrop is an abundance of highly advanced technology. The weapons, gadgets, and armor of this damaged future are all leaps and bounds beyond anything the present has to offer. These little beauties fire lasers, curve bullets, and project energy barriers to help you battle your way through this (not so) brave new world.
Gameplay in Arktika.1 is nothing short of a thrill. The Oculus Touch controllers were put through their paces and come out looking glorious as I proceeded to blast, block, duck and dodge my way through the 10 minute OC3 demo. Gripping, aiming and firing your weapons is smooth and intuitive. Customizing your load outs with different weapons and accessories happens at a digital workbench, which is endlessly more intuitive than clicking through a menu. And reaching back to pull my guns out from behind my back never ceased to make me feel like the badass I certainly am not in real life.
Combat in Arktika.1 is heavily structured around cover. Each map has several “cover points” that you can warp to by pressing one of the Touch controller’s face buttons. These points are either blue or yellow. Blue spaces represent points that are well covered but a bit farther away, while yellow spaces will bring you closer to the enemy for easier shots, but are substantially more exposed to enemy fire.
Those enemies firing at you have one slightly surprising element in common: they’re humans. Until now, the overwhelming majority of Touch games have chosen to only set you upon artificial foes: robots, mutants, aliens, that sort of thing. It is likely that allowing a user to brutally gun down another human in an environment as immersive as VR has given many developers pause for thought. When asked about this, Bloch’s response was succinct, “We don’t really care.”
Surprisingly, this cavalier attitude pays off. The “video game veil” is still in place while in VR and you never truly feel like a mass murderer for attacking other humanoids no matter how realistically they are being rendered. Speaking of which, the same proprietary engine that 4A employed to create the stoic, gritty world of the Metro series is being used to create Arktika.1 as well. The result is a game that seeps into your very bones with atmosphere and manages to feel unnerving without ever being a full on “horror” title.
After fighting my way through several waves of human foes — who also used cover to their advantage as well with what is clearly one of the most finely tuned enemy AI’s that a VR game has ever seen — I found myself battling the aforementioned cannibals for dear life. Once the screaming subsided and the elevator doors clanged open I was forced to once again witness a “decay v. innovation” theme of this game as a hyper-advanced, hulking automaton bursts through the wall and proceeded to lunge directly at my face.
It’s at this point that the demo ends and yet, despite all of the grime and the fear that it provided, I felt no desire to leave the rich world of Arktika.1. In fact, I found myself aching for another chance to duck behind a rusted out car, draw my trusty laser weapons and rise up with guns blazing.
Arktika.1 is currently slated for a “Q2 2017” release on Oculus Rift according to Bloch. An official price has not yet been set.
4A Games, the developers behind the popular sci-fi shooter franchise ‘Metro’, are not only allegedly working on an Oculus Rift title with Touch support, there’s a chance we’ll get to see it soon. In the mean time, this is what we know.
Oculus’ reasoning for the protracted delay in the launch of their VR motion controllers ‘Touch’ is that they need to ensure the consumer has enough compelling content to make it an essential purchase. Head of Oculus Studios Jason Rubin spoke to Road to VR at a special pre-GDC event this year on just that topic (see interview below), and more recently at Gamescom. Holding the launch of Touch, pending the arrival of more substantial, quality titles from established developers has predictably taken some time, but we may start to see Oculus’ patience (and ours) and pay off soon.
One of the content partners teased by Oculus at its Oculus Touch unveiling at a pre-E3 event last year, was 4A Games, a development team which made a name for itself building the excellent Metro series, may be about ready to show what it’s been working on.
The company initially published a 360 screenshot via their facebook page at the beginning of this month which not only showed 4A’s development offices in Malta strewn with Oculus Rift headsets, but also several pairs of Oculus Touch controllers can be seen on desks and in hand too. In fact, one angle shows a developer in the middle of play testing a Touch title, which can be seen displayed on the wall-hung TV in front of him.
This may or may not be an early glimpse at the soon-to-be-revealed title, but other shots of developer monitors pulled from the panoramic shot almost certainly are.
When might we see this new title? Well, sharp-eyed Redditer /u/bekris over at /r/oculus noted that yet another angle from the 360 photo revealed a TV hung in the office with a large countdown clock reading just under 34 days at the time the photo was taken (around September 1st judging purely by its posted time on Facebook) – that would indicate a target date which coincides nicely with Oculus’ forthcoming third developer conference Connect, which starts on October 5th.
And whilst this assumption is not confirmed officially by 4A Games, Oculus’ Jason Rubin later tweeted out the Facebook post saying “Remember when I teased 4A games as an Oculus Partner looong ago? Well they’ve been working hard and it’s coming.”
Remember when I teased 4A games as an Oculus Partner looong ago? Well they've been working hard and it's coming: https://t.co/IHQ3GdpGfi
— Jason Rubin (@Jason_Rubin) September 17, 2016
As I write this, we currently only have one official shot of this mysterious title and it was posted a few days ago, again on 4A Games’ Facebook page. The screenshot is obscure at best, but does seem to show some kind of futuristic suit, specifically what looks to be a glove grasping a weapon – the grip for which can be seen on the edge of the frame.
Minor Update: Our community has been chiming in with their thoughts on what the images tell us. The image below is more likely of a hand gripping a joystick, the kind you’d find in a futuristic mech. This also ties in the with the images below. Thanks Bas van Elst for the thoughts.
This could indicate the title is the first person shooter title that Jason Rubin hinted at in a recent interview with PCGamesN here in which he highlighted the challenges inherent in bringing the genre to VR.
As fun as all this speculation is, we’re now forced to wait for further information from both Oculus and 4A games to know what the game actually is. But with the Oculus Touch launch window of Q4 this year edging closer, a new triple-A first person shooter exclusive from a respected triple-A developer would be exactly what Oculus needs to begin putting a troubled 2016 behind them and follow through on that content promise for their new motion controllers.
The post ‘Metro’ Devs 4A Games Ready to Reveal Oculus Touch Title, First Glimpses Here appeared first on Road to VR.
4A Games had been noted as a virtual reality (VR) developer over a year ago as part of Oculus VR’s ‘Step into the Rift’ press conference, and yet nothing has since been discussed about the developer’s project. That is until now, as the studio has begun teasing their forthcoming VR videogame.
A new update to 4A Games’ social media channels reveals a 360 degree photo of the development team hard at work on an Oculus Rift videogame, including Oculus Touch compatibility. A countdown timer located on the wall indicates that a reveal is due at the same time as Oculus Connect 3. Given that the studio was first associated with VR development at an Oculus VR event, it’s easy to join the dots that point to a reveal at the company’s next event, taking place in San Jose next month.
The small amount of information that can be extracted from this 360 degree photo, and also the teaser image seen on this page, suggest that 4A Games are working on a science-fiction themed videogame. The studio found fame with the Metro series – which, bar a few necessary comfort adjustments, would certainly work well if adapted to VR – so eyes are on the studio for an impressive reveal.
VRFocus will be in attendance at Oculus Connect 3 next month, bringing you all the latest details on this and other videogame projects revealed at the show.