Upcoming dark fantasy combat game Hellsweeper VR will release on PlayStation VR2 later this year.
It’s a new title from Mixed Realm, the team behind Sairento, and will be published by Vertigo Games, known for Arizona Sunshine, A Fisherman’s Tale and more. Hellsweeper was originally set for release on PC VR and Quest 2 in late 2022, but in November a delay was confirmed, pushing the game to Q2 2023.
Vertigo and Mixed Realms confirmed a PSVR 2 release for Hellsweeper this week, with the PlayStation blog stating that the PSVR 2 version will arrive “later this year.”
We tried the game out last year at Gamescom, noting that its fast-paced and intense combat was a lot of fun. The game focuses on a gesture-based system that lets you summon expendable weapons with awesome results:
What makes this system really interesting is the combos you can create by combining two weapons or spells together. If you summon an item in each hand, you can smash them together to create a unique combination with different effects. Smashing my fireball onto my sword, for example, gave me a flaming sword. Likewise, combining a fireball and a bow together creates flaming arrows. You can even combine multiples of the same spell together – two fireballs merge to create one massive ball of energy, which I could shoot across the map and detonate at will.
For more info, you can read our full Hellsweeper VR hands-on from Gamescom.
Hellsweeper VR releases for PC VR, Quest 2 and PSVR 2 later this year – keep an eye out for more news in the months ahead.
If you’re looking for a good deal on virtual reality (VR) videogames for PC VR headsets then Humble Bundle’s latest offer is hard to beat. The Humble Fall VR Bundle provides up to eight titles depending on how much you want to spend, whilst supporting charities in the process.
Continuing its practice of offering great collections of videogames at a price determined by the customer, this fall VR deal starts from less than £1 GBP, with A-Tech Cybernetic, Archangel: HellfireandKilling Floor: Incursion on offer. Increase your payment to £7.73 and you’ll unlock Survios’ Raw Data. Step that up further to £11.78 and you’ll then unlock I Expect You To Die and Creed: Rise to Glory.
Finally, going for the maximum unlock price of £13.14 and you’ll get XREAL Games’ Zero Caliber and one of the best VR experiences of 2020,Skydance Interactive’s The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. Whichever tier you choose you’ll get Steam keys for those titles. All these prices are the bare minimum, you can donate more at your discretion.
As Humble Bundle also likes to give back, the supported charity this month is Movember, focusing on men’s health such as mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. You can also select other charities and tip Humble Bundle for doing a good job.
All in all that’s a decent deal by anyone’s standards and like anything that good the offer is limited, ending in a couple of weeks. Of course, by then it won’t be long until all the winter sales start on Steam and the Oculus Store although VRFocus isn’t sure the deals will be quite this tempting.
As further bundles and VR discounts are rolled out, VRFocus will let you know.
What a year it’s been for Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and its virtual reality (VR) headset, PlayStation VR. During the summer SIE announced the major milestone of 3 million units sold since its launch in 2016, and an IDC report put the headset ahead in Q3 2018 shipments. The device has seen some big titles exclusively launch over the past 12 months, giving it one of the most unique libraries available for any headset.
The Best PlayStation VR Games of 2018
Astro Bot Rescue Mission – Sony Japan Studio
Let’s start with one of the biggest titles of the year for PlayStation VR, Astro Bot Rescue Missionfrom Sony Japan Studio. Proving that 3rd person platformers have a rightful place in VR, the lovably cute Astro Bot Rescue Mission spans 26 levels across five locations, with players in control of Astro who happens to be captain of a spaceship. An accident happens and Astro loses all the crew and now it’s up to players to find them all. Astro Bot Rescue Mission won the VR/AR category during the recent Game Awards 2018 and is one of the best introductions to VR gameplay on PlayStation VR.
Beat Saber – Beat Games
The rhythm action title featured on our Oculus Rift list and naturally found its way here. Having taken the industry by storm since its PC release earlier in the year, PlayStation VR owners got to see what all the fuss is about in November. With its simple but addictive gameplay, Beat Saber is great to play by yourself or with a few friends and family around.
Borderlands 2 VR – Gearbox Software
It may have only launched this month but Gearbox Software’s VR version of its open-world adventure is one to pick up. Exclusive to PlayStation VR, VRFocusproclaimed in its 5-star review: “Borderlands 2 VR is most certainly a highlight of this year’s VR releases and one of the best titles yet to hit PlayStation VR. Its still Borderlands 2, sure, but you’ve never played Borderlands 2 like this before.”
Firewall Zero Hour – First Contact Entertainment
Proving that dedicated online multiplayer shooters can work in VR when done correctly, this PlayStation VR exclusive makes good use of the PlayStation Aim controller. Firewall Zero Houris a team-based first-person shooter (FPS), four vs four player action where teamwork and communication is key to winning the multiplayer missions.
Moss – Polyarc
Much like Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Polyarc’s Moss is a third-person adventure. Featuring an adorable little mouse called Quill, Moss mixes up action sequences with puzzle platforming as she ventures away from her home to save her family and everyone else. Arriving at the beginning of the year, Moss is another 5-star experience in which VRFocus said: “Moss is a flawlessly crafted experience starring a character that absolutely deserves to be the face of modern VR. Every inch of the world shows attention to detail, and a story is woven that draws you in, making you truly invested in the world and in Quill as a person.”
Sprint Vector – Survios
Beat Saber maybe energetic but if you really want to work up a sweat in VR then Survios’ Sprint Vectoris the videogame of choice to burn those Christmas calories. Up to up to eight players can take part in this high-octane intergalactic game show which features both competitive multiplayer and customizable solo racing where movement is achieved by swinging your arms back and forth to build momentum.
Tetris Effect – Enhance Games
Bringing the classic puzzle videogame into the 21st century with an optional VR twist, Enhance Games has embued Tetris with some visual and audio flair as only it can. With 30-plus stages for players to experience, Tetris Effect also features the all-new “Zone” mechanic, where players can stop time (and Tetriminos falling) by entering “the Zone” and either get out of a sticky situation that could otherwise lead to “Game Over,” or rack up extra line clears for bonus rewards. One for those puzzle lovers out there.
Archangel: Hellfire – Skydance Interactive
Skydance Interactive originally launched single-player mech adventure Archangel back in 2017. The title has made it to this list thanks to the major update, Archangel: Hellfire, which added a major change. Originally an on-rails shooter, the studio gave the gameplay an overhaul which added free-roaming multiplayer. This improved the entire experience massively, with nuanced combat in massive building-sized machines that can unleash devastating attacks.
The Exorcist: Legion VR – Wolf & Wood
Now time for something scary. Wolf & Wood’s The Exorcist: Legion VRis an episodic horror series over five chapters. You step into the shoes of a Boston homicide detective tasked with investigating a series of ritualistic murders, including a priest at a local church. They have all the makings of a serial killer but it soon becomes apparent at the cause is far more demonic. With bags of creepy atmosphere, this is a proper alternative to the festive season.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – Mars – Konami
Another big robot title, Konami’s Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – M∀RS is a PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR remake of the PlayStation 2 title. For the first time players can jump into the cockpit of these giant mechs – called Jehuty’s – and pilot them first-person – rather than first-person. Fans of the series should love it, but you don’t need to be to enjoy this quintessential Japanese title.
Vox Machinae has been out since late September, and while I feel it’s one of the most innovative games I’ve played on my Oculus Rift this year, what truly stands out is its beefy guns and gargantuan mechs — also known as “grinders” according to the developers at Space Bullet.
The game itself uses limited descriptions to explain what each mech class does, which boils down to tooltips such as “mid-light class with decent speed” or the like. When I first played the game, I certainly wish I had more context to go off of than that. Granted, it’s not hard to jump in and mess around until you know what each weapon does and how each mech handles. But that’s work you shouldn’t have to do. Instead, you should reference back to this guide.
Below, I’ve listed out detailed descriptions and advice on how to use each of the weapons and each of the mech classes in the game. There are even some exclusive tips directly from Space Bullet developer Josh Enes, who was kind enough to chat with me.
Catalyst Class
Catalyst is the game’s default class, and is appropriately heavy, but still is not as heavy as the Dredge. It’s nicely balanced with a small weapon slot, a large weapon slot, and an embedded 8x missile launcher.
Enes: “It is the default, and intended as the thing that starts you off in Vox Machinae. The default loadout is lasers and missiles that are pretty easy to use, and it has a bonus to cooling to help new players who tend to overheat a lot. You can think of Catalyst as your standard infantry. It can fill any role, but the others have specializations that make them better or worse at certain tasks. The missile slot is fixed, but the rest of the loadout can be configured to the player’s taste and there aren’t really any wrong choices here.”
Drill Class
The Drill class mech looks like a tall metal spider with four legs, but it can run quickly, regain fuel quickly, and has more maneuverability than any other mech class. This is the one you’d use as a light scout to get around the map without a hassle, but it comes with some added punch in the form of a built-in drill at the bottom of its chassis. It’s armed with a single large weapon slot as well, which I like equipping with the default railgun for range.
Success in close quarters is very much a matter of using your jump thruster to quickly get above other mechs and drop down on them. But since the Drill is much lighter on armor than the other mech classes, I wouldn’t recommend going into close-quarters combat, at all, unless you find yourself scraping the barrel for options. That said, the railgun is easily the best large weapon for a Drill; you can get in and out of safe vantage points pretty effortlessly, pick opponents off from a distance, and then evade (or, alternatively, drill) opponents that get too close for comfort.
Enes: “Drill is an odd beast and sort of a utility/specialist class. The playstyle is really going to be determined by the single weapon you choose. Most will opt for the default railgun and play as a sniper. Choosing flak will work great as a nimble chaos-creating device, although with a much shorter life expectancy. The fuel tank is small but refills very quickly. This is designed to let you keep changing position quickly, pop up over hills to fire, and even hover for a while.
The drill weapon is pretty tough to use. It does have a little bit of aim assistance via the downward jet that fires and pushes you a little bit towards the nearest enemy. We probably need to make this more forgiving as players find it really hard to get that drill kill. The best strategy is to coast just overtop of an [enemy] and activate the drill as they disappear below you. The drill weapon deals massive damage, and is very useful against high-health targets such as in the Salvage mode. Maybe there will be some other healthful targets to destroy in the future…”
Hopper Class
The Hopper is about as lightly armored as the Drill class, but does not come with any embedded weapon slots. Instead, it has three small weapon slots. I personally find that the extremely low heat requirements of the miniguns made for a really strong Hopper build, since the Hopper is still light on its feet and doesn’t have trouble maneuvering at high speeds.
It also has arms that can be used to scythe other mechs, but not as efficiently as the Drill’s dedicated drill weapon or the Goldrush’s cow catcher.
Enes: “Hopper gains its moniker from the pilot’s tendency to jump from spot to spot, avoiding incoming missiles and jet-strafing behind slower enemies. This is your scout class. Lightly armed and armored, you’ll want to keep out the enemy’s reticle. Keep pecking at them either by peeking out of a different cover each time, or flying overhead and poking at them from the sky. If you’ve got the skills, you can also try to run and jet circles around slower enemies. With three small weapon mounts, you will typically see most Hopper pilots making custom loadouts stacking three of the same weapon, be that missiles, cannons, lasers, or miniguns.
A missile Hopper makes an amazing aerial attacker, since missiles are computer-guided and will arc right to where you were aiming your reticle. Cannons on the other hand are more suited for the Hopper who is hopping from place to place and firing while grounded. Lasers will be for the Hopper that wants to get in close and cut a hole right into the enemy’s heart. The minigun Hopper is least effective, but you can hold that trigger down all day and be very annoying which is its own reward.
Hopper can use the arms for ramming and this will do a lot of damage, especially if you get it in their face-space; you are likely to lose your own arm in the process though. Goldrush is much better suited for the ramming role. We do have future plans to make more appropriate use of those gorgeous slashy arms, though.”
Goldrush Class
Goldrush is the first chassis on this list that starts to taper more towards the middle ground of mech classes. It contains two small weapon slots and one large weapon slot, medium armor, and it can still move around pretty well. It’s a nice mix between the other mech classes if you’re looking for versatility.
I personally found a lot of success with cannons on this mech class, but any weapon combination works fine if not because of the middle-of-the-road versatility of this chassis. The one major feature of the Goldrush to take note of is the cow catcher stationed on the front of the mech. If you run over an enemy mech, you’ll do pretty fantastic damage to them. Likewise, you don’t want to be caught on the wrong end of a Goldrush while it’s charging you.
Enes: “Goldrush is a fan-favorite and one of the most fleshed out in terms of role. Some may say it is OP, but it’s probably more that the rest of the crew is still missing some of their special abilities that will be added over time. Goldrush is a brawler and a good Goldrush pilot uses the strong frontal armor and awesome forward jet thrust bonus to break through enemy lines, sowing confusion and forcing them to turn around, allowing teammates to advance. Weapon selection is up to personal preference, and really depends if you want to do most of your shooting before or after flying through enemy lines or smashing into an enemy to knock their limbs off.”
Dredge Class
The Dredge mech is the heaviest one in the game, and it is the hardest to maneuver overall. It takes much more fuel to move it around, comparatively, and the fuel tank also runs out much faster (with slow regeneration to boot). On the upside, it has the strongest armor in the game and can be used as a rear-guard tank. It comes with an embedded 8x missile launcher, two small weapon slots, and one large weapon slot.
Enes: “[The name implies] that you won’t see it soaring through the air too often. You gain a little extra firepower and more health. We’ll actually be emphasizing this even more with future balance changes. In exchange for a higher heat and fuel limit, you have to take a painfully slow fuel refill rate. You had better be sure of where you are jetting off to, because you’ll be there for a while. If you want to shoot a lot and be able to take a beating, Dredge is the one for you. Like the Catalyst, the large missile slot doesn’t have any alternative weapons yet. It is common to see the other three weapon slots filled with same-type weapons like triple cannons or lasers. Another popular configuration is to add even more missiles and a flak cannon to unleash a storm of munitions that blanket an area and almost literally can’t miss.”
Weapons:
Besides embedded weapons that are distinct to each mech class, here are the six basic weapons in Vox Machinae as described by Enes:
Lasers – “Lasers are easiest to use for sure. If it’s in-range and on-target, it will hit.”
Miniguns – “Miniguns fire fast-moving projectiles and are sort of similar to the ease of use of the laser. The damage is not so good though, so it’s a good backup-weapon to use when your heat is high from firing lasers.”
Missiles – “Missiles lose accuracy the longer they travel, but fire in bursts; you’re sure to hit with at least a couple of them.”
Cannons – “Cannons add the complexity of travel time, so you need to start leading the target. The reward is lower heat buildup than the laser and higher damage than the minigun.”
Flak Cannons – “The flak cannon is terribly inaccurate and has a limited range, so it is very situational, but it will shred the armor off a close-up target in no time.”
Railguns – “Railgun is basically your sniper weapon, so players who like to fill that role will probably feel at home with it. You’ll need to learn to get into the firing rhythm since the weapon needs to charge before firing. Holding it for longer than needed will quickly overheat you.”
Additional Tips from the Developer:
“A sniping loadout, especially on a light class that can maintain distance, will work great against the heavier Grinders. You can pick off their limbs from a distance, making them weaker and easy prey for your comrades. Heavy Grinders meanwhile usually tangle with other heavies and medium classes, and they’re best for holding a location. Some loadouts work better in different game modes,” Enes also mentioned to me during our chat.
“You will find a higher amount of heavies in Deathmatch, but players will often swap out for lighter classes in the Stockpile mode to capture territory. Comparing weapons is really going to be based on their ideal range. A railgun player will want to keep their distance, whereas a flak cannon user needs to get in close to deal their damage.
Lasers deal less damage over longer distances, so they’re best for mid-range. Cannons can be good at all ranges, but due to travel time it is harder to hit fast moving targets.”
When asked whether or not players of Vox Machinae could expect to see new weapons and mechs coming soon, Enes told me: “Absolutely, in fact we already have some unreleased Grinders, but want to flesh out and balance the existing ones first. New weapons are coming, and you won’t have to wait till next year to start seeing some of them.”
With Vox Machinae now entered into the arena as one of the first truly built-for-VR giant mech piloting games, people like me who grew up with Mech Warrior and Gundam finally have a place to call home in VR.
After reading, do you now have a better understanding of the frantic gameplay that’s happening in Vox Machinae? Let us know in the comments!
Strap into your cockpit and buckle up: the first Open Tournament for Archangel: Hellfire is officially underway. As of July 31st and through tomorrow, August 3rd, pre-qualification matches are happening for Archangel: Hellfire online.
All you have to do to qualify for the actual tournament this weekend (8/4 – 8/5) is be really good at the game, basically. The top 16 players (based on their win/loss ratio and kill-death-assist ratio) will be selected for official tournament matches. All matches will be single elimination style 2v2 team deathmatch, which is the game’s core PvP game mode. The rules also specify “anyone may be your wingman, excluding players already qualified for this Tournament.”
Winning teams of this and all other Open Tournaments will receive $500 cash, a Bomber Jacket, and a Mech Trophy.
Each of the next three weekends will have Open Tournaments like this one (8/4 – 8/5, 8/11-8/12, and 8/16-8/17) that you can enter in to play. Entry is free, you just need to qualify, and the PvP portion of the game itself is free to download and play (Oculus or Steam) for a chance at the prizes.
Then once those three tournaments are in the books, there will be a Mech Ascent Championship final tournament for the top 4 performers from each tournament. In this round the winning team will receive $2,000 cash, 2 Bomber Jackets, and a Mech Trophy.
Archangel: Hellfire is a really good VR mech combat game. We praised the freedom of movement, variety of weapons, and intensity of its player-versus-player combat in our full review and are excited to see what the development studio does with their upcoming Walking Dead VR game.
As it turns out, I have a feeling a big reason why the gameplay feels so good is because the developers used VR during the development process itself by building 3D models of the mechs inside of sculpting tool, Oculus Medium. My favorite line from this short mini-documentary (embedded below) that Oculus published about Archangel: Hellfire developer Skydance Interactive occurs right at the start from an unnamed developer: “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a Medium concept is worth 1,000 pictures.”
The implication is that, because of how immersive a 3D object is when you’re experiencing it inside of a VR headset, it’s way more powerful than just a standard image or even a 3D model on a flat screen.
We’ve seen similar ideas in practice from other developers, such as prototyping levels with Tilt Brush. As VR continues to penetrate the mainstream, we expect to see more examples of it being used in this way.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Skydance Interactive, the studio behind Archangel (2017) and the recent multiplayer expansion Hellfire, today released a video on just how they made their building-sized mechs.
Concept artist Bryant “Momo” Koshu designed mechs for the game, and says it took him at least six months to figure out the exact design of the single player game’s cockpit using standard tools such as Adobe Photoshop. Later including Mediumin his creative process, Oculus’ VR sculpting and modeling program, Koshu says he reduced the time down to a little over a week to create the updated cockpit design.
“We went through the process in a matter of weeks,” says Skydance Interactive Producer Mark Domowicz. “Part of that is Momo. He’s a ninja with the software. Part of that is just the toolset; you can just jump in and put something together, kit-bash something together.”
“This is more than just sculpting,” says Koshu. “This can actually be used for the whole video game pipeline.”
Skydance tells us Koshu first uses Medium when prototyping, and then adds final touches using ZBrush, Autodesk 3ds Max, Unreal Engine 4 and other tools.
Originally launched in 2016 with Touch, Medium recently got an overhaul via its 2.0 update, which brings a new file management system and a “major UI facelift,” designed to help artists work better and faster. If you’re interested in creating with Medium, check out these updated tutorials from Oculus.
It’s not a bad week for releases on PC VR. We’ve got some quirky puzzles, online Poker and, of course, some robot-smashing action. Dive in!
Archangel: Hellfire, from Skydance Interactive
Price: Free update or $19.99 (Rift, Vive)
The anticipated multiplayer update for Skydance’s Archangel is finally here. Jump into a mech and do battle across a range of arenas in this hectic action game. We think this is the best online mech battler money can buy.
Read our full review (or watch the video version above.)
Poker VR Beta, from Mega Particle
Price: Free (Rift)
What it says on the tin. Poker VR’s beta features full multiplayer support and an extensive range of customization options, allowing you to build out a virtual avatar to play some serious cards with. Easily find friends and hang out in style. Pretty simple, right?
A quirky little puzzle game finally comes to Rift and Vive. In Gnog you explore the insides of monster’s heads, solving strange puzzles in order to unlock new levels. The game’s got bags of charm and thrives in VR.
Der VR-Mech-Shooter Archangel: Hellfire hat nun offiziell die Early-Access-Phase verlassen und ist nun im Full Release auf Steam für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive erhältlich. Zusätzlich zur Veröffentlichung steht nun eine kostenlose Demo-Version des Spiels zum Download zur Verfügung, die uneingeschränkten Zugang zum Multiplayer-Modus gewährt.
Archangel: Hellfire für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive im Full Release erschienen
Entwicklerstudio Skydance Interactive veröffentlichte Archangel: Hellfire für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive im Full Release. Die finale Version beinhaltet sechs verschiedene Mechs, die mit insgesamt 13 individuellen Waffensystemen ausgestattet werden können. Zusätzlich stehen derzeit drei verschiedene Maps zur Auswahl, wobei sich eine vierte Karte bereits in Arbeit befindet und in einem kommenden Update integriert werden soll.
Es steht eine Singleplayer-Kampagne zur Verfügung, welche die Geschichte rund um den dystopischen Zukunftskampf im Jahr 2089 näher erläutert. Das Unternehmen HUMX setzte sich im Anfall von Fanatismus das Ziel, die Welt zu heilen und errichtete ein autokratisches Regime, dass keine Rücksicht auf Menschenleben nimmt. Dem entgegen stellt sich die United States Free Force, eine Widerstandseinheit gegen das Regime. Mit den mächtigen Kampfrobotern entbrennt so ein gewaltiger Kampf zwischen den beiden Parteien, der sich durch neue technische Errungenschaften stetig erweitert.
Neben der Solo-Kampagne gibt es zudem weitere Spielmodi, wie Team-Deathmatch und einen Koop-Horde-Modus für bis zu vier Spieler, der euch im Wave-Shooter-Stil gegen unzählige Feinde auf die neue Karte Agrizone 93 schickt. Während des Horde-Modus können sich die Spieler/innen zeitgleich in der Warteschlange für die PvP-Gefechte befinden und müssen dadurch keine Zeit durch Warten verschwenden.
Archangel: Hellfire für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive ist für 16,79 Euro auf Steam sowie für 19,99 Euro im Oculus Store erhältlich.
Kostenlose Demo-Version des Multiplayer-Modus veröffentlicht
Der PvP-Modus des Spiels ist seit der Veröffentlichung kostenlos für jedermann zugänglich. Die neue Demo-Version beinhaltet alle spielbaren Mechs sowie sämtliche bisher veröffentlichten Karten. Dadurch sollen die Server stets gefüllt sein und kurze Wartezeiten für das nächste Gefecht ermöglichen. Damit bisherige Käufer des Spiels nicht leer ausgehen, erhalten diese nach dem Log-in neben den weiteren Spielinhalten, sechs kostenlose Elite-Skins als Entschädigung.
Für alle vSports-Enthusiasten sollen in Kooperation mit Opera Event wöchentliche Turniere stattfinden, in denen die Mech-Piloten um ein Preisgeld in Höhe von 500 US-Dollar konkurrieren können.
Here at VRFocus we don’t do secondary reviews if a developer releases a major update as the original scores stand for the version that was played – plus there just isn’t enough time in the day/year to achieve that. Occasionally, VRFocus will take a secondary – non-review – look at a videogame that promises to right major wrongs or deliver what was originally promised or intended. Today saw Skydance Interactive launch its Archangel: Hellfire update, moving the original away from its on-rails gameplay to a free-roaming multiplayer design. And for fans of giant fighting robots, Archangel: Hellfire certainly delivers.
The update purely focuses on allowing players to either team up or fight against one another in large open world arenas that likely to put a smile on most players’ faces. The storyline from the campaign travels over to this side, where you’re able to choose a mech from either the United States Free Forces or the evil mega-corporation HUMNX. While their designs are different the mechs themselves are split into three categories; small and nimble with reduced armour, the medium mech, and then the behemoth which is slow but heavily armoured.
Choosing a mech isn’t just about speed and armour, there are various weapons and abilities that change to. They all have standard machine guns on each arm which can then be switched as needed to their secondary option. Without giving too much away, the behemoth for example carries a giant shotgun on one arm and missile launcher on the other. In addition to all these armaments the mechs also have two special abilities which slowly charge to offer either devastating offensive or defensive options.
The modes available in multiplayer are fairly standard, with two types of Team Deathmatch (2v2 and 1v1 PvP) plus a Co-op Mech Assault involving 1-4 players against waves of enemies. These can be played across four maps, a desert, mountain region and city, with a fourth called Agrizone due to be released by the end of the month.
The maps might be few but the gameplay has been expertly tuned to offer exactly what players are after, gigantic mech destruction. Just like the single-player, the inside of each mech suitably looks the part, with plenty of detail throughout. It’s easy to notice the two big buttons that activate the special abilities on either side of the chair, looking up however reveals four very important sliders. These help to fine tune certain aspects of the mech mid battle, adding more power to shields whilst taking away damage. The feature certainly adds that extra strategy element and is easy to overlook when you’re getting pummelled by ordinance.
The mechs themselves have a nice solid stomp to each of them as you wander around the battlefields, adding that immersive feeling of controlling a building sized robot. Thankfully adding some verticality to proceedings each mech can fly for a limited time. More of an extended boost jump really, this not only provides much needed manoeuvrability it allows access to higher parts of the level – usually where health and energy pick-ups can be found.
If you just so happen to be looking for a virtual reality (VR) title where you can fight mates in mechanised suits like some anime film then Archangel: Hellfire is pretty close ideal. As a free update it offers plenty of gameplay excitement, perfectly complimenting the single-player campaign.
