Blasters of the Universe – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

December 17, 2017

Something for the Weekend: An Oculus Winter Wonderland

With just over a week to go until Christmas those that are prepared might be sitting back this Sunday afternoon with a nice warm mug of mulled wine, happy in the knowledge all the presents are sorted. Or you might be in the same boat as everyone else, planned nothing, going on a mad flurry of shopping next weekend instead – nothing like doing everything last minute. Whatever you decide to do today, at some point you may want to grab your Oculus Rift and enjoy some virtual reality (VR) gaming. And with the Oculus Winter Sale in full swing a Sunday afternoon is the perfect time to play a new videogame. So VRFocus has chosen ten of the best that you should consider.

EVE: Valkyrie - Warzone art

EVE: Valkyrie – Warzone

Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR

The granddaddy of VR space combat shooters, CCP Games’ EVE: Valkyrie originally launched back in 2016, and was one of the pioneers of cross-platform multiplayer across headsets. The Warzone update expanded that reach even further by including standard PC players in the ranks as well. Currently EVE: Valkyrie – Warzone has a 50 percent discount on the Oculus Store, dropping the price from £22.99 GBP down to £10.99.

Pinball FX 2 VR (W10 HMDs) - Epic Quest Table Screenshot

Pinball FX2 VR

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

Pinball FX2 VR is another 2016 original, featuring three core tables: Secrets of the Deep, Epic Quest and Mars. An additional five tables can be purchase via the Pinball FX2 Season 1 downloadable content, adding CastleStorm, Wild West Rampage, Paranormal, BioLab, and Earth Defense. Pinball FX2 VR is currently discounted from £10.99 down to £5.99.

Killing Floor: Incursion screenshot

Killing Floor: Incursion

Compatibility: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive

In Killing Floor: Incursion, players take on the role of an elite Horzine Security Forces soldier as they team up with allies to fend off the horrific hordes of monstrous creatures called Zeds, using a formidable arsenal of weapons including pistols, shotguns, blades and more. Players are able to freely explore their environment – although the levels do have a linear design to them – scavenging for weapons and ammo while searching for the best locations to fight the monster onslaught.

Another one with big savings, Killing Floor: Incursion has a 50 percent discount on the Oculus Store, dropping the price from £29.99 GBP down to £14.99.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

As it’s Christmas it’s time to bring out the party games and one of the best local VR multiplayer’s is Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. The idea is simple, one person wears the headset with a bomb to diffuse – but no idea how to – while everyone outside of VR has a manual with the instructions on how to complete each module.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is available on the Oculus Store for £6.99 rather than £10.99.

Blasters of the Universe

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

First-person wave shooters are very common in VR. One of the most recent to hit Oculus Rift – and one of the best – is The Secret Location’s Blasters of the Universe. Set in a neon rich, 80’s inspired universe, there’s a modular weapon system to unlock, helping you get through those difficult high stages.

Blasters of the Universe is available on the Oculus Store for £5.99 rather than £10.99.

Tethered - Screenshot18

Tethered

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

Tethered is a strategy videogame casting players in the role of a Spirit Guardian looking to restore balance to the world. All the other guardians have been imprisoned inside ancient totems by an evil consuming the world, and by gathering enough Spirit Energy players will be able to free their fellow guardians. This is accomplished by aiding the inhabitants of the world, called Peeps, who in turn help the quest.

Tethered is available on the Oculus Store for £6.99 rather than £18.99.

Xing: The Land Beyond Screenshot 3

XING: The Land Beyond

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

For those that enjoy big puzzle adventures, White Lotus Interactive released its long awaited title XING: The Land Beyond back in September. The videogame is littered with environment-based puzzles which require powers and abilities gained along the way to solve them, such as rain and snow.

XING: The Land Beyond is available on the Oculus Store for £11.99 rather than £14.99.

Wilson's Heart_E32016 (2)

Wilson’s Heart

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

VRFocus’ first horror entry, Wilson’s Heart is a first-person thriller putting players in the body of Robert Wilson, a 1940’s hospital patient who makes a grim discovery upon waking up. His heart has been replaced by a mysterious device. As players wander the hospital they’ll discover increasingly maddening corridors, environmental hazards, and sinister inhabitants whilst trying to recover their heart and the reasons for this craziness.

Wilson’s Heart is available on the Oculus Store for £8.99 rather than £22.99.

The Unspoken Acolytes image 2

The Unspoken

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

The ideal experience for those that want to wield magic like a powerful sorcerer, The Unspoken is a multiplayer combat title pitting players against one another around the world. The recent Acolytes update further enriches the experience with a single-player mode.

The Unspoken is available on the Oculus Store for £14.99 rather than £22.99.

Racket_fury_screenshot5

Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

People tend to eat quite a lot over the festive period so you need a way of burning those excess calories off. So why not play a few games of table tennis on Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR. Racket Fury:Table Tennis VR features a range of single-player and multiplayer modes. Solo there are four cups to play through, pitting your skills against 16 AI opponents. While multiplayer is your classic one-on-one match of table tennis with players from around the world.

Racket Fury:Table Tennis VR is available on the Oculus Store for £5.99 rather than £7.99.

August 31, 2017

Review: Blasters of the Universe

If there’s one thing virtual reality (VR) headsets aren’t short of it is the odd wave shooter or two. Titles such as Space Pirate Trainer were there from the beginning, offering intense gunplay action without having to walk anywhere. Since then its seems as if every VR developer has tried its hand at the genre – some with more success than others – and now it’s the turn of The Secret Location with its 80’s inspired shooter Blasters of the Universe. Where others have failed this videogame might just succeed.

Originally launching as an early access title way back in July 2016, The Secret Location has used this time to craft a videogame that aims to offer more than the rest, intermingled with humour, a retro visual theme, and plenty of guns.

Blasters of the Universe Bullets

For a wave shooter Blasters of the Universe does actually have a storyline to back up the bullet hell gameplay, involving a nerdy arcade gamer who’s that good on a particular title that no one can beat him. When VR enters the arcade he laps it up, actually entering the digital realm – Tron anyone? – creating his own universe. Its here that you must do battle against hordes of different enemies as you work your way to finally face Grand Master Alwyn.

So the basics. For those that’ve played wave shooters before – there’s sure to be a few – most of the gameplay will be very familiar. There’s no dual wielding as such in the campaign – the challenge mode is somewhat different – with one hand holding the gun whilst the other holds a shield/reload tool. While most videogames of this ilk will provide you with a selection of weapons, sometimes swappable mid-level, Blasters of the Universe takes a different route with a highly customisable gun in the armoury.

This is one of the title’s biggest and best features, with a massive selection of options to tailor your gun exactly how you want it – once you’ve unlocked the parts that is. The Frame is the base for every weapon, each one has different attributes and a unique ability to unleash when things get really tough. Then there’s ammo attachments, barrels, ammo and more to change to your hearts content until finding that perfect combo that just works.

Blasters of the Universe

And it needs to, because once a level starts that’s it, you can only head back to the armoury once you’re dead. And you will die a lot. There’s no hand holding in Blasters of the Universe and don’t expect the first level to be an easy walk through, this isn’t a title for the casual gamer. And that’s probably where the hook in Blasters of the Universe lies, its unforgiving difficulty. There are five hearts which equate to five hits, more than that and it’s over. Using the shield will help but it’s not indestructible. Should it receive too many hits then it’ll disappear to recharge, usually at the worst moment when all you can see are incoming neon bullets.

One thing Blasters of the Universe makes you do is move – it’s essential. If too many enemies appear on screen then it’ll become a deluge of incoming fire, with each hostile having a particular style of projectile. Some might be a single shot, while others are swirling vortexes of death that’ll deplete the shield rather rapidly. Just stand there trying to shoot everything and it’ll be game over quite quickly. Dodge, duck, crouch, and learn the patterns, then surviving becomes that little bit easier but it’s certainly not easy.

For those that’ve become rightly bored with wave shooters Blasters of the Universe offers that spark of light, reminding us why this genre became popular in the first place. The entire theme, visual aesthetics and gameplay make Blasters of the Universe a joy to play, just be prepared to swear and curse – possibly throw a controller – as that heart disappears because you didn’t see that one laser bolt soon enough.

(Reviewed on HTC Vive)

80%

Awesome

Verdict

August 31, 2017

Secret Location’s Blasters of the Universe Leaves Early Access

In July 2016 The Secret Location released its bullet hell title Blasters of the Universe on Steam Early Access, an 80’s inspired shooter for HTC Vive, adding Oculus Rift support later on. Today the videogame sees a full release for both headset on Steam and the Oculus Store.

Featuring four campaign missions and a challenge mode, Blasters of the Universe tasks players with defeating Grand Master Alwyn’s legions of digital creations, facing wave after wave bullets in a neon virtual world.

Blasters of the Universe Boss

Blasters of the Universe allows players to use hundreds of weapon combinations, whether they prefer rapid fire designs, explosive, slow with high damage or anything in between.

“We are thrilled to announce Blasters of the Universe is arriving on the Oculus Store and Steam as a full title on August 31, 2017,” said Josh Manricks, Blasters of the Universe Technical Director and Project Lead in a statement. “Our team is passionate about making VR a reality and Blasters of the Universe is the latest example of Secret Location’s commitment to creating next-gen original content.”

For today’s launch Blasters of the Universe will have a limited time discount available, knocking 15 percent off the regular price of $14.99 USD until 7th September 2017.

For any further updates to Blasters of the Universe, keep reading VRFocus .

August 24, 2017

Blasters Of The Universe Exits Early Access Soon, Dramatically Expands Game

If you want to see a great example of a game that’s grown a ton from its time in Early Access, then look no further than Blasters of the Universe from Secret Location. We’ve written about some of its major updates in the past, but now it’s finally making the jump from “Early Access” to full release on August 31, 2017.

As it stands right now the Early Access version of Blasters of the Universe plays out like a more extended and robust demo than most Early Access titles. All of the mechanics are there and they feel great. There’s a lot of different things to do, weapons to use, and enemies to fight. Just playing through missions multiple times shows how varied and diverse the gameplay can be as enemies approach you from different angles and you use different weapon combinations.

When the game finally releases next week, it’s only going to get even more intense. You can see a glimpse of that in the Launch Trailer below:

The prepared press release Secret Location sent me regarding the game’s full launch puts it perfectly: “get ready to duck and dodge your way through a shit-ton of bullets in this nostalgic – and nerve-wracking – VR Bullet Hell shooter.” That’s about as accurate a description as you’re gonna find anywhere.

The term “bullet hell shooter” is usually reserved for top-down shoot-em-up style games that have cascading lines of bullets that fly at the player on a consistent and sometimes endless basis. Recognizing patterns, avoiding danger, and nimbly slipping between shots is the name of the game with those titles. In Blasters of the Universe you do all of the same stuff, but in VR this time through a first-person perspective. The result is something that feels like part Matrix and part Lethal Weapon. The retro-futuristic vibe and synthesized soundtrack all helps channel that sense of an 80s-powered action movie persona.

Specifically, the full release is bringing a ton of new features. There will now be a full narrative-driven campaign against the key bad guy (shown in the trailer above) named Alwyn and Endless score modes for each of the levels adding lots of replayability. The challenge modes are also getting consistent updates to help keep them fresh and full of unique objectives. Weapon customization is getting an overhaul too with even more ways to choose how you’ll commit your brand of mass robot murder.

There are lots of first-person shooters, wave shooters, and other similar games in VR right now, but having played the majority of them, I can say that Blasters of the Universe truly does find a way to stand out.

You can download Blasters of the Universe right now in Early Access on Steam with support for both Rift and Vive for $14.99. Once it releases out of Early Access your version will automatically update if you own it already and if you wait to buy it, then you’ll get it with a 15% launch discount. It will be coming to Oculus Home for Rift as well. Let us know what you think of the game down in the comments below!

Tagged with: blasters of the universe, Secret Location

June 13, 2017

Secret Locations’ Blasters of the Universe Seeing Full Release this Summer

For the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2016, indie developer Secret Location showcased virtual reality (VR) shooter Blasters of the Universe for the first time. The title then launched on Steam a month later and for E3 2017, the studio has confirmed a full release will happen this summer.

Rather than just simply sending out a press release Secret Location has gone that little bit further. “Our team has been working hard to prepare for the Summer 2017 launch of our studio’s first-ever original VR game, Blasters of the Universe,” says Josh Manricks, Technical Director & Product Lead at Secret Location. “Grand Master Alwyn’s true form was revealed when his consciousness was uploaded into virtual reality, and now the master of all VR space has hacked the @BlastersVR Twitter account.”

Blasters of the Universe artwork

“We encourage all Blasters to tweet to Grand Master Alwyn @BlastersVR during E3,” continued Manricks. “Together we can take back VR (and Twitter) from this self-proclaimed Virtual Space Lord!”

Blasters of the Universe allows players to use hundreds of weapon combinations in this wave-based bullet hell videogame. Shooting and dodging through unrelenting waves of enemies in a virtual world inspired by ’90s VHS cover art, Secret Location has recently updated the title with a whole new level (Facility), a new boss battle, and an Endless Mode.

The title is currently available on Steam Early Access for $14.99 USD, compatible with HTC Vive or Oculus Rift headsets.

VRFocus is at E3 2017 all week, so keep checking back for the latest news updates.

November 29, 2016

‘Blasters of the Universe’ Update Makes The VR Bullet Hell Shooter More Intense Than Ever

At first glance, you could write off Blasters of the Universe by The Secret Location as ‘just another’ VR wave shooter, but that would be missing the point a bit. While it’s in Early Access, features waves of enemies, and asks you to shoot them, there is enough unique flare here to earn its spot in your library of addictive VR games.

For starters, it’s not a survival horror experience featuring zombies — so that automatically differentiates it from about half of the VR games on Steam right now. The bright, neon visuals evoke a very specific retro-futurism that’s always appreciated in VR content and the overall high-production values of the aesthetics really make it stand out. Plus, it’s just a whole lot more intense than most VR shooters you’ve played, especially after Update 3, which launched earlier this month.

“The game was updated extensively because we’re in Early Access and wanted to give players a better vision of what the final game will look and play like,” said Michael Sandercock, Game Designer at The Secret Location. “The latest update represents the visual bar we will hit for the full release as well as the intense gameplay that they can expect.”

For starters, the update adds 531.4% more bullets — a very precise, staggering, and hilarious amount, which single-handedly positions Blasters of the Universe as a bullet hell shooter simply due to the torrential downpour of enemy fire. Graphics are improved across the board as well.

“We’ve worked hard to differentiate the game from other shooters on the market as well, pushing the visual style and heavily optimizing to give us more overhead for the shear amount of bullets we’re firing,” said Sandercock. “We’re doubling down on the bullet hell gameplay and really pushing people to move and dodge during play. But by far, the biggest feature of the update is a new score system. The system rewards skillful play, encouraging players to build their multiplier and make skill shots to set high scores. We’re striving to get that ‘one more try’ arcade experience. All of the updates to the game have been focused on finding what our community finds fun about a first person bullet hell game and trying to give them the best experience possible.”

You can play Blasters of the Universe right now on Steam for HTC Vive with tracked motion controllers and room-scale support for $14.99.

Tagged with: blasters of the universe, shooter, the secret location, Vive

October 2, 2016

The VR Job Hub: The Secret Location, Kite and Lightning & Cubical Ninjas

Whether you’re an experienced designer, programmer, engineer, or maybe you’ve just been inspired after reading VRFocus articles – either way, you have stumbled across VRFocus’ VR Job Hub. The jobs listed here are located worldwide, from major game players to humble indie developers – the one thing they all have in common is that they are all jobs in VR.

View the new listings below for more information:

Location	Company	Role	Link
Toronto, Canada	The Secret Location	Technical Artist/Shader Artist	Click here to apply
Chicago, US	Cubical Ninjas	VR Engineers	Click here to check it out
LA, US	Kite & Lightning	VR Engineer	Enquire: hello@kiteandlightning.la
London, UK	Powster	Web VR & Creative Front-End Developer	Click here to apply

Look back at last week’s post for ongoing listings.

Check back with VRFocus 4pm BST every Sunday for the latest positions in one of the most progressive industries.