Die diesjährige Pax South 2019 steht bevor, um uns mit neuen Spieleinformationen zu versorgen. Facebook kündigte innerhalb des Oculus-Blogs bereits die Präsentation von drei spannenden VR-Titeln für die Oculus Rift an. So soll es spielbare Demos von Stormland, Defector und POPULATION: ONE geben.
Pax South 2019 – Oculus führt Stormland, Defector und POPULATION: ONE vor
Stormland
Das Gameplay des kommenden Open-World-Abenteuers Stormland von Entwicklerstudio Insomniac Games wurde erstmals auf der PAX West 2018 vorgeführt und begeisterte die Tester vor Ort.
In der Rolle eines Roboters können sich die Spieler darin intuitiv durch die frei begehbare Sci-Fi-Welt bewegen, um verschollene Artgenossen zu finden. Mit diversen Feuerwaffen und Schildfeatures gilt es so, Feinde zu bekämpfen und jede Menge zu entdecken.
Wir dürfen gespannt sein, welche neuen Features in der angekündigten Demo auf der kommenden Spielemesse vorgestellt werden.
Defector
In Defector treten die Spieler in die Fußstapfen von Spionen, wie James Bond, um sich mit zahlreichen Feuerwaffen, speziellen Gadgets und schicken Autos in actionreiche Situationen zu begeben.
So bietet der VR-Titel eine Singleplayer-Geschichte, welche mit dramatischen Action-Szenen aufgewertet wird und euch dadurch in übertrieben tödliche Situationen befördert. Wer also schon immer gerne einmal mit einem schnellen Sportwagen aus einem fliegenden Flugzeug abspringen wollte, erhält hier eine gute Gelegenheit dazu.
POPULATION: ONE
Das VR-Battle-Royale POPULATION: ONE von Entwicklerstudio BigBox VR schickt euch dagegen in einen knallharten Überlebenskampf auf einer riesigen Karte. So dürfen die Spieler in den virtuellen Gefilden ihr taktisches Geschick beweisen und natürlich jede Menge looten und ballern.
Zusätzlich versprechen die verantwortlichen Devs ein freies Bewegungssystem namens FreeMotion, wodurch man sämtliche Strukturen frei begehen kann. So ist das Klettern und Fliegen mit einem Jetpack möglich. Außerdem soll das Errichten von Schutzwällen, im Stil von Fortnite möglich sein, um sich Schutzwälle vor Feinden zu errichten. Insgesamt 24 Spieler können gleichzeitig in verschiedenen Spielmodi antreten. Dazu zählen 12-gegen-12-Kämpfe oder ein Free-for-All.
Die Pax South 2019 findet vom 18. bis 20. Januar 2019 in San Antonio in Texas in Amerika statt.
Facebook announced that it will host demos of its upcoming high budget Oculus Rift exclusives Stormland and Defector at PAX South 2019.
PAX is a collection of gaming festivals held each year since 2004. PAX South is held in San Antonio, Texas. This year it will take place on January 18th-20th. Oculus has had a presence at at least one PAX event per year since 2013.
Both titles are funded by Oculus Studios- Facebook’s VR content division.
Stormland
Stormland is an open world co-op adventure from Insomniac Games.
The game features a vast open world that is part procedural and part hand crafted. It also features mechanics like crafting and climbing. The graphics look incredible- this may be the best looking made for VR open world title yet.
Insomniac’s previous VR titles were 3rd person Lovecraftian adventure Edge of Nowhere [9/10] and 1vs1 wizard dueling game The Unspoken [9/10]. Outside VR they developed hit titles like Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and the Resistance series. More recently they developed Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Defector
Defector is an action packed spy game from Twisted Pixel Games that turns you into Jason Bourne (or James Bond, if you prefer). Originally slated for 2018, the game was delayed to some time this year.
We’ve tried this game a few times now- most recently at Oculus Connect 5. Each time we tried it we had a blast. This game probably won’t make you think, but its endless over the top action sequences are downright fun.
Twisted Pixel previously developed Wilson’s Heart [9/10], an incredible VR black & white mystery thriller reminiscent of The Twilight Zone.
What Of Oculus Quest?
Neither game is slated to release on the upcoming Oculus Quest standalone headset. At Oculus Connect 5, Twisted Pixel were listed as working on a Quest title or port however, so it’s possible Defector will see a port. Insomniac was not listed.
It seems unlikely that either game will come to the Quest however as we got the impression that each pushes the boundaries of even PC VR. Standalone systems are significantly less powerful than a PC.
You only need to take a look at VRFocus’ ‘Best Oculus Rift Games of 2018‘ to see some of the awesome content the PC-based headset has managed to deliver over the course of 2018. So now it’s time to look towards the future and the next 12 months. VRFocus has chosen five virtual reality (VR) videogames that you should be keeping an eye on, some due very soon while others are a bit more ambiguous in their release windows.
The Best Oculus Rift Games Coming in 2019
Lone Echo II – Ready at Dawn
While not entirely a surprise, Ready at Dawn’s sci-fi sequel Lone Echo II was certainly the biggest videogame announcement during Oculus Connect 5 (OC5) a few months ago. It continues the story of Jack and Liv from where Lone Echo left off, with a teaser trailer showing Liv fixing the players robotic character Jack. Exclusive to Oculus Rift, few other details have been released regarding how Ready at Dawn plan to expand the storyline or the expansion of features. This info will probably arrive during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March.
Lone Echo II only has a release window of 2019 at the moment.
A Fisherman’s Tale – InnerspaceVR
While most of the videogames on this list don’t offer a specific launch date, InnerspaceVR’s mind-bending puzzle experience A Fisherman’s Talemost certainly does. A single-player puzzle adventure, A Fisherman’s Tale is all about thinking outside the box, as the title plays with dimensions and scale. It’s only through interacting with the central lighthouse model as Bob the fisherman that the puzzles can be solved and Bob can turn the lighthouse on.
A Fisherman’s Tale is a multiplatform release, being published by Vertigo Games on 22nd January.
Stormland – Insomniac Games
VR veterans Insomniac Games (The Unspoken, Edge of Nowhere, Feral Rites) are looking to dominate 2019 with ambitious open-world adventure Stormland. Another sci-fi epic that’s going to be competing against Lone Echo II for players attention, Stormland puts you in the role of a robot who just happens to be a gardener on a lush alien planet. That was until The Tempest shattered your android body, so you must head out across the planet to augment yourself and save your friends. The title will feature both single-player and multiplayer options, with players having complete freedom to run, climb and fly across the expansive terrain.
Stormland is another Oculus Rift exclusive which has a tentative 2019 release window.
Defector – Twisted Pixel
2019 definitely seems to be the year Oculus Rift developers are pushing the technology harder than ever, aiming to offer VR fans even richer and more hands-on experiences. Wilson’s Heartstudio Twisted Pixel in conjunction with Oculus Studios is working on a spy adventure called Defector. First revealed as part of Oculus Rift’s second anniversary, Defector is a high octane homage to all those great spy movies, with ridiculous stunts, plenty of guns, cars, and of course a little gambling.
Exclusive to Oculus Rift, Defector was originally due for release in 2018, but slipped into 2019 for undisclosed reasons. No specific launch date has yet been confirmed.
Unannounced Title – Respawn Entertainment
This is the big mystery on this list – which also makes it the most exciting. Respawn Entertainment is the studio behind Titanfall and Star Wars Battlefront. The team announced work on a VR title back in 2017 – and no it’s not based/related to either of those titles – and have been super secretive ever since. No title for the project has been revealed, not even a teasing image or two, just a 2019 date and the knowledge that Respawn Entertainment looks to be playing to its strengths with job listings describing a “AAA VR shooter game”.
Only the Oculus Studios logo has been seen next to Respawn’s, so this looks to be another Oculus Rift exclusive, due out at some point this year.
This year was awesome for VR gaming, but 2019 is looking even brighter with a slew of highly polished titles coming to PSVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Here we take a look at 15 tantalizing VR titles confirmed for release in 2019.
Don’t miss the ‘To Be Announced’ section below either, which features eight high-profile games that don’t have release dates yet, but will hopefully come out in 2019 too.
Population: One is an upcoming battle royale shooter from the studio behind VR indie hit Smashbox Arena (2016). Population: One is offering a ton of fun mechanics such as the ability to climb anything, build forts, fly, and shoot the ever-living crap out of everyone with a variety of scrounged weapons as you battle for that tasty chicken dinner.
Studio description: The Tempest shattered your android body. Now you must journey through an ever-changing cloudscape to augment yourself and save your friends. Explore an expansive world with complete freedom—bound up cliffs, glide across chasms, and fly through the slipstream with velocity. Detonate explosives, harness electricity, and wield makeshift weapons to overcome titanium sentries and monolithic guardians. Play single-player, or explore forgotten ruins together.
Studio description: You are elite Special Forces soldier Ryan Marks, on a desperate mission to save his family from a ruthless criminal overlord. Grab your PS Move motion controllers and blast anyone in your way as you go face to face with enemies, uncover secrets and experience the thrill of the chase in a high-octane action narrative inspired by PlayStation VR Worlds’ ‘The London Heist’ experience.
Studio description: Jack and Liv are back in Lone Echo II. Return to the rings of Saturn in this highly-anticipated sequel, to unravel the mysteries of Lone Echo and journey deeper into space – past the very boundaries of time itself.
Studio description: Deliver cargo or smuggle alien lifeforms on your rickety ship all across the galaxy! In Failspace the pressure is always on you and your crew. Fix those leaks, pull those levers and crank those handles to maximum in short but increasingly difficult cargo missions.
Studio description: Overcome impossible odds and survive certain death scenarios in the undercover spy thriller that VR has been waiting for. It’s a zero-sum world where facing danger head-on is a requirement, and success favors those who embrace it. In this exciting Oculus exclusive, the enemy will stop at nothing to gain an advantage. To defeat them, you and your team of elite operatives must use every advanced weapon, cutting-edge technology, and deceptive tactic in your arsenal.
Studio description: Bend and twist reality in A Fisherman’s Tale, the mind-bending VR puzzle adventure game in which being turned upside down and inside out is not merely a play on words.
The free multiplayer Typhon Hunter update to Prey: Mooncrash is already out for console and PC, but support for all major VR platforms is coming next year. Like PropHunt in Gary’s Mod, one player is assigned as the hunter (Morgan Yu) while the others try to hide out and evade detection as typhons, the game’s alien race of mimics that can turn into everyday objects like mugs, chairs—practically anything you can think of.
ACE COMBAT 7 is unfortunately not entirely playable in VR, as the game’s campaign is focused on PS4 users, although Bandai Namco has created a handful of missions developed specifically for the PSVR that the studio says will provide “several hours of VR gameplay.”
Studio description: Wonderful. Your dogs have been dognapped by a beaked lunatic who stuffed them into his eye holes and is using their life essence to destroy the universe. Does that make any sense? You’ve partnered with Trover, a little purple eye hole monster to save them. Find power babies and plug them into his eye holes so that he can absorb their power, track down Glorkon, and save your dogs (and the Universe).
We don’t know much about gameplay mechanics yet, but it’s possible the Magic Leap One release of Angry Birds: FPS – First Person Slingshotmay hold some answers. Resolution Games was also involved in its making, a title that does away with the standard side-scrolling gameplay for a more immersive first-person experience of physically shooting a slingshot at the 3D piggy fort.
Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Titanfall and Call of Duty, has partnered with Oculus to develop what they call “a major VR release.” There’s not much on the books about the game yet, including the title or specific release date, but it promises battlefield realism that will give you a chance to “experience life closer to what a soldier would experience in real combat.”
Studio description: First you JOBBED, now you VACATION. Visit Vacation Island and experience RECREATION, optimal RELAXATION, and classic human past times like SUNBURN. Vacation Island offers all this and more so that you can discover the lost art of TIME OFF.
Studio description: A visceral, jetpack-fueled VR Arcade Shooter where you fly through deadly Orbital Arenas in hostile space, facing off in extreme battles. You are now part of the elite Tribes of gun-slinging Spacers who battle it out in treacherous 2v2 and 1v1 battles.
Studio description: ZED is the story of an aging artist, lost in regret, and the haze of dementia. Inside the dreamscape of this creative mind come undone, players reassemble the artist’s fragmented memories into a final, lasting legacy: a loving final gift to his unborn granddaughter.
Eagre Games is a new studio led by original Myst (1993) artist Chuck Carter. Zed will be the first game published by Cyan Ventures, Cyan’s newly formed publishing arm.
To Be Announced
3 Games from Valve
Image courtesy Valve
Platform: Rift, Vive (unannounced)
Developer: Valve
Valve is still famously mum on its three games originally confirmed back in February 2017, and yes, we’re still waiting on all of them. [Insert tired Half-Life 3 joke here].
Valve has produced The Lab (2016) and plenty of content for the SteamVR Home that all really demonstrate just how uniquely qualified they are to produce full-length VR games. Fingers crosses we hear something definitive this year.
Originally teased at PSX 2015 with a slated release for an October 2016, High Wire Games’ has slipped into what looks to be a 2019 release. In Golem, you play as an adventurous kid who has been seriously injured. You are stuck at home in your bed, dreaming of exploring the outside world. The minds behind the game are ex-Bungie staffers, including Halo composer Marty O’Donnell.
Playful Corp, the minds behind Rift launch title Lucky’s Tale (2016), had a bit of a scare recently when pre-orders for their upcoming side-scrolling platformer Star Child were mysteriously cancelled. Never fear, Star Child is still in production, although the release date is unknown at this time.
From the makers of Myst (1993) and Obduction (2016) comes another VR puzzler, this time promising more steampunk goodness. It’s still heavily under wraps, but Cyan calls it a “resplendent, magical, journey — a monumental voyage through four diverse and curious realms, working in concert with an ever-present, clockwork companion, and the support and instruction of a long-dead, ethereal mentor.”
Borderlands 2 VR is already available on PSVR, but it’s more than likely that the loot-em and shoot-em action game is headed to PC VR headsets too. According to a new promo video, Sony is confirming that Borderlands 2 VR is a timed exclusive, giving it at very least a five month minimum on the PSVR platform; a hypothetical PC VR launch date could come as early as May 14th, 2019.
The minds behind early successes Senza Peso (2014) and Insurgent (2015) have been busy developing their first full-fledged VR game. Called Bebylon Battle Royale, the VR melee party brawler puts ridiculously dressed infants into kart-based Smash Bros-style combat.
The studio previously targeted an early 2018 release, although now it seems it’s heading towards 2019.
It’s that time of the year when Oculus grabs all of the virtual reality (VR) attention with its fifth annual event, Oculus Connect 5 (OC5), taking place in California over the next couple of days. Of course VRFocus is there to bring you all the latest news and announcements from the conference so we caught up with the head of Oculus Rift team Nate Mitchell to find out more.
Being the consumer focused event that OC5 tends to be there are plenty of videogame announcements from some of the biggest developers in the field, with the likes of Insomniac Games showcasing its upcoming sci-fi adventure Stormland, Phaser Lock Interactive with Final Assault and Ready at Dawn with Lone Echo II and Echo Combat.
While 2018 has certainly been a big year for Oculus with the launch of Oculus Go back in May, Mitchell predicts an even bigger year ahead saying: “2019 is going to be the year of some of the best content that we’ve seen to date. And I think that’s showcased here [OC5], but it’s the development community taking everything to the next level. And so if you’re a gamer there’s never been a better time to jump into VR.”
Alongside all the videogames to play over the two days there will be plenty of talks and sessions for guests to attend, teaching developers the latest VR practices, and how to make awesome immersive content for Oculus Rift.
Check out the video below to see learn more about what Mitchell has to say regarding the VR industry, not only just for home users but also for the industry at large, whether that’s training and simulation or location-based entertainment (LBE) which has been rapidly growing over the past couple of years thanks to companies like The VOID and its Star Wars: Secrets of the Empireexperience or Zero Latency and its territory expansion.
VRFocuswill be bringing you the latest hands-on from OC5 so stay here for further updates.
Having released the rather creepy horror experience Wilson’s Heartfor Oculus Rift in 2017, developer Twisted Pixel in conjunction with Oculus Studios set its sight on a completely different adventure, one involving spy’s, guns and action, Defector. After the first details were released earlier this year involving an epic mid-air plane sequence, Twisted Pixel now takes you to India with a new gameplay video from Oculus Connect 5 (OC5).
The first trailer may have been attention grabbing with cars flying into planes and so on, but this new India level is equally impressive, showcasing more guns, new equipment, leaps between buildings and even a little gambling.
Set in a far richer and more dynamic looking environment of a big Indian city, you’ll be able to wager on several different games from dice to cards. That’s only the start on it, with some flashy looking tech attached to your forearms which seem to control fighters in a ring. Then there’s the weaponry, from a gun that quite literally looks electrifying to gauntlets that give you superhuman abilities – catching rockets with your hands or punching enemies into the sunset.
From these trailers Defector certainly looks like it’ll feature plenty of set pieces, making use of the Oculus Rift and Touch hardware for maximum immersive effect. How much freedom Twisted Pixel will give you is another matter.
Explaining the India mission in more detail the developer comments: “Your next mission leads you to India to infiltrate a mysterious fighting tournament and meet the mastermind behind the operation. You must raise the stakes to gain knowledge and influence those who may assist you before choosing your path: chase a defected rogue agent through the city and across rooftops before he makes his escape, or pursue a dangerous criminal and outwit his armed forces with advanced weaponry.”
Originally, Twisted Pixel had stated at late 2018 release for Defector. That’s no longer the case with a 2019 now listed, continuing to add to what could be a very interesting year for Oculus Rift owners with the likes of Stormland also due next year.
Check out the new India trailer for Defector below. As VRFocus is at Oculus Connect 5 for both days keep an eye out for our hands-on impressions from the event, bringing you the latest Oculus Rift news and updates.
When I was younger, I wanted to be a secret spy. I’d imagine a lot of former young people would say the same thing. The escapades of James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Mission Impossible’s Ethan Hunt just seemed like such amazing and heroic jobs to have. Clearly I went down a very different path professionally, but the fantasy is still there in the back of my mind. After playing the latest demo for Defector, it’s not just a fantasy anymore.
I’d imagine Twisted Pixel’s pitch for Defector was pretty straight forward: let’s make an action-packed VR game in which you play as an international super star spy with fancy gadgets and smooth talking skills. You’ll travel the world, scale skyscrapers, and jump out of airplanes doing action hero stuff — all in VR. And there’s branching dialogue trees, multiple ways to solve missions, and it’s full smooth locomotion. Easy, right?
Obviously these are all comparisons I made back when I first played Defector at a pre-E3 event. My feelings on the game haven’t really changed much, but based on the OC5 demo I tried before the event last week, they’ve strengthened.
The main highlight of the demo was a chase sequence through a town in India. As is standard in this type of setting, obviously I had to chase someone through alleys and across rooftops. Every now and then the man would throw boxes down to try and disrupt me or I’d lose track and have to stop to scan a scaffolding in the distance.
Defector is at its best when it doesn’t slow down to let you try and think about what to do next. I’d run across a rooftop, fall down through a crumbling ceiling, get up and keep right on going. At one point, also shown down in the trailer at the end of this post, you can see the player running and then jumping across an entire alley several stories through the air, crashing down on top of the target, and then smashing through a door into a hotel room. Moments like that are what Defector is all about.
In past demos I’ve jumped out of an airplane only to then grab onto the exterior of another airplane and scale it with enemies falling around me. I’ve driven a sports car out of an airplane, shot enemies while falling through the air, and then crashed it into the side of another airplane in slow motion. I’ve even shot down fighter planes using machine guns from an exit door of another air plane.
I can’t wait to see what kind of other trouble I can get into.
Since this particular demo was so focused on the chase scene, I didn’t see much of Defector’s other game systems. There are branching dialogue trees (shown above) that can alter the path of a mission, resulting in varying events that up the replay value. Plus you can play as either a male or female agent depending on your preference.
Defector is a few steps below the polish and depth of something like, for example, Deus Ex or Alpha Protocol, but it’s pretty close. The game is structured with singular missions that are tied together through an overall narrative, but then each level also has specific objectives and branching points within to explore. It’s far from an open world game, but the levels themselves seem to be quite large.
After seeing what Twisted Pixel can do with animation and a good story in Wilson’s Heart, we’re eager to get our hands on the full version of Defector hopefully very soon. Defector is slated to release exclusively for Oculus Rift in 2019.
Let us know what you think of the game so far down in the comments below!
Auf der Oculus Connect 5 stellte Oculus neben der neuen VR-Brille Oculus Quest zudem die neusten VR-Titel vor, die uns bis 2020 erwarten. Dazu zählen Lone Echo II, Stormland und viele weitere Titel für Oculus Rift.
Oculus Connect 5 – Lone Echo II und Echo Combat
Entwicklerstudio Ready at Dawn präsentiert den nächsten Teil der Lone-Echo-Reihe Lone Echo II. Doch neben dem Sci-Fi-Titel wurde der Release-Termin zum gravitationslosen VR-Shooter Echo Combat bekannt gegeben: Der nächste Teil des Echo-Universums erscheint offiziell am 15. November für Oculus Rift.
Oculus Connect 5 – Defector
Auch Twisted Pixel Games veröffentlichte in einem Trailer ein neues Level zum kommenden Spion-Titel Defector. Der VR-Titel soll 2019 veröffentlicht werden.
Mit Final Assault erscheint ein RTS-Titel im Setting des Zweiten Weltkriegs für Oculus Rift von Entwicklerstudio Phaser Lock Interactive. Dabei kommen klassische Strategieelemente, wie Ressourcen Management und Truppen-Management zum Einsatz.
Oculus Connect – Space Junkies Closed Beta
Ubisoft eröffnet heute die zweite Closed Beta zu Space Junkies. Innerhalb der Betaphase des VR-Shooters werden neue Spielmodi, Maps, Objekte, Charaktere und Features vorgeführt.
Can you believe it’s nearly September already? It seems like it was only yesterday that we were looking ahead to 2018 and imagining all the great VR gaming we were going to be doing. Now most of it’s behind us.
Fortunately, though, 2018 has saved the best for last. We’ve rounded up 13 games!
Firewall Zero Hour Platforms: PSVR Release Date: Out now
A hugely anticipated competitive shooter from First Contact Entertainment, Firewall pits two teams of four against each other in attack and defend game modes. It’s been compared to Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six, and we’ve fallen in love with it each and every time we’ve played it. Pick up a PlayStation Aim controller for the best way to play.
Bow to Blood Platforms: PSVR Release Date: Out now
We weren’t going to put Bow to Blood on this list until we actually played it. Turns out Tribetoy’s PSVR debut is a winning mix of strategic micromanagement and arena-based combat. You pilot flying ships in a televised tournament and must forge unlikely relationships in order to prevail. This may be a sleeper hit for PSVR.
Torn Platforms: Rift, Vive, PSVR Release Date: Out now
An intriguing new puzzle game and the first internally-developed project from Aspyr. Torn sees you explore an enormous mansion as you gather the memories of as renowned inventor. Puzzles ask you to complete circuits by locating symbols fitted to random objects and putting them in the correct place. It’s a mad scientist of a VR game and definitely worth your time.
Zone of the Enders 2: The 2nd Runner – MARS Platforms: Rift, Vive, PSVR Release Date: September 4th
First announced at Tokyo Game Show last year, this is a full remaster of Konami’s cult classic, Zone of the Enders 2, with full support for VR putting you inside the cockpit of Jehuty for the first time. The entire original game can be played inside your headset, and what we’ve played of it is promising, if a little confusing.
Transference Platforms:Rift, Vive, PSVR Release Date: September 18th
The next VR game from Ubisoft is developed in partnership with Elijah Wood’s Spectrevision. It’s a psychological thriller that mixes CG and live action elements to create a mysterious and disturbing exploration of the mind. There’s a free demo out right now on PSVR, and what we’ve played of the main game is hugely promising.
Creed: Rise to Glory Platforms: Rift, Vive, PSVR Release Date: September 25th
Raw Data and Sprint Vector developer Survios is back with what’s sure to be another knockout. Creed is based on the recent films spinning out of the Rocky franchise and has you using two motion controllers to box your way to the top. Survios’ new Phantom Melee Technology is promising a more immersive, convincing boxing system than we’ve seen so far in VR.
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission Platforms: PSVR Release Date: October 2nd
One of the surprise success stories from PSVR’s launch back in 2016 was a small platforming minigame in the free Playroom VR collection. Now, Sony Japan is building that experience out into a full game akin to Lucky’s Tale. Expect inventive use of VR as you make your way through several levels saving your adorable robo buddies. This is sure to be a great addition to your PSVR library.
Evasion Platforms:Rift, Vive, PSVR Release Date: October 9th
Archiact, the developer of Waddle Home (yes, Waddle Home) is trying its hand at making the next big VR shooter. Evasion features co-op bullet hell gameplay in which you fight your way through an alien planet-trashing just about everything in sight. PS Aim support on PSVR is sure to make the experience more immersive.
Defector Platforms: Rift Release Date: 2018
Don’t forget about this hugely promising spy game from Wilson’s Heart developer Twisted Pixel, which last we heard was still coming this year. It’s as cinematic as VR gets, mixing stylish gadget-based gameplay with exciting shootouts and massive setpieces that will have you skydiving and more. Expect big things from this.
Another one that might have slipped under your radar – Prey is getting VR support! Well, sort of. It’s actually an escape room-style DLC expansion in which you have to solve puzzles. There’s also going to be a multiplayer component in which players become shape-shifting mimics and disguise themselves in a room before a human player seeks them out. Verdict’s still out on this one.
Echo Combat Platforms: Rift Release Date: 2018
An expansion to the excellent Echo Arena was promised at Oculus Connect last year and it looks like it’ll be launching soon. Echo Combat brings gunplay into the series’ excellent zero gravity arenas. There’s already been several promising betas for the game, so expect this to be one of the big Rift games of the next few months.
A Fisherman’s Tale Platforms:Rift, Vive, PSVR Release Date: 2018
Firebird: La Peri developer Innervision is getting much closer to a game with its latest VR project, which has some incredibly inventive puzzles on offer. You play as a fisherman that has a scale model of his lighthouse inside his room. Look into it, and you’ll see a small version of yourself, while a bigger version can be found outside your window. Things get trippy fast.
Space Junkies Platforms:Rift, Vive Release Date: 2018
Ubisoft has a competitor to Echo Combat also coming this year. Space Junkies is another zero gravity shooter in which you grab power-ups and dual-wield weapons as you fling yourself around space, blasting other players. It’s a decidedly more arcadey take on the genre, and we can’t wait to see if it manages to build a community of its own.
Developer Twisted Pixel announced earlier this year that they would be working once again on an Oculus Rift exclusive, following their virtual reality (VR) title Wilson’s Heart, in the form of Defector. The title is a no holds bar action adventure title that sees players step into the spy life to go on a grand adventure. VRFocus’ Nina Salomon was able to get hands on with the title during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018 show and has put together a video about her experience.
Salomon explains in her hands-on video that the Defector feels similar in vein to the likes of L.A Noire in terms of the technology being used to deliver facial animations. Though not to the same level as Rockstar’s title, it seems Twisted Pixel have done a fantastic job in ensuring that the immersive experience is made more believable thanks to high quality animation. She also mentions how it feels akin to London Heist in the way that both titles are action focused, require the use of a lot of guns and gadgets.
The demo that was being shown during E3 2018 starts with the player putting in an earpiece and wearing contact lenses that provide augmented reality (AR) within the experience. These help to give players more information about select objects within the world which create opportunities for play interaction. Defector does offer player freedom but there are times where you’ll need to play by the rules, so to speak. One section within the demo required players to blend in otherwise they might draw attention to themselves, possibly leading to a gameover.
Players can also expect to have to deal with intense conversations during Defector were picking the right option to progress the action without saying the wrong thing will be a fundamental part of the experience. After all, a spy needs to know how to talk along with how to blow things up. Any player who is use to dialog options in titles such as Mass Effect will feel right at home. Thankfully, the title provides training for these system which will be useful for players to understand the best way to talk their way out of any situation.
Of course it is not about walking and talking as Defector will feature a ton of action sequences. This includes using a range of gadgets, weapons both single and dual handed, and even shoot enemies from a car as you drive out the back of an airplane while it is being attacked by fighter jets. From the short hands on, it seems as though developer Twisted Pixel are creating a VR title that will bring that feeling of being a spy to life for anyone who puts on the headset.
Defector is planned to release later this year and will be an exclusive release for Oculus Rift. You can see the full hands-on video below and for more on the title in the future, keep reading VRFocus.
