Coatsink, the studio behind VR titles A Night Sky (2017) and Augmented Empire (2017), announced they’re bringing their first mobile VR title, Esper (2015), to PlayStation VR, Oculus Go and Xiaomi Mi on June 29th. Esper is also slated to launch on HTC Vive via Steam on July 6th.
As one of the first great titles on Samsung Gear VR, Esper puts you in the shoes of a not-so-ordinary citizen undergoing an aptitude test to determine if you can control your rare and potentially threatening extra-sensory telekinetic abilities—moving things with your mind. Using your gaze to control objects including balls and blocks, you’re urged to solve a number of puzzles, all the while chided by an E.S.P.R. training program instructor.
“Esper is where the VR journey began for Coatsink and it holds a dear place in our hearts. Having Oculus approach us in the early days of modern day VR and trust our then small team to build and create an acclaimed VR game for Gear VR was nothing short of incredible,” said Coatsink CEO Tom Beardsmore.
Esper will launch on Oculus Go, PSVR and HTC Vive for $8.
It’s been a few years since British developer Coatsink first launched Esper and Esper 2 for Samsung Gear VR. Well received at the time, in 2016 the studio then created Esper: The Collection for Oculus Rift combining both into one neat little package. Coatsink hasn’t forgotten the titles as today they’ve both been brought up to date with an Oculus Touch update.
If Esper: The Collection has passed you by, it’s a single-player experience where you take the role of a test subject who has telekinetic powers. The first title is all about testing these abilities out through a series of lab experiments. While the second greatly expands the story and locations with you now playing a secret agent for an organisation called ESPR, sent on assignment to stop a nasty villain.
Over the years Coatsink has gone from touchpad support on Gear VR, then gamepad support for both Gear VR and Oculus Rift and now finally added motion controller support. Being an experience about telekinetic powers it seems only right that players can now use their hands in a more natural fashion to complete all the various puzzles. For some, playing Esper: The Collection with Oculus Touch might be more nostalgic, while those new to the title may now find it a bit too simple – it was from a time when VR was finding its feet.
Esper 2 was one of the earliest VR titles to feature decent voice acting, with the vocal talents of some well known actors, including Nick Frost (Paul, Shaun of the Dead), Lara Pulver (Sherlock, Spooks) and Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers, Gotham), alongside Eric Meyers from the original title.
While the update will be free for those that already own Esper: The Collection, for those that don’t Oculus Store is currently running a discount, pricing the bundle at £7.99 GBP rather than £10.99.
Since the Esper series Coatsink has gone on to create relaxing experience A Night Sky and VRFocus’ five-star rated Augmented Empire, both for Gear VR. As the studio continues to expand its VR portfolio, VRFocus will keep you updated.
Thanks to ReVive, a hack that lets SteamVR-compatible headsets play Oculus Rift exclusives, anyone with an HTC Vive can enjoy a number of unofficially supported games from the Oculus Store. Here we take a look at 5 of the games you shouldn’t miss—of course with the appended “buyer beware” warning that the Revive hack caries with it.
For non-Rift owners, losing access to a game you bought on the Oculus Store isn’t likely at this point, but it’s not something you should ignore either. Back when Oculus modified their DRM in a way that prevented Revive from functioning, thus blocking Vive users from playing Oculus games in their library, community outcry over the decision eventually led Oculus to reverse that particular stance on DRM, saying that in the future they wouldn’t use headset verification as part of the platform’s security protections. Despite the risk, we still think these Oculus exclusive games are worth playing.
People used to think that fast-paced, high-action games would be too disorienting for new virtual reality users, but in Epic Games’ Robo Recall (2017), you can teleport around at full speed as you blast away at the game’s evil (and hilarious) robot army. If being able to tear your enemies literally limb from limb and beat a robot over the head with their own dismembered arm isn’t astounding enough, the level of detail and polish put into this game will make you reassess what’s possible in VR. This is another Touch freebie you’ll have to pay for as a Vive user, but at $30, you’d be hard-pressed to find something with this level of polish at this price on Steam.
Find out why we gave Robo Recall [8.5/10] in our review.
You can probably burn through this charming, family-friendly 3D platformer in a weekend—providing you’ve got a gamepad on hand—but at exactly zero dollars, Playful’s Lucky’s Tale (2016) is an easy sell. As one of the first third-person games for Rift, Lucky’s Tale helped define the Xbone Gamepad-era of VR gaming that Oculus is leaving behind now that the controller is no longer being bundled. Whether you’re racing with Lucky through lush trees, dodging swamp pits, battling menacing bosses, or mastering mini-games, youʼll feel like you’ve truly gone inside the world of a video game thanks to the magic of VR.
With a fantasy-meets-WW2 setting, this collectible card game takes place on a 4×4 grid battlefield featuring rampaging giants, intimidating war-machines, and soaring projectiles. As a freemium game from High Voltage, there’s still plenty of opportunity to play an exciting single-player campaign if collecting (and buying) card packs in multiplayer isn’t really your thing.
There’s plenty of gun slinging fun in this Western-inspired multiplayer shooter. Darned tootin’ if you can rob a runaway train, defend from zombie hordes, or battle it out in an old saloon—of course with your trusty six-shooters by your side (and a stick of dynamite for good measure). While this is free to Touch owners upon activation, if you’re looking for a well-rounded little shooter with a cowboy flair, the $40 sticker price may fit the bill.
Esper: The Collection gives you access to Esper (2016) and Esper 2(2017)—two finely-crafted and ultimately intriguing puzzlers that give you psychic abilities to solve increasingly challenging tests. As an agent of ESPR, an organization set up to deal with the outbreak of telekinetic powers, you travel to exotic locations (not just your desk); solve puzzles, discover secrets, stop villainous plots, and fall unconscious multiple times. Interact with an array of characters, voiced by notable actors, Nick Frost, Lara Pulver, and Sean Pertwee, and Eric Meyers. Since you’re using your telekenetic powers, this isn’t a game that’ll use Vive controllers to their fullest, but it’s still a great options if you’re looking for a more passive, seated experience.
Two of the most well-received Oculus-funded games—both the campaign mode Lone Echo (2017) selling for $40 and the free multiplayer mode Echo Arena (2017)—are easy for Vive users to play thanks to the games’ native 360-degree setup. If you’re skeptical of the zero-g locomotion scheme, we suggest grabbing Echo Arena first,which doesn’t require Touch activation to nab for free. Either way, you’ll be amazed at how comfortable and immersive flying through space can really be in the first-person (i.e. not Adr1ft).
Find out why we gave Lone Echo [9/10] in our review.
Wilson’s Heart is a gritty first-person thriller from Twisted Pixel that jaunts through gads of sci-fi tropes ripped directly from the silver screen. As one of the most beautiful and visually cohesive VR games out for Touch, the game takes you through a black-and-white universe as experienced by Wilson, a hospital patient recovering from a curious surgery that has replaced his live-beating heart with a strange machine. Ripping it from your chest, you find it gives you a growing number of abilities to help you not only fight against your personal demons, but also some very real ones that have passed into the world thanks to experiments done by the brilliant, but clearly insane Dr. Harcourt
While falling into some overly campy territory, garnering it Wilson’s Heart a [7/10] in our review, the game is definitelty worth a play-through if you can find it for cheaper than its $40 sticker price.
Don’t say we didn’t tell you *not* to button-mash your gamepad before stepping into Chronos (2016), a third-person adventure by Gunfire Games. Slashing at enemies with the long-trained penchant for beat-em-ups will get you exactly nowhere in this Zelda-inspired, Dark Souls-ish-level of difficulty game where dying in the game physically ages your character. Starting out with either an axe or a sword, you leap through a multi-dimensional transport crystal to hunt down a dragon that has ruined your world. As an interesting mix of high-fantasy and a retro post-apocalyptic world, Chronos gives you plenty to gawk at, and even more to worry about as you hack and slash your way through dimensions.
Sitting at 4.5/5 stars on the Oculus Store, it’s a score we can easily get behind.
Edge of Nowhere (2016) is a third-person VR survival horror game created by Insomniac Games that strands you in the icy wasteland of Antarctica, leaving you with only a pick-axe, a shotgun, and some rocks to defend yourself against a bloodthirsty ancient species that lurk inside the snowy caverns. The lack of supplies makes for tense gameplay and forces the players to be creative and conserve resources, creating tense moments when you’re forced to decide whether you should use that last shotgun shell and blow the head off the horrible beast lurking nearby or just try the more risky route and sneak past. As a gamepad game
Find out why we gave Edge of Nowhere one of our highest ratings at [9.5/10] in our review.
This year’s Eurogamer for me was mostly spent quietly poking around some of the unseen or quieter corners and generally making an effort to see things that I had not seen or weren’t at Insomnia 58. As well as saying hello to familiar faces. Sometimes getting awkward ‘who are you’ looks, but then again I’m not often seen at events.
One of the virtual reality (VR) titles I hadn’t had the chance to yet get my hands on was Coatsink’s Esper 2, which was annoyingly popular at Insomnia but thankfully I didn’t have to wait long this time around. I sat myself down and after the staff member had reset the game I found myself ready for my extrasensory testing. I knew how to play from our reporting on VRFocus as well as watching the previous player who had actually struggled a fair bit with judging the distances. I was going to better. Of course I was. I was sure I had prodigious-levels of telekinesis.
The game started off well, although I couldn’t quite hear the commands from my ‘handler’ because the previous group clustered nearby and were yelling and hooting at the top of their lungs for some reason. One backed into me at one point issuing a grunt of annoyance. Rule of thumb people, if you’re close enough to be in someone’s personal space its doubly rude when they’re in VR and can’t see. Choosing, benevolently, not to turn my amazing powers onto the group Carrie-style I concentrated on the tasks at hand and actually breezed through them to the point I was soon at the place the previous player stopped. But I was annoyed – so when the tester’s chatter started getting a bit personal (as is the character) the natural feeling occurred.
“Do this: _____.”
“How about… no.”
Rebellion! Clearly if they were that interested in the ball they would want to see the ball up close right? I started hurling things at the camera/speaker as the best for of vengeance I could. I started turning the lab upside down, as much as I could. The tests could go to hell.
I suddenly got a tap on the shoulder, and was told I would need to end after this test. Fine. I polished off the test in a matter of seconds and removed myself from testing. After a quick chat with the Coatsink rep, who looked like they wanted the world to swallow them when I interrupted their explanation of where I could find more out about the game by telling them it was okay and that I was from VRFocus. I went on my way, having enjoyed what I’d played.
Besides I couldn’t use my powers make the earth swallow them. They’d need to be with me in a house for that.
Virtual reality (VR) is a pervasive new medium. While it’s currently being lead by videogames – as was expected by many over the past three years of gestation – there are plenty of other areas in which VR will in time become a dominating presence. Hollywood is one of these, and many celebrities have already begun vocalising their support. Some have in fact gone even further however, lending their talents or finance to videogames and short movie productions.
Katee Sackhoff in EVE Valkyrie
Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Riddick actor Katee Sackhoff is famed for her science-fiction adventures, so who better to star in VR’s first sci-fi blockbuster? EVE Valkyrie casts Sackhoff as Rán Kavik, stalwart leader of the Valkyrie pilots. Sackhoff is presented as your comrade during story-driven moments and a commentator on the action during multiplayer gameplay. She is suspiciously aware of your successes and failures, and is quick to condemn a poor performance.
Elijah Wood in Henry
Henry is a short film from Oculus Story Studio, currently available for free to all Oculus Rift early adopters. It depicts a loveable cartoon hedgehog that’s having a bit of a rough time. See, Henry loves hugs, but his spiky exterior is not all too welcoming for his friends. As such, he finds himself in a very lonely situation at his birthday party.
In a rather odd turn of events, Oculus Story Studio decided not to make a big deal out of the fact that Elijah Wood, who shot to fame in his role of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the sole voice viewers will hear throughout the film. Wood acts as the narrator, guiding the player through Henry’s misery and into an unsurprisingly smile-inducing resolution.
Nick Frost, Lara Pulver & Sean Pertwee in Esper 2
The first Esper videogame, originally developed for Samsung Gear VR, featured some rather humorous voice-acting courtesy of Norm MacDonald (My Name is Earl, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Family Guy), but it was the sequel that really upped-the-ante. Coatsink rallied the talents of Nick Frost (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead), Lara Pulver (True Blood, Sherlock) and regular videogame voice talent Sean Pertwee (Event Horizon, Gotham) to lend their voices to Esper 2, offering the biggest celebrity cast of any VR videogame to date.
John Rhys-Davies in Firebird: La Peri
The recent Steam Early Access release of Firebird: La Peri saw John Rhys-Davies, actor famed for playing the character of Sallah in two Indiana Jones movies and Gimli in the big screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, deliver a narrative for Innerspace VR’s recreation of the classical piece, La Peri.
“When working on the Firebird franchise, it was evident that we wanted a strong voice and John Rhys-Davies was the obvious choice. His legacy in gaming and entertainment is unparalleled,” said Balthazar Auxietre, CCO and co-founder of Innerspace VR.
Kevin Spacey Investing in VR
Although Kevin Spacey is yet to appear in any VR productions himself, the actor made a bold early move investing in the technology. Woofbert VR, a content production company specialising in short film, is the benefactor of Spacey’s enthusiasm. Having stated that it was the Oculus Rift that ‘opened his eyes’ to the possibilities of VR in theatre, Spacey recognises that: “A lot of the early problems with the technology have been solved, it’s time for the content creators to produce.”
Virtual reality (VR) is a pervasive new medium. While it’s currently being lead by videogames – as was expected by many over the past three years of gestation – there are plenty of other areas in which VR will in time become a dominating presence. Hollywood is one of these, and many celebrities have already begun vocalising their support. Some have in fact gone even further however, lending their talents or finance to videogames and short movie productions.
Katee Sackhoff in EVE Valkyrie
Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Riddick actor Katee Sackhoff is famed for her science-fiction adventures, so who better to star in VR’s first sci-fi blockbuster? EVE Valkyrie casts Sackhoff as Rán Kavik, stalwart leader of the Valkyrie pilots. Sackhoff is presented as your comrade during story-driven moments and a commentator on the action during multiplayer gameplay. She is suspiciously aware of your successes and failures, and is quick to condemn a poor performance.
Elijah Wood in Henry
Henry is a short film from Oculus Story Studio, currently available for free to all Oculus Rift early adopters. It depicts a loveable cartoon hedgehog that’s having a bit of a rough time. See, Henry loves hugs, but his spiky exterior is not all too welcoming for his friends. As such, he finds himself in a very lonely situation at his birthday party.
In a rather odd turn of events, Oculus Story Studio decided not to make a big deal out of the fact that Elijah Wood, who shot to fame in his role of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the sole voice viewers will hear throughout the film. Wood acts as the narrator, guiding the player through Henry’s misery and into an unsurprisingly smile-inducing resolution.
Nick Frost, Lara Pulver & Sean Pertwee in Esper 2
The first Esper videogame, originally developed for Samsung Gear VR, featured some rather humorous voice-acting courtesy of Norm MacDonald (My Name is Earl, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Family Guy), but it was the sequel that really upped-the-ante. Coatsink rallied the talents of Nick Frost (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead), Lara Pulver (True Blood, Sherlock) and regular videogame voice talent Sean Pertwee (Event Horizon, Gotham) to lend their voices to Esper 2, offering the biggest celebrity cast of any VR videogame to date.
John Rhys-Davies in Firebird: La Peri
The recent Steam Early Access release of Firebird: La Peri saw John Rhys-Davies, actor famed for playing the character of Sallah in two Indiana Jones movies and Gimli in the big screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, deliver a narrative for Innerspace VR’s recreation of the classical piece, La Peri.
“When working on the Firebird franchise, it was evident that we wanted a strong voice and John Rhys-Davies was the obvious choice. His legacy in gaming and entertainment is unparalleled,” said Balthazar Auxietre, CCO and co-founder of Innerspace VR.
Kevin Spacey Investing in VR
Although Kevin Spacey is yet to appear in any VR productions himself, the actor made a bold early move investing in the technology. Woofbert VR, a content production company specialising in short film, is the benefactor of Spacey’s enthusiasm. Having stated that it was the Oculus Rift that ‘opened his eyes’ to the possibilities of VR in theatre, Spacey recognises that: “A lot of the early problems with the technology have been solved, it’s time for the content creators to produce.”
Today British indie studio Coatsink Software launched its Esper: The Collection package for Oculus Rift. Featuring both Esper and Esper 2 for the head-mounted display (HMD) the package allows anyone who hasn’t purchased the titles to but them both together, and for one week only at a discounted rate. VRFocus has gone one better though and acquired several codes for our lucky readers to win.
For Oculus Rift owners who are after Esper: The Collection we’ve got three codes up for grabs, and because Coatsink are so nice they’ve not forgotten Samsung Gear VR users either. There are three codes for Esper and three codes for Esper 2 available. All readers have to do is enter below to have a chance of winning. The winners will then be selected in a weeks time.
Both the puzzle titles involve solving increasing complex brain-teasers by way of telekinesis. The story is set in 1975, members of the public begin to display extra-sensory abilities and the government paranoid as it is, starts forcing citizens to undergo aptitude tests under the guise of national security. As an unwitting citizen taking part in these tests players are ‘encouraged’ by a government contractor – voiced by Eric Meyers – to prove they are not a threat by completing various tests using their new found abilities.
While the original was purely lab based Esper 2 takes it up a notch, expanded the premise, by taking the player out of the confining lab and onto telekinetic adventure around the world. Lending their voices to a new bunch of characters longside Eric Meyers are actors Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) Lara Pulver (Spooks, Sherlock) and Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers, Event Horizon, Gotham)
For all the latest news from Coatsink Software, keep reading VRFocus.
Last month Coatsink Software revealed the upcoming launch of its Esper: The Collection title. Supporting the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) it features both puzzle titles, Esper and Esper 2 in one package for the very first time. And not only will the package allow players to get their hands on both videogames for one all in price, but for the first week there will also be a further discount.
For the next week from today Oculus Rift owners buying Esper: The Collection will be able to get 33 percent off the regular price, dropping the cost down from £10.99 GBP to £7.99.
Both titles originally appeared on the Samsung Gear VR, and Coatsink has not forgotten the system. Both Esper and Esper 2 on Gear VR will have a 50 percent discount available for the next 7 days.
The series revolves around players having telekinetic abilities. Esper is a first-person puzzle game set in 1975 when members of the public begin to display extra-sensory abilities. So the government under the guise of national security starts forcing citizens to undergo rigorous aptitude tests. As one of these people, players will be ‘encouraged’ by a government contractor to prove they are not a threat by completing various tests using their telekinesis.
Then for Esper 2 Coatsink expanded the videogame further, moving beyond the confines of the lab taking the player on a telekinetic adventure across the globe. Alongside the expanded gameplay Esper 2 is most notable for the introduction of new characters voiced by actors Nick Frost, Lara Pulver and Sean Pertwee, who join Eric Meyers, the vocal talent from the original game.
