Category: Espire 1: VR Operative

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The Best Oculus Rift Games of 2019

So far VRFocus has listed its favourite PlayStation VR and Oculus Quest videogames of 2019 and now it’s the turn of Oculus Rift. While there will always be some crossover thanks to some awesome multiplatform releases, the headset also has some choice exclusives which aren’t to be missed. So here’s VRFocus’ roundup of the best titles which have arrived this year.

Oculus Rift S Lifestyle 1

The Best Oculus Rift Games of 2019:

Asgard’s Wrath

There were always going to be certain titles which would make this list, showcasing how far VR development has come over the last few years and Sanzaru Games’ Asgard’s Wrath is most certainly one of them. While it may require a decent VR-capable PC to make the most of the stunning visuals, Asgard’s Wrath also rewards Oculus Rift owners with plenty of close-quarters combat, a rich narrative based on Norse mythology and challenges galore.

As an Oculus Rift exclusive Asgard’s Wrath is one of those videogames all owners of the headset really should own, being a definitive AAA VR experience.

Asgard's WrathStormland

Another massive VR exclusive for Oculus Rift was Insomniac Games’ sci-fi adventure Stormland. If you prefer guns and robots over swords and monsters then Stormland is the place to be. Giving players an ever-changing open world to explore set across three cloud levels, Stormland offers a campaign allowing for single-player and co-op multiplayer gaming.

With excellent gun mechanics and a mixture of locomotion options including gliding across clouds, Stormland encourages you to explore everywhere by making almost everything climbable. Once the campaign has been completed you can keep returning to find fresh challenges as each week the world changes.

StormlandPistol Whip

If there’s one genre that’s surely captured the imagination of VR developers and consumers alike it’s rhythm-action. There are a number of videogames which could’ve made the cut but VRFocus went from Cloudhead Games’ latest, Pistol Whip.

Designed to make you feel like an action hero badass such as John Wick, on the standard setting you can hit bad guys at distance like a marksman, all to thumping beats. Find the gameplay is a little too easy then start to activate some modifiers like Dead Eye which removes the auto-aim feature. With or without these extras Pistol Whip is super fun to play no matter your VR experience.

Pistol Whip

Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series

Only available for Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series made the cut on the standalone headset and equally does the job here. While some may consider this an interactive experience rather than a fully-fledged videogame, however, you want to categorise it ILMxLAB’s trilogy expertly mixes the iconic franchise with VR technology.

Almost putting you inside a Star Wars film where you’re the central character, the main storyline lets you learn skills such as lightsaber duelling and using the force, all taught by Darth Vader himself. Once the campaign is over you can head to the dojo to really practice those skills. Sci-fi and VR fans will enjoy the experience, Star Wars fans will love it.

Vader Immortal

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son

Certainly one of the more unusual (and unexpected) movie tie-ins of 2019, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is essentially a sequel to the early 90s movie starring Bill Murray. As the title suggests, you play Phil Connors Jr. as he returns  to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Caught in another time loop, you need to relive the same day over and over, solving residents problems and other challenges to escape.

VRFocus’ four-star review noted: “Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is a lovable VR adventure that doesn’t do any disservice to the original material on which it’s based. With a unique art style and engaging story, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son offers an unexpectedly enjoyable adventure, and you don’t even need to have seen the film.”

Groundhog DayGORN

After blood, carnage, and utter, utter mayhem? Well, then Gorn should be on your want list. Originally a Steam Early Access title from 2017, Gorn saw its official launch back in the summer, allowing players to engage in some brutal gladiatorial combat.

While screenshots make this bloody brawler look gruesome thanks to decapitated heads, smashed in body parts and wall to wall crimson, Gorn doesn’t take itself seriously. The weapons bend and flex like comedy mallets, and enemy bodies all have rag-doll physics. Due to the nature of the combat, the experience is very physical, encouraging you to put in plenty of effort. As VRFocus said in its review: “Brutal, dumb and addictively fun.”

Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs

Resolution Games brought Rovio Entertainment’s massively popular mobile puzzler Angry Birds into VR at the beginning of the year, with the experience offering a fine take on the building destruction videogame. Its inclusion in this listing is thanks to a new update, greatly expanding the gameplay possibilities.

This month saw the studio release a Level Builder option for Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs so you can make your own levels and challenge your friends to complete them. Thanks to the level builder Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs now offers a far more rounded experience, that doesn’t simply end when he single-player campaign is over. One for puzzle fans the world over.

Espire 1: VR Operative

Digital Lode’s very first VR title Espire 1: VR Operative had a bit of a rocky start, with the initial September launch delayed with 24hrs notice. The delay saw the videogame pushed back a couple of months but that hasn’t hindered the experience. Offering a futuristic plot where you control an Espire model 1 robot to complete missions, the gameplay is designed around stealth, so there are plenty of places to hide, you can scale walls to maintain vantage points and you can tranquilise enemies rather than killing them.

Of course, should you get spotted or simply find a gung-ho approach more exciting then all hell will break loose and guards will start raining down gunfire. Espire 1: VR Operative offers the most standard first-person shooter (FPS) gameplay of any title on this roundup, yet it manages to deliver a videogame for VR fans looking for a Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell experience.

Espire1

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted

Who doesn’t love a good scare from a horror videogame? It’s something VR does so well and for 2019 fans were treated to the resurgence of a classic, Five Nights at Freddy’s. Steel Wool Studios kept what made the originals great and expanded upon the concept of original creator Scott Cawthon, including both the classics and brand new mini-games.

If you’ve not heard of the Five Nights universe the basic premise revolves around a theme park with some fairly questionable animatronics. Each mini-game will have you watching CCTV systems or repairing ventilation systems, whilst at the same time trying to stay alive and avoid being…well you know, killed. Not one for the faint of heart, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted offers some of the best jump-scares for any VR headset.

Five Nights at Freddy's VRTetris Effect

Possibly a little controversial because the PC version of Tetris Effect is exclusive to the Epic Games Store, that doesn’t mean to say it shouldn’t be included here as its still an awesome VR puzzle experience.

The classic Tetris gameplay is still there, it’s the visuals and audio that have really been overhauled. They are in sync with the gameplay so as you score more points by making lines you’ll be treated to evermore stunning effects which envelop and mesmerize, without distracting from the gameplay. It’s why VRFocus gave Tetris Effect five stars for its review.

Tetris Effect

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Tripwire Addresses PSVR Espire Complaints, New Patch Coming With Improvements

Espire 1: VR Operative publisher Tripwire Entertainment have made a new post on their forums addressing some of the complaints and concerns with the PSVR version of the game, which launched last week.

In the PSVR version of Espire 1 the “control theater” mode, an extreme comfort setting to limit motion sickness, is permanently enabled and cannot be adjusted, along with a variety of bugs.

On other platforms, the control theater setting is an optional comfort setting that can be turned off. It works by making a virtual room around your view as you move forward. You can see some footage of the Espire 1 comfort theater in action in our video footage, embedded below. Snap turning is also always enabled in the PSVR version as of the time of this writing.

The new forum post on the Tripwire forums specifically highlights this as becoming option on the PSVR in a future patch for Espire 1:

For those agents on PSVR, we are working with our partners with a goal to get a patch out as soon as we can, we do not yet have a firm date we can share, but will as soon as we do. This will target the following issues:

  • Enable the controls screen with the following settings
    • Ability to turn on Smooth rotation (this replaces snap turn)
    • Ability to disable the control theater
  • Fix the artificial crouch button not working when calibrated for a seated experience

As stated above, there is no release date for the patch as of yet. It’s also important to note that the game’s developer, Digital Lode, did not work on the PSVR version of Espire 1 – the PSVR port was outsourced to an external studio. The Rift S and Quest versions of the game that we’ve played, and reviewed, do not have the same bugs or issues present. A later patch will also “improve the graphical fidelity” on PSVR headsets.

Tripwire is also working on a patch for all platforms that will fix a few other issues or complaints, including the “amount of audio chatter about repairing,” which was one of David’s gripes in his review.

You can view the full forum post and planned changes to Espire 1 here.

The post Tripwire Addresses PSVR Espire Complaints, New Patch Coming With Improvements appeared first on UploadVR.

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‘Espire 1: VR Operative’ Review – Solid Snake, But Rough Around the Edges

For better or worse, so far Konami has shown zero interest in bringing its long and storied Metal Gear series to VR. But if you’re looking to scratch that stealth combat itch with more than a flair for superhuman acrobatics, you may find Espire 1: VR Operative a serviceable Generic Snake, albeit a bit rougher around the edges than you may like.

Espire 1: VR Operative Details:

Official Site

Developer: Digital Lode
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive
Available On: Steam (Vive, Rift, Index, Windows MR), Oculus (Rift, Quest), PlayStation Store (PSVR)
Reviewed On: Rift, Vive
Release Date: November 22nd, 2019
Price: $30

Gameplay

Espire 1 offers up a pretty standard story that fits in the same basic vein as many entrants in the Metal Gear franchise; there’s a terrorist group, superhuman agents, infiltration of opaque national intelligence agencies, and plenty of talking heads that radio in to give you constant guidance and objectives along your stealthy way—that’s of course in addition to the game’s trope of puppeting a military-grade telepresence robot, of which there is ample supply stashed at various points throughout the game, making death an inconvenience, and not a total showstopper.

Robot-stuff notwithstanding, you should feel right at home dispatching the faceless, nameless baddies with a variety of weapons, some silent, while others announce your presence to the world. It’s your job to slink around, avoid security cameras, defuse trip mines, crawl through conveniently placed air ducts,  you know, spy stuff.

Image courtesy Digital Lode

Shooting is predictably a big part of Espire 1, and it’s a pretty unforgiving experience; you don’t simply line up the dot in your red dot scope or your green glow sights and blast away. I mean, you can totally do that, but there’s actually significant recoil applied to your gun after every shot. That’s not to say it’s inherently a bad thing, although it does make your rely on a few other tricks at your disposal so you aren’t wasting an entire magazine on a single guy, namely your ability to temporarily go into bullet time. Not only does it slow down time, but it also smooths out your hand movements so you can get a better, more focused shot when it counts the most. Reloading is done by jamming your gun down onto an available magazine sticking out of your hostler, which is less fiddly than it sounds.

You can also use what’s called ‘Espire Vision’, which highlights in the vicinity all enemies, objectives, and traps like auto-turrets and laser mines. This feels a bit cheaty to be honest, but I can see why it exists; it eliminates some of the frustration of coming around a corner with your pants down. There’s also a tossable camera that you can throw around corners, which is actually an even cooler idea in practice, but I found myself more readily abusing Espire Vision instead simply because of how easy it was, and how regularly I was allowed to use it. Espire Vision, repairing, bullet time (more on that in a bit), and stunning guards with the repair tool all takes energy, which auto-refills over time.

 

There are genuine moments in the beginning when you’re scared stiff of being caught, as you slink around corners and hope the guards aren’t alerted to your presence. I’m not the most stealthy of players though, and I only died once throughout the campaign, which lasted a little under six hours for a single play-through (end game content prolongs this substantially, but more on that below). That’s true even near the end, where you encounter heavies that take multiple shots to kill, and a few baddies with active camouflage that require you to use your Espire Vision—one of the few times when you actually have to use it outside of detecting otherwise unseen laser mines.

Image courtesy Digital Lode

I didn’t die that many times because it’s super easy to fix yourself with your repair tool, and you also seem to have a pretty large number of hitpoints available to you. Juice is infinite too, and while it takes its time regenerating, you can easily wait it out by ducking into an air shaft or in a quiet place behind a box. Repairing is done by touching the device to a number of holographic orbs placed in front of you. Why? Because you’re a robot in the future and you should stop trying to make sense of things, that’s why (apparently).

Like the Hitman series, you don’t necessarily need to be a silent killer to pass any of the game’s missions, although your score will take a major hit as you’re expensed for every bullet, gun, death, etc. The less Rambo-like you are, the less money you’ll spend, and the more cheats you’ll unlock for end game fun. I would have liked to see a higher level of difficulty here in place of the unlockables, which include cheats and starting weapons. There isn’t any difficulty levels to speak of too, only progressively harder objectives to fulfill such as freeing all hostages under a minute, or using your repair weapon to knock out all the guards in a level. That’s up to you though.

Image courtesy Digital Lode

There are a few real sore spots in Espire 1, the most egregious of which is melee. It’s rough, and I never once felt like I actually intentionally landed a punch on a bad guy after running out of bullets. When you get too close to an enemy, their character animation magically teleports them a meter away from you, which feels wrong on so many levels. You can also technically “hold up” bad guys by snatching their weapon from their hands, but this is really hit and miss unless you’re using bullet time, and even then it’s not a sure thing due to the aforementioned animation fuckery.

 

AI is also painfully dumb, and going undetected whilst walking in front of a guard only 20-feet away is laughably easy. It’s unclear what they can see, and where their field of vision ends, so you’re basically just guessing and hoping they don’t see you as they robotically walk their planned loops. Make not mistake: I’m not hating on planned loops here. After all, that’s a well-established feature of the genre.

That said, it’s still really fun to climb a wall, sneak over and stun a bad guy, or alternatively launch yourself through the air, engage bullet time, and line up a few choice shots to take out multiple targets, all while having zero auto-aim at your disposal for maximum self-pats on the back. All of this just nearly makes up for some of the unsightliness of dumb AI.

 

Once all is said and done, you can do a few cool things with Espire 1 to keep the fun going. You accumulate unlockable cheats by fulfilling extra objectives during the campaign, which changes up the feel by giving you things like invincibility, invisibility, a one-shot golden gun, etc. You won’t be able to save that progress though, or get on the leader boards, but unless you’re really a points-chaser, you probably won’t care about the leader board anyway. I certainly don’t. But you might, and if you do, there’s plenty of opportunity here.

Not only that, there are challenges too, which are apart from the campaign. Here you’ll be able to hone your stealth, combat, and various objective-focused things.

SEE ALSO
'Pistol Whip' Review – Shooting for the Flow State

Immersion

Level design is actually one of the real high points to Espire 1. While the game’s multilayered levels offer admittedly contrived, conveniently person-size air ducts, they play an important role in filling a melange of attack vectors, be it through an air duct, overhead by way of pipeworks, through easier side routes, or straight down the middle through a gang of guards. It’s really up to you, and this makes me actually think about where to go and what to do next as opposed to dumbly following orders and waypoints to my next bullet sponge. Ok, enemies are bullet sponges, and I would have liked at least more than a single boss to fight, but you catch my drift. Anway, I like it when games don’t hold your hands and simultaneously offering help—not forcing it upon you—when you need it most.

Image courtesy Digital Lode

It’s easy to get lost in the sprawling government facility throughout the game’s six missions, and there’s a degree of backtracking that you have to do too, although I was happy to see that Espire 1 avoids the temptation of simply giving you a map and floating objectives, which would otherwise make it feel a little more flimsy, and a little more hand-holdy. You can however toss your repair device on the ground to give you a line to your next objective if you do find yourself in a tight spot, however your omnipresent mission buddies will always give you some sort of clue as to where to go to next.

That said, voice acting is particularly good, but the rate at which the game launches the same lines at you over and over really makes me want to turn off audio completely. The cutesy teenage Japanese girl voice goes from interesting to downright unbearable as you’re fed the same prompting dialogue, something that magnifies in the game’s challenge portion. The same goes for whenever you’re hurt, as your served up a barrage of the same shrill lines about heading for covers and healing. Here, I would have liked to be left to my own devices, and the game definitely steps on some toes by insinuating I can’t see the plainly visible health meter.

Visually the game is fairly dark, drab, and doesn’t offer a bunch in variability when it comes to the environment, but it seems to be cohesive enough graphically.

SEE ALSO
'Stormland' Review – The New Bar for VR Open-world Adventure

Positional audio is less-than-alright however, as solid structures don’t occlude sound in the slightest, so you can constantly hear enemies prattling away to themselves behind massive concrete slabs, or sometimes entire floors of a building, which forces you to use Espire Vision to confirm they are indeed not walking on top of your head, or sticking their heads into your armpits.

Climbing is a missed opportunity due to it lack of haptic feedback the transience of the world’s geometry (i.e. you have ghost hands). There’s a slight audio cue when your hand touches a grabbable surface which is typically metal, but your hands can pass through geometry with zero haptic feedback to help you understand where you can climb and where you can’t, making the world feel like a less solid place in general. Climbing involves guesswork, and that’s not great.

Espire 1 also features voice commands, but not only will you feel silly shouting ‘Freeze’ at an enemy, but I found it didn’t work all the time, so I basically just forgot about them.

Comfort

If you’re looking for maximum movement, you’ll eventually find yourself swinging through the air like Spider-Man. Although you can take it easy by climbing one hand at a time, flinging youself around isn’t only more efficient, but it’s actively encouraged during timed events. Of course, this level of unpredictable movement can cause discomfort in some users.

If you’re planning on going full ham on being Spider-Man, you may want to use the game’s ‘Control Theatre’, which applies a grid around your field of view that creeps in every time you turn or move. I turned this off in the settings immediately, but it is a tried and true method for keeping the player more grounded, as it eliminates movement in your peripheral, something that typically triggers discomfort in sensitive users.

Image courtesy Digital Lode

Variable snap-turn is also available, but you can just as easily forget it if you have an inside-out tracked headset, as you can simply move forward with the stick/touchpad forward movement scheme. Nope, no smooth motion turning here, but you shouldn’t need it if you aren’t on an OG Rift CV1 or a PSVR.

There’s also no teleportation, which is demonstrably the most comfortable (read: not most immersive) way of moving around. That may be for the best of things, as you’ll want to move quickly and fluidly when shit hits the fan.

The post ‘Espire 1: VR Operative’ Review – Solid Snake, But Rough Around the Edges appeared first on Road to VR.

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Espire 1: VR Operative Review – Surprisingly Deep Stealth Action

After years of development and months of delays Espire 1: VR Operative is finally releasing. Read our full review to find out if this VR stealth game lives up to the hype.

I’ve played Espire 1 a lot over the last couple of years. Between all of the various preview events and conventions I’ve attended it seems like this game always managed to make an appearance, which means I’ve played various iterations of the opening mission many times. One side effect of previewing a game so extensively is you start to feel burnt out before it even releases.

Luckily, there is far more to it than just the opening level.

In Espire 1 you take control of android units that are outfitted with cutting-edge technology to help infiltrate enemy strongholds and remain undetected while out on important, classified missions. The premise here is that if you die, your conscience is just uploaded to a different android unit. And as you play, you’ll unlock newer models with more abilities, offering a sense of steady progression across the 5-ish hour campaign. The story isn’t very gripping and most of the voice acting is sub-par and repetitive, but none of that gets in the way of the fun — it just prevents it from being as great as it could have been.

I played most of the game on the default normal difficulty and found the AI to be good enough, but sometimes it shows its cracks. Most of the time an enemy could spot me above them if I wasn’t very high or hidden at all and if they have clear line of sight it doesn’t take much for them to get alerted. Once alerted they’ll immediately start searching for you, but if you’re discovered time slows down giving you a chance to respond before everyone is tipped off. They’re certainly better than I expected overall, but not perfect.

Espire 1 GIF Espire 1 GIF 3

The slow-mo upon being spotted means there is little risk to attracting a single enemy’s attention and they all seem to forget about you fairly easily if you’re patient. Not to mention they drop like a sack of potatoes instantly if you open fire in many cases, or deliver a swift punch to the head.But when things are clicking as intended, Espire 1 is a rare treat. No other VR game has really nailed the classical stealth action genre quite so well. You’ll find yourself creeping through air vents, scaling the side of buildings, creeping behind cover, sneaking up behind bad guys and yelling “Freeze!” while avoiding the watchful eyes of cameras.

Many of the items are physics objects that can be picked up, thrown, and manipulated, but not all of them. And the fact that your hands just phase through objects like a ghost, unless you’re holding something with mass, is a bit odd. Object interaction is better than in most VR games, but I’d have appreciated if environmental objects were a bit more dynamic.

I did enjoy the health system though. Since you’re an android, when you get shot at and hurt errors and malfunctions pop up in your HUD. If you grab the repair tool you need to physically fix the glowing nodes in real-time, which can be tough to do in the heat of battle. I’d often climb up a wall or hide in a corner to try and quickly heal. I just wish the woman in my ear would stop yelling at me to heal when I’m literally in the middle of a firefight.

Then there are all of the various ways it takes advantage of being a VR-only title. The 3D spatial audio makes it more immersive than ever to listen for approaching guards, reaching around corners to take out enemies with a stun dart, and physically ducking down to avoid being spotted all come second nature. The devs also have some novel mechanics that add a lot to the gameplay, like little cameras on the backs of your wrist that can be used to look around corners and mark enemies without being detected (and even toss the camera orb out and stick it to a surface to keep track of the bad guys.) Things are introduced slowly enough so that you don’t get overwhelmed and ensure you always have a multitude of options for how to approach a situation.

Perhaps best of all is the climbing system. Anything that’s metal, whether it be a ladder, pipe, wall, or something else can be climbed no problem. Using the slow-mo power you can even fling yourself across entire rooms too. Hanging over the edge of a barrier, reaching over with the camera to find an enemy, then reaching back over with a gun to blind fire and take someone out is insanely satisfying. Espire 1 is full of supremely satisfying moments of VR interaction that end up making you feel like a supremely creative spy genius.

Espire 1 GIF 5

In non-VR stealth games I often find myself wondering what the game designers intended for me to do in situations, but in Espire 1 I find myself wondering what I actually want to do. Given how open-ended these levels are, with powerful climbing and physically interactive sneaking, it’s pretty liberating.

Comfort

From a comfort perspective, Espire 1 is incredibly innovative. It’s got the usual options for snap vs. smooth turning and all that comes with that. You’ve also always got a small visor that changes colors based on guard alertness that helps limit discomfort at all times, but the innovation is in the “Cotnrol Theater” option. Using this mode, when you move you can enable a vignette that blocks the edges of your vision with a transparent visor. Better yet, there are a litany of options that let you tweak and adjust the position and sensitivity, making this one of the few smooth movement only VR games that pretty much anyone should be able to enjoy no problem. You can also adjust where items are located on your body to get the placement just right and even play seated if you want.

Even though the campaign is a bit brief to get through once, this is a game truly designed to be replayed in various ways. Going back to missions using new weapons you’ve unlocked, new abilities, and more to finish it faster, more efficiently, or without killing anyone is seriously challenging. The leaderboard function fosters competition and being able to unlock cheats makes side objectives actually worth pursuing.

On top of all that are an assortment of challenge maps that task you with smaller maps targeted at testing your stealth, climbing, combat, and more. When you add up the amount of time it would take to get through all of the challenge maps that easily adds on a few more hours to the amount of content assuming you play each scenario and mission only once — which is certainly the bare minimum. Given the overall polish, excellent visuals, and high degree of polish it feels like a very feature-complete adventure with tons of room for iteration and improvement if Digital Lode is able to work on a sequel.

Espire 1: VR Operative Review Final Verdict

Espire 1: VR Operative is unquestionably the best expression of the stealth action genre we’ve seen in VR yet. The small touches of polish go a long way towards selling the immersion and opening your mind to the creativity on display to complete missions, while the inventive VR-focused mechanics make it a pleasure to play actively in a roomscale space. While a larger budget, more time, and overall more resources could have elevated Espire 1: VR Operative to the status of being a landmark VR game that pushes the boundaries and redefines the genre even further, it’s still extremely good and certainly worth playing.

This review was conducted on a Rift S playing the Oculus Home PC version of the game. We were not able to test the Quest or PSVR versions prior to the review embargo, but have played the Quest version previously.

Final Score: :star: :star: :star: :star: 4/5 Stars | Really Good

Espire 1: VR Operative releases on November 22nd for the Rift platform via Oculus Home, Steam for SteamVR headsets, Oculus Quest, and PSVR at a price point of $29.99 and will be a cross-buy title between Rift and Quest on Oculus Home.

This review was conducted on a Rift S playing the Oculus Home PC version of the game. You can read more about the new five-star scoring policy here.

The post Espire 1: VR Operative Review – Surprisingly Deep Stealth Action appeared first on UploadVR.

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Espire 1: VR Operative Finally Confirmed for Launch This Week

It has been a rocky road for Australian developer Digital Lode over the last few months. During the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2019 in June the studio showcased a very promising version of its stealth experience Espire 1: VR Operative with a release scheduled for September. In spectacular style that didn’t happen with the launch delayed with 24 hours notice. Now Digital Lode and publisher Tripwire Interactive have stated Espire 1: VR Operative will arrive this week.

Espire 1: VR Operative

It was a couple of days ago that both companies issued a statement after the PlayStation Blog published an article with one date, while the PlayStation Store issued another. Both of these were incorrect yet the release window wasn’t inaccurate, falling between these two dates.

For those looking to mix between stealth gameplay and full-on Rambo-style warfare Espire 1: VR Operative might be just what you’re after – unless you own Oculus Rift S and Stormland, as it might be difficult to put down. You play as an Espire agent tasked with a top-secret mission. In this futuristic world you no longer need to be James Bond risking life and limb. Instead, you remotely control an Espire model 1 robot which then affords you superhuman abilities.

You’ll be able to scurry up walls like a spider and leap huge distances in an effort to avoid guards and complete your mission. The Espire robot has abilities like seeing through walls to gauge the danger and if destroyed, you’ll then appear in a new body. But, there are challenges for each level which include not costing the company you work for loads of cash, and these robots don’t come cheap. So while shooting the place up may seem fun, the influx of enemies could prove overwhelming and costly in the long run.

Espire 1: VR Operative

Espire 1: VR Operative is scheduled to arrive on Friday, 22nd November supporting Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, Valve Index and PlayStation VR. Don’t forget you can still pre-order the videogame on Steam to getting Killing Floor: Incursion for free.

Check out VRFocus’ preview of Espire 1: VR Operative for a little hands-on info ahead of our review. As always, keep reading VRFocus for the latest updates.

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New Espire 1: VR Operative Release Date Set For November 22

Espire 1: VR Operative has (another) new release date, and it’s very close. The game is now set to launch in just a few days, on November 22.

The upcoming VR stealth action game has been pushed back several times already. It had an initial August launch date set, which then got pushed back to late September. However, the game was then delayed again a day before release, with an unconfirmed new release date. Publisher Tripwire Interactive and developer Digital Lode stated that the delay was to work out lingering “stability and performance issues.”

However, despite the many delays, November 22 is now the (hopefully) final release date. Espire 1 will launch on all platforms simultaneously, including the Oculus Quest and Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows MR headsets and PlayStation VR.

Although the game’s delays have been frustrating, we’ve only had positive things to say about the gameplay itself. It won our Best in Show at E3 earlier in the year, with David writing that the “ambitious design coalesces into a smooth, exciting VR game that innovates not only in terms of building a stealth shooter for VR, but also in terms of comfort options for players.”Jamie also tried a preview of the game in September on his Rift S and noted a few things he loved and a few things that could be improved.

Despite lower texture quality and a few reduced animations, the core gameplay remains intact and Espire 1 runs impressively well on the Oculus Quest,

Are you looking forward to Espire 1: VR Operative? Let us know in the comments.

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Espire 1: VR Operative Could be Arriving in the Next Week

Stealth action experience Espire 1: VR Operative was due for a multiplatform release back in September before developer Digital Lode cancelled the launch with one days notice. With the release window then shifted to a more ambiguous ‘Fall 2019’ the studio and its publisher Tripwire Interactive then went a little quiet. Now it looks like Espire 1: VR Operative will be arriving within the next week.

Espire1

The studio released details this weekend in response to a PlayStation Blog post – as well as PlayStation Store listing – last Friday specifying exact dates. Well it seems as though there was a miscommunication between the companies, leading to Digital Lode taking to its Discord channel to set the record straight.

The statement notes:

“I’m sure most, if not all, of you have seen the PS Blog post as well as the release date posted on the PS Store. Both of these dates (26th and the 19th) are not quite right and is the result of some miscommunication within Sony as our exact date has been in flux.

“Per the transparency I’ve attempted to upkeep with all of you, the reality of it is that we’re targeting somewhere between those dates and we’re pretty confident in that. I won’t take too many questions on the exact date because I don’t want to mess up marketing plans. That said, I’ve told you guys I would strive to not just drop news of the release the day of and (thus far) I plan to keep my word on that.

“We are still hashing some things out on the certification approvals for both Oculus & Sony. We feel pretty confident that the remaining loose ends in certification won’t hinder us on our date choice, but it’s ultimately in the hands of first party.

“I would expect some more updates and/or official reveals coming early next week, so stay tuned!”

Espire 1: VR Operative

So it sounds like the multiplatform launch is still happening there’s just no exact date at the moment.

VRFocus previewed Espire 1: VR Operative during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2019 back in June, and liked the demo. Putting you inside a robot drone, you can run around gunning down enemies or take a stealthier approach, being able to climb surfaces for the best position. When further details are made available VRFocus will let you know.

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Espire 1: VR Operative on PlayStation VR Dated for September

Today’s PlayStation State of Play broadcast by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) featured several virtual reality (VR) titles, one of which was the now delayed stealth title Espire 1: VR Operative.

Espire 1: VR Operative

Espire 1: VR Operative was due to launch today for PC virtual reality (VR) headsets like HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Valve Index as well as Oculus Quest. But the team issued a statement delaying that release, now stating a ‘Fall 2019’ release window. The reason for this was said to be new issues found which could crash the videogame.

The State of Play broadcast featured the PlayStation VR version still claiming a release date of ‘September 2019’. While great for PlayStation VR owners, what’s unclear at this present time is whether that release window is now out of date or could the PlayStation VR version could arrive before the PC one.

The title is the first virtual reality (VR) experience from Australian team Digital Lode, with Tripwire Interactive (Killing Floor: Incursion) publishing. A stealth experience giving players full control over whether they want to play it sneaky or go in all guns blazing.

As an Espire agent on a top-secret mission, players don’t need to risk their own life anymore, instead dropping into an Espire model 1 robot which can be remotely controlled. This machine offers superhuman abilities to scale heights and leap massive distances to stay ultra-quiet and remain unseen. Of course, if spotted then the unit can take a few hits in a firefight, respawning in a new body if the old one gets destroyed. To make for a comfortable first-person shooter (FPS) Digital Lode has created the ‘Control Theatre’ (seen below).

Espire 1: VR Operative

VRFocus previewed Espire 1: VR Operative back in June 2019 during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), finding that the title: “As a single-player VR experience Espire 1: VR Operative needs two aspects to keep players engrossed, an entertaining storyline and variety of gameplay. VRFocus can’t comment on the former at present. The latter, on the other hand, looks like it has plenty of potential.”

If the release delay does also include the PlayStation VR version – the video probably wasn’t updated in time – then VRFocus will let you know as soon as possible.

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Digital Lode Issue Official Statement for Espire 1: VR Operative Delay

Delays in videogame launches are nothing new as developers endeavour to fix last-minute problems for a smooth gameplay experience. However, these usually tend to come in two factors, a delay announced well before the actual release date or nothing at all. Today’s delay of Espire 1: VR Operative by Digital Lode and Tripwire Interactive is a little more unusual in the fact that it’s happened on launch day. The team has been very open and honest about what’s happened, releasing the following statement below.

Espire 1: VR Operative

Message from Tripwire Interactive and Digital Lode on the delay:

Hello everyone,

We here at Digital Lode and Tripwire Interactive have been excited to see the anticipation for Espire 1: VR Operative growing over the last few months.  With that said, we have some important news to share about the release date.  While originally planned for tomorrow, September 24th, we unfortunately need to push the launch day back a bit further.  We know this is not ideal and apologize for any plans we may have interrupted.  

So what has happened to cause this change?

A few things:

Throughout the year, we’ve been taking Espire 1 out to shows and meeting excited fans at events such as E3, Gamescom, PAX and others. During that time we’ve gotten invaluable feedback from those players and realized we would not be able to incorporate as much of it as we would like into the launch build.

And, while working with our partners doing Quality Assurance checks around the release candidate builds, it became clear that there were a few lingering issues that were not so readily apparent in previous testing. Currently we have found some stability and performance issues, that while not always impacting the player, will be frequent enough with sustained play that we feel it would hinder your enjoyment.

So what is happening now?  

Work continues to incorporate player feedback, and the team is full on investigating the root causes of the issues and working to apply targeted fixes.  Effective immediately, we are pushing the release date back by several weeks while the team works on these issues.  As the investigation continues we’ll be able to provide some more details on where the ship date has moved to.  We hope to provide more on that front in the very near future, but are still targeting a Fall 2019 release.

Check out VRFocus’ preview of Espire 1: VR Operative and when further launch details are released VRFocus will let you know.

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Espire 1: VR Operative Delayed Again For ‘Several Weeks’ A Day Before Launch

Espire 1: VR Operative was slated to finally release on PC VR, Quest, and PSVR all at the same time tomorrow on September 24th but is getting delayed once again, this time for “several weeks” to work out lingering “stability and performance issues.”

Digital Lode and Tripwire made the announcement via an update posted on the Espire 1 Steam page today, just a mere day before the slated release. Launch issues are something that have plagued other VR games, such as Budget Cuts, previously.

According to the update:

“Throughout the year, we’ve been taking Espire 1 out to shows and meeting excited fans at events such as E3, Gamescom, PAX and others. During that time we’ve gotten invaluable feedback from those players and realized we would not be able to incorporate as much of it as we would like into the launch build.

And, while working with our partners doing Quality Assurance checks around the release candidate builds, it became clear that there were a few lingering issues that were not so readily apparent in previous testing. Currently we have found some stability and performance issues, that while not always impacting the player, will be frequent enough with sustained play that we feel it would hinder your enjoyment.”

As unfortunate and frustrating as the timing is, if it leads to a better game then it’s for the best. We’d been suspecting something was up considering we hadn’t yet received review code as of today, which is highly unusual.

The update goes on to say that they’ve decided to push the release date “back by several weeks while the team works on these issues,” but are still targeting a Fall 2019 release, which presumably means before December at the latest.

Jamie recently tried out a preview build of the game from the comfort of his own Rift S and had a lot of positive things to note, but did take issue with the less than intelligent AI and poor sound detection, both of which could spell trouble for a VR stealth game.

Previously we’d played it on the Oculus Quest, as well as on the original Rift, and even awarded it our Best of Show honor at E3 2019. It’s one of our most anticipated VR games of the year and we’re eager to see if this delay helps the team polish it up more before launch.

In the meantime, keep an eye on Panther VR, a new stealth game from the creators of VR Dungeon Knight currently on Kickstarter.

The post Espire 1: VR Operative Delayed Again For ‘Several Weeks’ A Day Before Launch appeared first on UploadVR.