Destruction in virtual reality (VR) is great fun, no matter what the theme is – usually giant robots like VRobot – where you can grab or shoot buildings, cities and more, leaving a swath of devastation in your wake. New Swedish studio Carry Castle has gone for a far more tactile approach to this medium with its early access release of Everything Must Fall for Oculus Rift with Touch (previewed) and HTC Vive.
Everything Must Fall mixes up several gameplay styles that should be instantly familiar with most gamers. There’s certainly hints of Angry Birds, alongside classic tabletop games like Domino’s, where you’re given certain objects with which to destroy a load of buildings, hopefully snowballing to deliver even more carnage.
At this early stage Carry Castle has several levels, each of which is split into smaller bite-sized sections. There’s one main goal throughout all of them though, hit 100 percent on the destruction meter, only once that’s done can you move onward’s. To begin with you’re given dynamite that instantly explodes on contact which then changes to fused dynamite that requires a more timed throw for maximum efficiency. The studio then mixes this up, going for a bowling dynamic where you need to either fling balls at targets or feed them into tubes or conveyors to complete the challenges.
You’re given only a select amount of balls or dynamite to complete each area, so it’s all about inventive placement to make sure buildings cascade into each other rather than wasting all your ammo. It’s a simple gameplay effect but it’s very easy to pick up, making the whole process great to first time VR users getting used to motion control mechanics. For more experienced users Everything Must Fall feels much more like a tech demo at present as what’s on offer can be completed fairly quickly.
As a single-player experience you don’t just need to complete the levels, there are coins to collect to increase your score and a trophy within each area to find, should you have enough ammo left to collect it. Levels can be replayed to find the most efficient way to maximize points but aside from that there’s not a great deal else at present.
Carry Castle will be expanding this however with plans to extend the title across three acts that’ll eventually feature over 80 plus challenges to work through. Each act will be themed, the first is called Sky Book, and as you can tell from these screenshots everything takes place in the clouds. While the second and third acts are Pirate Book and Inferno Book respectively. These are set to feature cannons, pirate ships, slingshots, paper airplanes, coconuts, gravity wells, pirates, devils, skulls, and more.
While Everything Must Fall does feel somewhat spartan at present, the gameplay is nice and smooth and the prospect of the additional acts will make the title an interesting one to watch. Much like Cloudlands: VR Minigolf or Fantastic Contraption, Everything Must Fall is a quirky fun experience that offers lots of potential.