Fierce Kaiju – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

November 23, 2016

Fierce Kaiju Release Oculus Touch Launch Trailer for Viral EX

In less than two weeks Oculus releases its Touch motion controllers, and the Rift begins a new era of interactivity. Plenty of titles have been confirmed for the launch window release of Oculus Touch including Fierce Kaiju’s first-person shooter (FPS), Viral EX. The developer announced the remastered version of the Samsung Gear VR original last month and today its launched a brand new trailer for the experience.

The video showcases how Viral EX can be used with both Oculus Touch or with the standard Xbox One controller, so Rift owners won’t need the £190 GBP controllers to enjoy the title.

Viral EX Screenshot1

Just as the original, players take control of Ragnarok the Anti-Virus who does the bidding of the sentient AI known as E.V.E. Taking advantage of the extra power afforded the Oculus Rift, Fierce Kaiju has created a glossier looking videogame with all the taught, frantic gameplay still in place. Players will be able to wage war across 50 stages filled enemies, traps and puzzles. Those that own Oculus Touch will have access to a new dual-wield blaster and deflector shield combo.

Fierce Kaiju is continuing its support of Gear VR with a sequel to Viral with Viral: Quarantine due to be released on the mobile virtual reality (VR) platform this year. This time Ragnarok finds itself in quarantine – a place viruses are kept before deletion – and continues its normal work. Viral: Quarantine adds some new options including several new pieces of weaponry, such the Lure which attracts viruses in for an easier kill, and the Manipulator, allowing enemies to be picked up and smashed into the floor.

Checkout the video below to see what’s in store for Oculus Rift, and keep reading VRFocus for all the latest news from Fierce Kaiju.

October 10, 2016

Fierce Kaiju’s Viral Is Coming To Oculus Touch, Spin-off Heading to Gear VR

UK-based Fierce Kaiju was one of the first developers to support Gear VR when it launched as an Innovator’s Edition back in 2014, and it’ll be one of the first to support Oculus Touch too.

The studio today announced that it’s revamping it’s original game, Viral, for the position-tracked controllers. Named Viral Ex, the remastered game casts you as an anti-virus named Ragnarok that attempts to rid a computer system known as E.V.E. (Emotional Virtual Engine) of infections, simply by gunning them down. Touch support brings dual-wielding blasters and a deflector shield for defensive play.

“We’re very proud of the original version and the response it received, however we always wanted to bring it to Rift both to widen the audience, and also to really spice up the look and feel,” Fierce Kaiju creative director Paul Colls told UploadVR over email. “Then when Oculus got Touch controllers in our hands, we saw a golden opportunity to bring an extra layer to the actual gameplay and add real value.”

You’ll still be able to play the original version of the game with the head-tracked controls, but Touch makes the game more “edgy”, in Colls’ words. “It presents a quite different challenge, and we’ve offset some of the extra trickiness with a deflector shield on the end of the weapons, which can be activated to punch away enemy shots.”

Viral Ex will be out December 6th — the day Touch itself arrives for $199 — but it’s not all Fierce Kaiju is announcing today. It’s also revealed Viral: Quarantine, a spin-off heading to Gear VR later this year. You’ll take control of Ragnarok once more, though you’re now trapped in an area known as Quarantine.

“We see Quarantine is a spin-off rather than a true sequel, it’s definitely a Viral game in that it shares the same world and the same core physics based aim-shoot mechanic, but we’ve approached the stage design in a very different way,” Colls said of the project. The difference comes in level design. Viral features 50 short stages that the player travels through, but this is designed around five arena stages that players revisit to unlock secrets, improve skills and earn higher scores.

Interestingly, Quarantine will support Rooms, Oculus’ newly-announced social feature debuting on Gear VR this year before coming to Rift. It allows up to eight friends to meet in a hangout space and then launch into games. The game isn’t directly multiplayer, but when everyone launches the game they’ll be able to talk through Oculus Parties.

“Added to this, we’ve also fed in a cool multiplayer feature with Mario Kart style attacks known as ‘Glitches’ – these randomly spawn, and if a player collects one it will ‘glitch’ the other players with one of a number of temporary negative effects, such as under-powered shots or invincible enemies,” Colls explained.

October 8, 2016

Fierce Kaiju Returning to Gear VR with Viral: Quarantine

Yesterday VRFocus reported on British developer Fierce Kaiju announcing it would be remastering its original Samsung Gear VR title Viral for Oculus Rift, with additional Oculus Touch support. The studio hasn’t stopped there though, as it has also announced a new project for the mobile head-mounted display (HMD), called Viral: Quarantine.

An offshoot of Fierce Kaiju’s original videogame, Viral: Quarantine once again puts players in the role of Ragnarok the Anti-Virus. Doing the bidding of the sentient AI known as E.V.E, Ragnarok has now been sent to quarantine – a place viruses are kept before deletion – and while waiting to hopefully return to the computer mainframe decides to kill some time in the usual fashion.

Viral Quarantine Screenshot2

Featuring five areas to battle in, Viral: Quarantine keeps to the same gameplay style as the original but adds some new options for players to explore. There’s several new pieces of weaponry, including the Lure which attracts viruses in for an easier kill, and the Manipulator, allowing players to pick enemies up, smash them into the ground, and then throw them away.

Viral: Quarantine also includes support for the recently revealed Oculus Rooms feature. Rooms allows up to eight people to hangout together, so they can watch TV, listen to music and play mini-games. But it also enables those in the room to jump into another social app or videogame, which they can do with Viral: Quarantine. So players can jump into an arena and compete with friends to see who can achieve the best score.

Fierce Kaiju formed back in 2014 to focus on virtual reality (VR) development. The team is made up from several videogame veterans whose previous work includes Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and Call of Duty among other titles.

Viral: Quarantine will launch later this year, and VRFocus will continue its coverage of Fierce Kaiju, reporting back with any further announcements.

October 7, 2016

Fierce Kaiju Confirms Viral EX as Oculus Touch Launch Title

For Oculus Rift owners keen to find out further information on the upcoming Oculus Touch motion controllers this week hasn’t disappointed. The Oculus Connect 3 keynote yesterday has had lots of new info, including the official price and launch date for the device along with newly revealed titles Lone Echo and Robo Recall. Now British developer Fierce Kaiju has announced it’ll be supporting Oculus Touch with a remastered version of Viral.

The original version of Viral arrived on the Samsung Gear VR head-mounted display (HMD) back in 2015 in which players face off against viruses in physics-based first-person gameplay.

Viral EX Screenshot1

For this new version, Viral EX, Fierce Kaiju takes advantage of the extra power of Oculus Rift to create an even glossier looking videogame with all the taught, frantic gameplay still in place. Playing as Ragnarok the Anti-Virus, gamers will be able to wage war across 50 stages filled enemies, traps and puzzles. Using Oculus Touch players will have access to a new dual-wield blaster and deflector shield combo, but the motion controllers aren’t required to play the classic gameplay version.

Oculus Touch will be shipping on 6th, December 2016, so that’s when Oculus Rift owners will have to wait until to play the title. Pre-orders for the controllers will begin next Monday, 10th October, retailing for $199 USD / £189.99 GBP.

For all the latest Fierce Kaiju news, keep reading VRFocus.