Phaser Lock Interactive began the Steam Early Access phase of Final Assault’s development back in March, further improving whilst adding new features to the title. Today, the studio has announced that the real-time strategy experience will be fully released in a few weeks.
Set during WWII with players fighting as either Allied or Axis armies across a range of dramatic battlefields, Final Assault offers cross-platform, PvP gameplay between Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
With six divisions to choose from, each with its own unique units, players are able to control both ground and aerial units as they seek to dominate their opponent. There are 14 maps to choose from in multiplayer, with additional story and skirmish modes for single-player gameplay.
“Every strategic choice made by players will have a real-time consequence that requires them to think on their feet and be able to flex their VR skills and muscles,” said Michael Daubert, CEO of Phaser Lock Interactive in a statement. “We took what we felt works great in an RTS and molded it into gameplay that can only exist in VR.”
“This is just the beginning for Final Assault,” says Todd Bailey, Creative Director at Phaserlock Interactive. “We built the game to have a strong set of core mechanics so that we can continue to expand and add new content and gameplay after launch. We’re ready to build more maps, more units, more game modes and new campaigns. We want to be able to look at what’s exciting to the players and build on that.”
VRFocuspreviewed the Early Access version a couple of months ago, saying: Final Assault is RTS-style tabletop gaming at its best. There are options galore whether you prefer single-player or multiplayer gaming, and easy to pick up controls with deep enough strategy to hook most players. Phaser Lock Interactive should have a sure-fire hit on their hands.” VRFocus will be reviewing the title at launch to give you our final thoughts.
Final Assault will be arriving on Steam, Oculus and Viveport stores on 16th May 2019, retailing for $29.99 USD. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
It’s been a while since VRFocus last got its hands on a decent tabletop real-time strategy (RTS) title that was worth shouting about. Brass Tactics by Hidden Path Entertainment in early 2018 was the previous notable title in that genre and now it looks like there’s a new challenger in town, Phaser Lock Interactive’s Final Assault.
The team previously released Final Approach back in 2016 which offered a unique take on airport management by allowing players to actually grab the planes, controlling their flight path and guiding them into land. So they’ve taken that concept and applied it to the war-torn battlefields of WWII, adding a far greater hands-on approach to RTS battles than VRFocus has encountered before.
Final Assault is all about getting into the thick of it, being on the frontline as you move tanks into position, roll artillery onto prime covering locations to bombard the enemy and keep planes whizzing around overhead to protect the skies. There can be a lot going on at points but it never feels too overwhelming and looks awesome once you’ve got a load of troops engaged in some warfare.
Each battle tends to revolve around one key objective, destroy your opponent’s base. Yet that single goal is surrounded by a wealth of options allowing you to cater each battle to make it different. Want to get a feel for a map, or one of the military divisions, then dive into single-player and have a practice, changing difficulties or swapping opponents to your heart’s content. Or for a proper challenge then it has to be multiplayer, with the same selection of divisions and maps, just with a trickier opponent.
In single-player there are three modes as such, the ‘singleplayer’ which gives you the wide choice when it comes to gameplay setup, the campaign – which currently offers one division, more will be added – or Skirmish which has two further options, start on the back foot with an enemy controlled battlefield or a map which is 50/50 controlled between you and the enemy.
Playing Final Assault is almost like being a big kid with a load of those plastic toy soldiers. The play space is laid out in front and it’s time to go to war. It’s quick and easy to pick up troops – once you’ve enough cash – and drop them into the fight, either to protect or take a particular position. Your main base constantly produces a few ground troops which will run towards your enemy’s base along a maps predesignated green routes. While these can’t be stopped the vehicles that you do build can also follow these same routes if you so wish, continually hammering the enemy.
Gameplay is further diversified by the military division you select ahead of battle, with each general offering their own speciality when it comes to warfare. Do you prefer an aerial advantage, to have the biggest most dangerous tank, or how about a destructive super weapon for total annihilation?
Final Assault is RTS-style tabletop gaming at its best. There are options galore whether you prefer single-player or multiplayer gaming, and easy to pick up controls with deep enough strategy to hook most players. And it’s still in Early Access so VRFocus can’t even give it a score at the moment because it’s not finished, there’s more to come. Phaser Lock Interactive should have a sure-fire hit on their hands.
Over the last few weeks, Phaser Lock Interactive has been holding open beta tests for its upcoming strategy title Final Assault. Originally due for an Early Access release back in February, the studio had to delay the release due to a fire in its office building. At long last Final Assault is ready to make its debut on Steam and Oculus Store, coming to Early Access tomorrow.
Phaser Lock Interactive made the announcement via its Twitter account, confirming that both Steam and Oculus Stores would have the videogame available.
Final Assault takes the unique gameplay style the studio first introduced with Final Approach back in 2016, taking a god-like overview of the world where you can grab vehicles and physically plot their course, and ramps things up with a WWII theme, hectic battles on the ground and in the air, plus for the first time multiplayer.
Even though this is an Early Access release Final Assault is virtually complete and isn’t in beta. For tomorrows launch the release will focus on PvP and PvE gameplay, offering cross-platform combat between Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The tutorial will be available, as well as all six military divisions. The studio estimates that the videogame will be in Early Access for around two months. In that time players will also gain access to the Campaign mode, one division to begin with for roughly 2 hours of game time with more to follow.
When the fully complete version of Final Assault is ready there will be 12 multiplayer maps to enjoy, expanded cross-platform support to include PlayStation VR, a full campaign mode for all six military divisions, plenty of custom features and lots more. Phaser Lock Interactive also has plans for DLC in the future.
As development continues and the studio rollout further updates for Final Assault,VRFocus will keep you updated.
Entwicklerstudio Phaser Lock Interactive veröffentlicht im April das neue VR-Echtzeitstrategiespiel Final Assault im Early Access für Oculus Rift, HTC Vive und Windows-VR-Brillen auf Steam sowie im Oculus Store. Der VR-Titel spielt im Setting des Zweiten Weltkriegs und erlaubt euch entweder im Singleplayer in einer Kampagne zu spielen oder euch im PvP mit anderen Mitspielern zu messen.
Final Assault – VR-Echtzeitstrategie für Oculus Rift, HTC Vive und Windows-VR-Brillen
Final Assault wurde erstmals auf der OC5 im letzten Jahr vorgestellt. Innerhalb des VR-Titels dürfen die Spieler zwischen zwei Parteien auswählen, um in strategischen Schlachten auf diversen Maps in den Krieg zu ziehen. Das Echtzeitstrategiespiel spielt im Setting des Zweiten Weltkriegs und erlaubt euch entsprechend entweder als deutsche Achsenkräfte oder Alliierte anzutreten.
Beide Parteien haben ihre eigenen Einheiten sowie Vor- und Nachteile, um euch verschiedene taktische Optionen an die Hand zu geben. So stehen diverse Bodentruppen, Fahrzeuge und Luftwaffen zur Verfügung.
Gameplay-technisch orientiert sich das Strategiespiel an MOBA-Verwandten, wie League of Legends, indem automatisierte Einheiten in verschiedenen Lanes auf der Karte spawnen. Diese wandern daraufhin zielstrebig in Richtung gegnerischer Basis, um auf dem Weg dorthin auf Verteidigungstürme und Objekte zu treffen. Allerdings entscheidet ihr als Spieler, welche Einheiten an welchen Punkten erscheinen, um einen taktischen Einfluss auf den Matchverlauf zu nehmen.
Image courtesy: Phaser Lock Interactive
Zudem finden auch an Nebenschauplätzen Gefechte statt, die eure Aufmerksamkeit erfordern. So werden Grabenkämpfe an strategisch wichtigen Punkten ausgeführt, um euch einen Stellungsvorteil zu verschaffen. Das Einnehmen eines geschützten Bereichs kann euch beispielsweise das Aufstellen von Artillerieeinheiten ermöglichen. Zusätzlich gibt es randomisierte Luftdrops, die nützliche Objekte und Geld enthalten.
Image courtesy: Phaser Lock Interactive
Da das Spiel von Grund auf für VR entwickelt wurde, steuert ihr per Drag-and-drop eure Einheiten. Besitzt ihr die nötigen Ressourcen, könnt ihr die gewünschten Einheiten aus einer Tablet-artigen Liste entnehmen und an der der gewünschten Stelle auf der Karte per Hand positionieren. Per Fingerwisch gebt ihr daraufhin die entsprechende Laufrichtung vor.
Image courtesy: Phaser Lock Interactive
Zum Release sollen drei verschiedene Schwierigkeitsgrade für die Kampagne sowie ein Multiplayer-PvP-Modus mit Cross-Plattform-Support bereitstehen. Insgesamt drei verschiedene Karten sollen dafür zunächst zur Verfügung stehen, wobei diese auf bis zu 14 erweitert werden sollen.
Final Assault ist ab April im Early Access für Oculus Rift, HTC Vive und Windows-VR-Brillen auf Steam sowie im Oculus Store verfügbar. Eine PSVR-Version mit Cross-Plattform-Support soll ebenso zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt folgen.
Virtual reality has absorbed a number of traditional mouse-and-keyboard games and turned them into something that can truly only exist in the medium. And while Final Assault, an online multiplayer real-time strategy game, takes some pretty tried and true classic RTS game mechanics, it also expertly blends them with more than a few VR-specific control schemes pioneered in the studio’s air traffic-control game Final Approach (2016) to a more explosive (and personally satisfying) effect.
Developer: Phaser Lock Interactive Available On: Steam (Vive, Rift, Windows VR), Oculus Store (Rift) Reviewed On: Rift, Vive Early Access Release Date: February 19th, 2019
Note: This game is in Early Access which means the developers have deemed it incomplete and likely to see changes over time. This review is an assessment of the game only at its current Early Access state and will not receive a numerical score.
Gameplay
Much like a League of Legends, Final Assault features a measure of automated combat, where ground troops automatically spawn at your base and march down specific lanes to your singular enemy. Enemy towers slow down forward advancement, and there’s also loot drops too, but that’s where the comparisons to LoL stop, as the game is decidedly a more traditional RTS in the sense that you choose which units to spawn and when, and send them out into the world tactically with the aim of destroying your enemy’s standard defenses and (hopefully) their base.
Image courtesy Phaser Lock Interactive
The action isn’t always in the lanes though, so you have to be careful to watch the wide swaths of the bits in between, which make for tempting places to set up long-distance artillery and anti-aircraft to further eat away at the enemy’s units and structures.
Getting the right mix is a constant struggle. The enemy pushes for air superiority and strafes a whole group of ground troops. You counter with mobile anti-aircraft guns and a few tanks to protect them from cheaper, but still effective land units. The enemy rushes in with a couple tanks and resumes, upgrading to bombers to take out that cluster of mobile troop carriers you were reserving in the back corner. It’s the sort of frustration we’ve all felt in classic RTS games, but something about seeing it all from the perspective of Godzilla makes it that much more hectic and immersive.
Controlling units is simple. You can send them to specific spots on the map, or draw a specific patrol order with your finger, represented by green dots of lines.
Creating a closed loop puts the plane, tank, or other unit in a holding pattern so you can patrol the area for whatever comes your way—just like in Final Approach. I found this particularly important with planes (no surprise there), as I would fill the sky with a swarm of basic fighters, tasking all of them with their own covering patterns to create a tangled net of air defense.
Sometimes ground units would get stuck behind each other, and were unable to logically resolve their diverging pathways to keep moving forward, although this only happened maybe once or twice per game. It still irked me to find a critical artillery unit uselessly parked sitting behind a troop carrier near my base.
Image courtesy Phaser Lock Interactive
A big factor in winning the match is claiming random loot drops, which parachute in from time to time in clearly marked parts of the map; money is automatically accrued at the same rate for both players, making it a game of spending your dollars wisely for the best mix of armor, airplanes, and both offensive and defensive vehicles, and those loot drops can mean all the difference.
You can view your status bar and also select all of these from a hand-held menu that you can activate by gripping the trigger on your non-dominant hand. The menu works very well, letting you physically select and cancel units; since purchased units roll out of your base near-instantly upon selection, you have to decide carefully.
Image captured by Road to VR
At its current point in Early Access, you can choose from either American Allied forces or German Axis forces, with each character possessing their own top-tier gear. If not properly countered though, it usually means a swift end to the battle. Think tactical nuclear bombs and near-invincible tanks. But because the whole battlefield is visible (no ‘fog of war’), you can see your demise coming straight at you, necessitating tactical spending, unit movements, on-the-fly countering, and as many loot drops as you can control and collect.
Higher-tier units are accessed by removing expensive locks in your hierarchy, so while the enemy is spending carelessly on a massive number of cheap units, you could save up for the massive bunker-busters depending on how much faith you have in whatever standard defenses are left on your side. How you spend your money seems to be the only thing you can hide from your opponent.
Image captured by Road to VR
Three PvE difficulties exist currently, with the last ‘Special Forces Mode’ putting up a pretty serious fight. While a campaign mode is in still the works and not available in the EA launch version, for now the bulk of Final Assault’s gameplay is currently rests on the game’s cross-platform PvP. I wasn’t successful in finding a PvP match on launch day, so I can’t speak to the game’s online multiplayer yet. I’ll be updating this piece as soon as I can, although I would expect it to follow my typical online RTS playthrough: I get beaten to a bloody pulp as faster players push for the best stuff using tactics I’ve never thought of before.
Only three maps are available at the moment, although grayed-out blocks indicate at least nine more coming leading up to its March 2019 launch out of Early Access.
Final Assault’s miniature world is nothing short of charming. Although your focus is invariably drawn to the battle ahead, looking out over the vast and beautiful countryside really shows off the studio’s knack for creating an engrossing diorama-style atmosphere.
Image courtesy Phaser Lock Interactive
I wish I could say the same for the voice acting though, as all of the faux-German accents sounded just plain bad. Of course, this is only a small part of an overall astounding job at creating a game that ticks all the right boxes in terms of solid gameplay; it’s certainly something I hope is changed as the studio flushes out the game’s feature set in the coming months.
While the game’s locomotion style doesn’t offer the most immersive way to take in the world’s environment (more on locomotion below), the fast-paced nature of the game and reliable controls basically ensure you’ll be fully locked into every second of the match. I can’t help but think that some kids in the future really won’t know what it’s like to spend their days building up Lego forts and knocking them over in a pretend Hot Wheels race gone awry. It’s all here: the tiny soldiers marching to smash the enemy, toy tanks rolling to drop points, the airplanes doing their impressive dive-bombing runs on guard towers.
Comfort
Movement is based on a ‘grab the world’ scheme, letting you move in any direction by simply shifting yourself where you need to go by grabbing the grip buttons on your motion controller. Although some maps are fairly small, I mostly found myself sitting in my office chair and grabbing the world one hand after the other to move forward bit by bit. Getting the hang of this takes a little while, both in terms of how to position yourself accurately while in the heat of controlling your army, and how rapid you want to move versus how rapid your brain will physically let you.
I didn’t really have comfort issues with the control scheme after playing for an hour straight, but as I got better and better at the game I started to instinctively push back from moving around at the speed I knew I needed to achieve to manage everything on the hectic battlefield. That said, I never had that deadly flop sweat that precedes a nasty bout of artificial locomotion-induced nausea, aka ‘sim sickness’.
Snap-turn is available, although I rarely used it, instead favoring a front-facing lateral movements to get a good view of everything.
Conclusion
I walked away from Final Assault feeling that all of the basic ingredients were there to make for a truly engrossing and fun game. The addition of a campaign mode though, which is promised to release sometime between now and its March 2019 launch, will make it much more appealing for players like me who would rather play offline. That said, I’ll definitely be playing more on the game’s road to launch.
Note: This game is in Early Access which means the developers have deemed it incomplete and likely to see changes over time. This review is an assessment of the game only at its current Early Access state and will not receive a numerical score.
Phaser Lock Interactive, the studio behind VR titles Final Approach (2016) and Twisted Arrow (2017), are bringing their WWII-themed real-time strategy game Final Assault out of Early Access with their full launch next month.
Update (April 25th, 2019): Phaser Lock today announced their cross-platform RTS is heading out of its short stint in Early Access on May 16th for $30. The game is launching on Steam, Viveport, and the Oculus Store, and supports HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows VR headsets. PSVR support is also on the future road map.
The full game’s features include:
Story and skirmish campaign modes
US and German Divisions including heavy armor, airforce and infantry units
Cross-Platform PVP multiplayer with leaderboards
Customization of Units, Flags and Player Avatars
14 unique maps from the icy lanes of the small village of Kleinstadt to the brush-covered battlefield of Hill-512
Cross-platform PvP between HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality
Spectator Mode that invites players to enjoy the game outside of Virtual Reality
The studio says users should expect more maps, more units, more game modes and new campaigns coming to the game post-launch.
In the meantime, check out our Early Access review of ‘Final Assault’ to get an idea of what’s in store. The original article announcing the game’s Early Access follows below:
Original Article (February 13th, 2019): After a slight delay, Final Assault is now set to release in Early Access on Steam (Vive, Rift, Windows VR) and the Oculus Store (Rift) starting February 19th; it was previously slated for it’s EA debut on February 12th. A PSVR version is also in the works that will allow cross-play with all supported headsets.
The game’s Early Access period is said to last a short three months before its official launch in April. At launch of Early Access, the game will include both cross-platform PvP and PvE, and will see a total of 12 maps unlocking along the way.
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Image courtesy Phaser Lock Interactive
Image courtesy Phaser Lock Interactive
Image courtesy Phaser Lock Interactive
Built from the ground-up for VR, Final Assault blows you up to the size of Godzilla, tasking you with commanding land and air units into enemy territory for interactive, dynamic battles. Much like Final Approach, units are controlled by drawing paths for precise, direct combat.
“We are focusing on the PVP right now and bringing Campaign, customization, and other game functions closer to launch. With the PvP, we feel that the more people playing in early access will allow us to balance the units/maps along with improving the AI for Campaign and PvE,” Phaser Lock CEO Michael Daubert said.
We’re currently testing a pre-release version of the game, and will have our full report coming before launch of Early Access next week.
Yesterday VRFocus reported on virtual reality (VR) developer Phaser Lock Interactive announcing a delay to the Early Access launch of real-time strategy (RTS) experience Final Assault. Today, the studio has confirmed to VRFocus that plans are underway for a series of Final Assault Tournaments as part of the early access phase.
Via email, Phaser Lock Interactive’s CEO Michael Daubert explained: “We are currently working with partners and vendors on setting up small Final Assault Tournaments following our early access launch. These tournaments are being planned for various area around North America, starting in our home town Austin with a larger tournament possibly set for March at GDC or PAX EAST. The tournaments are in early stages of planning, which require quite a lot of logistics and work, but we want to give players a stage to showcase their skills and tactics as they work their ways up the leaderboards. We will have more information coming shortly.”
By the sound of things, all these tournaments will be local rather than online, showcasing the Final Assault’s PvP mode to audiences in various towns around the US. Daubert continued to keep details fairly cryptic by mentioning that the tournaments will then ‘lead into something huge for our studio’.
The studio certainly seems to have big plans for its next VR experience, which will now arrive next Tuesday, 19th February. As it’s only going to be via Early Access, to begin with, the title will purely support Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. With the official launch planned for April, not only will more features be added but PlayStation VR users should see it pop up on the store.
With a WWII theme, Final Assault will be an intense single-player and multiplayer combat experience, where players have a god-like overview of the battlefield, controlling all manner of troops, tanks, planes and more in a bid for victory. The Early Access launch will purely focus on the PvP portion of the title, with the single-player features being slowly integrated over the next couple of months.
VRFocus will be following Final Assault’s progress, reporting back with further announcements regarding its Early Access development and those tournaments.
Virtual reality (VR) developer Phaser Lock Interactive was due to launch Final Approach sequel Final Assault tomorrow via Steam Early Access. Unfortunately, the studio has had to delay the release by a week due to a fire in its office building.
Phaser Lock Interactive issued the statement above alongside several images showcasing the devastation caused to several offices at its Austin, Texas location.
Final Assault is a new real-time strategy (RTS) experience based-on WWII, featuring support for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR. Having demoed the title at several events – most recently PAX South last month – next week’s early access launch will allow PC players to experience the PvP portion of the title.
“Early Access will give full access to cross-platform(Oculus and Vive) PVP and PVE combat with matchmaking and friend finding tools. All six military divisions will be available as we unlock a total of 12 maps throughout the Early Access, starting with the first 4 maps, Sturmberg, Kleinstadt, St. Ulrich’s and Hill-512,” the studio states. “We will also have available the tutorial and our Unit Encyclopedia that is an interactive way for players to explore each units powers/weakness and learn their best strategies.”
Phaser Lock Interactive only plans on being in Early Access for a couple of months, fully launching Final Assault in early April. As the release date gets closer the studio will also give limited access to the Campaign mode, Customization, and other launch features.
From an overhead viewpoint, players will be able to wage war in 360-degrees, commanding jeeps, tanks, and artillery in massive ground battles as the skies erupt in bullets, flak and dynamic dogfights. They’ll be able to order tactical air strikes and bombing runs as they advance their troops by drawing paths for precise, direct combat towards the enemy. The campaign mode will feature around 4-6 hours of gameplay, with missions and objectives that can be played by all 6 commanders, allowing for a different experience and re-play opportunities.
Once the main launch has taken place, the studio also plans on releasing DLC in the future. Final Assault arrives on Tuesday 19th February in Early Access. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
It’s been a while since we caught up with Final Assault. This is a new VR real-time strategy (RTS) game from veteran developers Phaser Lock Interactive. In the past, we’ve been impressed by the team’s vision of the VR RTS. It’s perhaps a more accessible take than something like Brass Tactics, but that might be key to its success.
Today, Phaser Lock is announcing the game will launch in Early Access on February 12th 2019. It’ll arrive with cross-play between Rift and Vive across 14 different maps. A full single-player campaign is coming in March ahead of the full launch later on.
We recently got to try out the latest build of the game’s PvP mode ahead of PAX East this weekend. Let’s talk about why we think it’s a winner.
It Doesn’t Overwhelm You
It’s true that VR seems like the perfect fit for the RTS genre. But in practice, it’s easy to find these games overwhelming. There’s a lot of ground to cover and, if you suddenly find yourself caught out in battle, it can be a mad scramble to catch up. Final Assault helps you manage that load in a clever way.
Though the game’s maps allow for free movement, they also have dedicated paths that keep your units busy. Think of them as conveyor belts that move your units along without the need to check on them. If, for example, you ordered a tank onto one of these paths, it would automatically fight its way to the front lines. It’s a thoughtful way of making sure you’re utilizing all your resources at all times. You won’t look back to suddenly see four tanks sitting around doing nothing.
It Replaces Your Mouse Quite Nicely
For all the amazing new types of control VR provides, there’s something to be said for the mouse. A few flicks of the wrist, a couple of clicks and you’ve issued orders with pinpoint precision. VR controls take decidedly more effort. But one of Final Assault’s best touches is the ability to carve out a specific path for your units.
Just touch the vehicle in question and pull the trigger. Then drag your finger around the map and you’ll forge a path that the given unit will follow to the letter. It’s a great way of executing advanced strategies, making sure tanks use the cover of a building to reach a good vantage point or flanking enemies from all sides.
It’s A Visual Delight
Diorama VR has always had a special magic to it, but that’s doubly true of Final Assault. Somehow Phaser Lock has achieved a tiny game world that looks incredibly believable. Snowy maps are peppered with white specs, hiding intricate details on sharply textured buildings. Plains hover around you like bothersome flies and tanks invite you to play with them like action figures. It really is a joy to behold. Despite levels sometimes having more than three separate battles going on at once, performance remained incredibly solid.
Its Simplicity Is Its Sweet Spot…
You might consider Final Assault to be a stripped back RTS. Its maps are smaller than most and it does away with resource gathering seen in other games. For RTS purists, that may be a step too far. Personally, I found the game to have a welcome level of manageability.
Battles are short and sharp, so as to not turn your VR sessions into a slog. Maps can be fully surveyed at any point to give you a full idea of what’s going on. There’s very little downtime; its the key elements of the RTS distilled into something snackable. That makes it a perfect fit for VR.
…But May Also Be Its Undoing
All that said, you can’t help but wonder if Final Assault leans a little too hard on accessibility. I won each of the PvP games I played simply by waiting to unlock the biggest and best units and then sending them out as quickly as I could. The other side, which had spent far more consistently through the match, simply couldn’t keep up with their firepower.
Granted this was all fairly low-level play from two people new to the game. I’m really looking forward to digging into Final Assault and trying to uncover some deeper strategies that will give the game longevity. I’m betting I’ll find them.
Final Assault is launching on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive via Early Access on February 12th. The full launch across Rift, Vive and PSVR will come later this spring.
Starting this Friday is the annual PAX South videogame event in San Antonio, Texas, featuring two days of gaming goodness. Of course, no event is complete without a bit of virtual reality (VR) awesomeness taking place, with some of the most anticipated titles set to make an appearance during the show.
It seems that Oculus will be returning to the event in full force, taking a selection of titles that are due to make an appearance on Oculus Rift. One of VRFocus most eagerly awaited videogames of 2019 is Insomniac Games’ Stormland. An epic sci-fi adventure, 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.
When VRFocusfirst previewed the title we said that: ‘Stormland is undoubtedly Insomniac Games’ most ambitious VR project to date.’
Or for a bit of spy action then there’s Defector. Another Oculus Rift exclusive, Defector is the work of Wilson’s Heart developer Twisted Pixel and Oculus Studios. 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.
Both Stormland and Defector will be available in the VR Freeplay area on the PAX show floor.
Also at the show will be BigBox VR with its upcoming battle royale title Population: ONE. Population: ONE aims to build upon the success of Bigbox VR’s first virtual reality (VR) videogame, Smashbox Arena. You’ll be able to climb, fly and build in 12v12 team wars and 24-player free for all modes, with cross-play compatibility for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
For those that like their strategy titles then there’s Phaser Lock Interactive’s Final Assault. A WWII themed real-time strategy (RTS) that puts you in command of jeeps, tanks, and artillery in massive ground battles as the skies erupt in bullets, flak and dynamic dogfights. You’ll be able to order tactical air strikes and bombing runs as you advance your troops by drawing paths for precise, direct combat towards the enemy.
There will be plenty more hands-on demos so for more information, head over to the official PAX Website. For the further updates on the videogames mentioned, keep reading VRFocus.
The team previously released Final Approach back in 2016 which offered a unique take on airport management by allowing players to actually grab the planes, controlling their flight path and guiding them into land. So they’ve taken that concept and applied it to the war-torn battlefields of WWII, adding a far greater hands-on approach to RTS battles than 
Phaser Lock Interactive issued the statement above alongside several images showcasing the devastation caused to several offices at its Austin, Texas location.
