Population: One finally has a release date set for October 22nd, less than a week after the launch of the Oculus Quest 2 on October 13th. Big Box VR is bringing their battle royale shooter to all PC VR headsets and Quest at launch with full crossplay support for $29.99.
Population: One – VR Battle Royale
Jamie, Ian, and I all got the chance to dive into Population: One last week together as a team and you can read my impressions from that hour-long play session right here or watch a bunch of gameplay in the video up above.
The comparisons to games like Fortnite are unavoidable and obvious. Not only is this a battle royale game in which players are tasked with being the last team standing as a toxic gas slowly encroaches on the map making it smaller and smaller over time, but it also features build-anywhere mechanics to spring up cover and quick structures on the fly.
What really sets Population: One apart though is that you can climb literally any surface. All you do is reach up and hold the grip button and you’re off climbing. You can also glide from any surface with an always-equipped glider so you never need to worry about fall damage. It complements the climbing system nicely.
Population: One will launch with a single map, several guns including assault rifles, SMGs, pistols, shotguns, and snipers, as well as grenades, and each match can hold up to 18 players across six 3-persopn squads. Your teammates can revive you if you go down, but if your team is wiped then you enter a spectator mode that lets you fly around the map in the sky to watch as things unfold.
“We’ve worked hard to bring POPULATION: ONE to as many platforms as possible by pushing the absolute limits of modern mobile VR chipsets,” said Gabe Brown, BigBox VR’s CTO and co-founder in a prepared statement. “We’re excited to see how players use the Vertical Combat System to compete and win starting on October 22nd!”
Population: One is slated to hit the Oculus Quest platform and all major PC VR headsets on October 22nd for $29.99. For more on Population: One, check out our hands-on impressions right here and keep an eye out on UploadVR for more coverage and a full review later this month.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Population: One is releasing later this month and we’ve already gone hands-on with this high-flying VR battle royale game. We played three full matches with developers last month on Oculus Quest 2 and have our complete impressions, plus a gameplay video, for you to check out. Population: One is hitting Quest and PC VR with crossplay on October 22nd.
Population: One – VR Battle Royale
I’ve played a lot of battle royale games. From the big hitters like Fortnite, PUBG, and Call of Duty Warzone, to the more obscure such as Ring of Elysium and Darwin Project, down to new releases shaking up the genre like Spellbreak. Generally speaking, I really, really enjoy battle royale games.
Until now there really hasn’t been a definitive VR battle royale game that was actually polished. I’ve played quite a lot of Stand Out and it’s a mostly passable imitation of PUBG, but it’s so janky and unpolished it’s hard to recommend. Rec Room’s Rec Royale is a fun diversion, Virtual Battlegrounds does a decent job expanding on the Stand Out formula, and we’ve seen a couple others but nothing really jumps out as a de factor battle royale VR game. But from what I’ve played, Population: One has the polish and gameplay to finally stick the landing.
Remarkably, Population: One hasn’t changed a whole lot in the past two years. I first got the chance to play the game all the way back at CES 2019 on an HTC Vive Pro, but last month when I tried it on an Oculus Quest it played even better than I remembered.
The team tells me that they were actually prepping for launch on PC VR when I saw it last, but then when the Quest was announced that changed everything. They’ve spent the last two years working almost entirely on optimization for the Quest port and getting it to be as good and pain-free as possible. That goes a long way for VR.
For the demo Jamie, Ian, and I all joined into the game using our Oculus Quest 2 headsets. I’ve been told it will be fully crossplay between the Quest platform and all PC VR headsets. Since the game is six teams of three (18 total players) the three of us got to be on a team together. We played three matches and got third, second, and second — so first place still eludes us. Granted, maybe we will fare better once we’re not facing off against teams of developers.
Unlike most battle royale games, you’re not joining the same plane or flying bus to jump out as it flies over the map. Instead, you start on the edge of the map at a giant launch bay and can either jump off manually and glide down using your wingsuit, or pick a launch pod and eject into the sky until it lands or even jump out midflight.
Surprisingly, the wingsuit feels fantastic. All you have to do to use it is stretch your arms out to either side like wings while in the air and hold them there to glide towards the ground.
Once you land it becomes the typical mad dash for loot. I love how quick and easy it is to loot and how fluid controls feel. The looting process is actually very streamlined here since you don’t need to worry about weapon attachments at all. Instead, weapons are tiered and ranked based on quality similar to Fortnite.
Since the map is quite large (it’s a full square kilometer) you probably won’t see any other people immediately unless you specifically try and chase someone down. That’s a lot of space for 18 people split into six tiny groups. Thankfully, you don’t have to wait long though.
Eventually the zone will telegraph where it’s going next with a white safe zone barrier on the map and visibly in the world. Just like other battle royale games, getting stuck in the danger zone outside the safe zone will slowly kill you over time.
The building system works well, even if it is very basic. While playing you’ll come across a vague “resource” item that you can collect and you can then expend these resources to create walls as shown below.
They’re all built on a grid so they’re easy to connect but all you can make are walls and floors/ceilings — so just box-type structures. There are no stairs or anything like that, but since you can climb any surface they’re not really needed. Clinging onto the edge of a wall and peeking over the top to shoot is a good strategy.
One thing that I think could have used some more attention is the UI. Generally speaking it’s all very flat and plain. Numbers are in a large, obnoxious font and things like your health bar and ping icons are extremely large and bright. It helps make sure you don’t miss information, but it really takes you out of things when elements of the interface feel like they’re ripped from a mobile game and aren’t integrated into the world at all.
Onward is a very different type of shooter, but it does an excellent job of requiring realistic, immersive actions to deduce information. Population: One could have put health and armor info on a wrist watch or required you to pull the map out from your backpack. Instead, it’s lots of floating UI elements that are very clearly not designed with VR in mind. It makes me wonder if there are eventually plans to bring this to non-VR platforms.
The other note along the same lines is that long-range scoped weapons like snipers force your view into a full-screen mode that is just a giant black box with the scope as a circle in the middle. You don’t actually aim down the scope with a zoomed window like in a lot of other VR shooters.
Other than that though everything feels and plays great. The developers told me about plans for a progression system, battle pass system for unlocking new cosmetics, and ongoing support with map changes, seasonal events, and more. On paper, it sounds like the kind of VR game that’s worth returning to again and again. Hopefully it can live up to that potential.
Population: One (official website) releases on October 22nd for the Oculus Quest platform and PC VR headsets for $29.99. There will be full crossplay but there is no crossbuy between the Quest and Rift versions.
Let us know what you think of the game down in the comments below!
Solaris: Offworld Combat, the next VR shooter from Firewall Zero Hour developers First Contact Entertainment, is out now for PSVR, Rift and Quest. Check out our impressions in our Solaris: Offworld Combat review!
Note: This review was originally published on September 26th, 2020. It’s now been updated to include the PSVR version.
Following up on one of the most successful and well-known PSVR games, Firewall Zero Hour, is no small task. Especially when your next game, in this case Solaris, launches first on different headsets (before the recent PSVR homecoming). But for all its differences and unique challenges, I think Solaris is still mostly a worthy follow-up to the breakout PSVR hit.
The big difference here is that Solaris is not a realistic-style tactical military shooter. At all. Whereas Firewall borrows heavy inspiration from the likes of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, Solaris is more like an alternate reality sci-fi version of Quake with its focus on pick-up-and-playability and quick-paced gameplay.
Everything in Solaris is about as streamlined as it can possibly get — for better and (in some small cases) for worse. For example, there are no game modes to pick from, maps to select, playlists to queue for, or anything like that. The main menu literally just says ‘Play’ or asks you to put on the helmet to enter a game. That’s it. From there you’re spawned into a match with seven other people in a 4v4 game to capture control points that move around the map, sort of like Headquarters in Call of Duty. It’s very quick and efficient and, above all else, very fun.
In addition to the four guns (starting pistol, automatic assault rift, grenade launcher, and rocket launcher) there are two equipment items: proximity mine and deployable cover shield. It’s enough gear to add some strategy to encounters, but does feel a bit light overall.
Another example of this streamlined approach is the lack of an inventory, weapon switching, or reloading. You walk over weapons to pick them up and then it auto-switches to that new weapon. You shoot the special weapons until they’re out of ammo and it switches back to your starting pistol. No reloading ever required. In this way the “weapons” actually function a bit more like upgrades since they’re temporary. It adds intensity because you can visibly see when others pick up the weapons and creates competition to see who can get them first.
Solaris: Offworld Combat Review – Quest vs Rift
Solaris: Offworld Combat is out on both Quest and Rift with cross-buy and cross-play support. So even if you only have one headset, you’re playing against and with people on both platforms at all times. Visually it’s extremely similar. So similar in fact, that other than a few particle effects and lighting enhancements you can barely tell the difference. Gameplay is functionally identical. The only difference I’ve ever really spotted from a performance level is at the start of a match on Quest, before you’re ever in combat, there is a little bit of jitter and stutter as things are initializing, but once you’re in the game and actively playing, that all goes away. Refer to the video below for a side-by-side comparison.
However, not all of the streamlining they’ve done is for the better. One great example of this is weapon handling. In Solaris, you literally cannot control your left hand at all. Every weapon in the game is essentially one-handed just like the pistol, which is fine in and of itself, Half-Life: Alyx did this as well, but in Solaris your left hand isn’t tracked at all. If you reach out with your left controller it doesn’t do anything, you’re only using it as a thumbstick to move around.
The issue with this is twofold: a lack of presence and immersion, but also a lack of gameplay opportunity. In games like Onward your left hand is equal to the right hand, you could pull your pistol with the left hand, cradle the gun on your left shoulder and even pull the trigger left-handed if you wanted to. But in Solaris your left hand is basically the left half of an Xbox controller in your hand without tracking.
All that being said — you will forget about it. While playing I tended to rest my right controller on top of my left controller to steady the aim regardless of weapon so it generally felt like I was using both hands in-game even though I wasn’t. I genuinely stopped noticing or caring about it during the heat of battle.
Solaris: Offworld CombatReview – Comfort Settings
Solaris: Offworld Combat should be avoided if you require teleportation movement to enjoy VR because smooth, direct locomotion is the only option. That being said, there are some settings you can tweak to make it more comfortable if you’re not extra sensitive. In the main menu options you can switch between smooth and snap turning or turn on/off the FOV vignette for turning and sprinting.
Another odd limitation is the restricted physical crouching. I know the Quest and Rift S are capable of accurately tracking me as I lay down on the ground, or even roll around, because I’ve done it in games like Rec Room and Onward, but there are invisible barriers in Solaris that only let you go down as low as the crouch button animates.
Probably more than any other shooter I’ve played in VR, Solaris is the most seamless to play. It’s pure entertainment that just works. You never have to fuss around with anything feeling wonky or off because all the things that usually cause those issues in VR just aren’t here. On the surface things can see simplistic, but in the moment they absolutely are there to ensure the game is as fluid and playable as possible from top to bottom.
Solaris: Offworld Combat Review Final Impressions
Solaris: Offworld Combat is more than just the sum of its parts. While it’s easy to nitpick some of the decisions made, like your left hand not really being tracked in the game or the lack of a party/friend system at all for launch, the fact of the matter is that it’s still just incredibly fun to play. Visually it looks great on both Rift and Quest and the gameplay has that quick and seamless feel of Quake mixed with a slick Tron-style aesthetic. Despite the issues, Solaris is easily the most accessible and streamlined VR shooter I’ve played in recent memory and scratches the arena shooter itch I’d forgotten I had.
Solaris: Offworld Combat is out now on Rift and for Quest with cross-buy and cross-play functionality across both platforms. This review was conducted using both versions of the game, but most time was spent in the Quest version. A PSVR version also release today, May 18th. For more on how we arrived at this score, check out our review guidelines.
The next VR game from developer inXile and publisher Thirdverse is epic-scale sci-fi shooter Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds. The Open Beta starts next week on September 28th and will last until October 19th and you can earn a FREE copy just by playing!
What makes Frostpoint a bit unique in the VR FPS space is that each of its four large maps are actually PvPvE engagements. This means that while you’re fighting the other team in large 10v10 battles, there are monsters and other AI enemies roaming about that drop loot for you to target and take down as well. It’ll have various game modes, such as capture and control. There is also full bot support as well.
Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds ‘Play to Own’ Campaign
Back when we unveiled Frostpoint VR during our interview with the developers, they mentioned plans to debut a “Play to Own” campaign during the Open Beta period. In order to quality you must sign up on the official website and link your Oculus or Steam account to make sure everything is tracked and recorded.
Each week during the Open Beta test, the developer are awarding 3,000 players a free game key on release. All you have to do is reach a target of 10 games played within that week. Presumably the faster you hit that milestone, the more likely you are to get a key. Target stats are reset each week and you’ll be notified via email if you’ve qualified to receive a key.
You can join the Open Beta test starting on September 28th via Steam here or via Oculus here. There’s no firm and final full launch date yet, but it’s slated for this year still after the Open Beta ends with support for all major PC VR headsets including Rift, Vive, and Index. Let us know if you plan on playing down in the comments below!
Solaris: Offworld Combat is coming out this week for Rift and Quest and we’ve already gone hands-on with the team-based sci-fi VR shooter. Check out our preview for more details and watch the graphics comparison below to see how it fares on Quest vs Rift.
Since this is a multiplayer shooter, we won’t be syncing up footage, however we’ve got two rounds side by side. On the left is the Quest, which you’ll notice has slightly longer loading times compared to the near non-existent loading for Rift. We’ve shaved it down a bit for timing sake, but not by much.
Once the games begin you can see some clear lighting and color differences, with Quest being much more basic and chunky with distinctly less glow while the Rift can afford more blended and complex aesthetics.
Overall, the Quest version compares to the Rift version very favorably all things considered and looks much more similar to the PC counterpart than a lot of ports we’ve seen. All of the gameplay and content is the same so there is actually a lot of parity between the two.
Your weapons have about the same amount of detail except for the previously mentioned elements, however when it comes to shooting animations there are far less details on the Quest version, making it look a little more basic in comparison to Rift’s firework-style display. Either way, I don’t think any of these differences should affect your gameplay on Quest, and it holds up wonderfully even in this pre-release build.
In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that personally I prefer the Quest version due almost entirely to the wireless nature. With how fast-paced of a game Solaris is, being able to spin around quickly is a godsend that really improves how effective I can be in a fight.
Solaris Offworld Combat is coming out on September 24th for Rift and Quest as well as PSVR eventually after its initial launch but there’s no date on that version yet. You can definitely expect a new graphics comparison when that version comes out.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Solaris: Offworld Combat is the next multiplayer shooter from First Contact Entertainment and we got the chance to go hands-on with it for the very first time last week. During my session I played the game on both Rift S and Quest and came away excited to see more!
From the very first moments of gameplay, it’s obvious that Solaris takes heavy inspiration from the likes of Quake, Unreal, and other classic arena shooters. And remarkably, it actually runs and looks strikingly similar on both Quest and Rift — as you can see in the video below.
Now, let’s dive into what it’s like it play it.
5 Ways Solaris Channels Quake And Unreal For Old-School Shooter Fun
Fast-Paced Gameplay
In Solaris you’re a cyber athlete from the future that battles it out against others on virtual battlegrounds. It’s a pretty meta premise that’s a bit like VR-within-VR and the presentation absolutely nails it. What this means functionally is that you spend very little time standing around waiting. Load times are incredibly quick, you move around maps at a quick pace, and can even slide across the ground for an evasive speed boost.
Just like in Quake and Unreal, it pays to stay on the move. Standing still is a great way to get shot so you’ll want to learn maps fast so you know the best cover points and hallways to sprint down while getting the drop on an enemy.
No Reloading Necessary
Solaris doesn’t have a reload button. I know, that seems weird. With the popularity of modern military shooters and the “realism” VR affords in games like Onward, it’s a bit odd to think that you won’t need to actually reload your gun at all. But in the future cyberscape of Solaris, where they’re going they don’t need reload buttons.
And if you played old-school games like Doom, Quake, and Unreal, then you’d know those don’t have reload buttons either. All reloading does is slow you down and Solaris is all about the speed of immediacy of combat.
Walk-Over Item Pick-Ups
Speaking of the immediacy of combat, in Solaris you don’t need to manage an inventory, manually pick up weapons, or switch weapons at all. You run full-speed over item spawn points and you just automatically pick them up. Everyone begins each match with their standard semi-auto pistol and within each map you can find a rocket launcher, grenade launcher, and assault rifle weapons, in addition to a deployable shield cover and proximity mine. Shield and health power-ups round out the offering.
In some older shooters you could cycle between various weapons, but you don’t do that in Solaris. Instead, whatever improved gun you find is your default weapon for a short time until you’ve used it up, then it just auto-switches back to your pistol. You need to take advantage of increased firepower when you’ve found it.
This one I expect to be a bit divisive, because in some ways it smacks of the taste of dumbing things down, but I don’t think streamlining necessarily means dumbing down. From what I’ve played Solaris is still an immensely fun, challenging, and deep shooter with a lot of nuance, but it sidesteps pain points that don’t translate smoothly to VR by simplifying things that get in the way of just having fun.
Teamwork Is Key
Since Solaris only has one game mode that’s basically like King of the Hill, called Control Point, it encourages teamwork above going rogue as a solo player. Technically you can still get XP and rank up to unlock new cosmetics even if your team doesn’t win, but being on the winning team nets you a big XP bonus so it’s worth playing cohesively.
Solaris has in-game voice chat, but unfortunately it won’t have a party system or friend invite system at launch. At launch it’s only going to be “Pre-Season” and then the standard Season of rankings will begin shortly after. It’s my understanding that as new Seasons begin, new cosmetics will roll out, and likely other changes like new weapons and maps too.
And yes — all maps and weapons that are added will be included for free.
Easy To Learn, Difficult To Master
Solaris is the kind of game you can quickly hop in and play with little to no fuss (assuming at least seven other people across PC and Quest have the same idea) and it’s a lot of fun. However, there is still depth here. Learning the maps, working with your team, getting the hang of shooting each gun, and developing strategies takes time and means that the entry level for playing is quite low but the skill ceiling for being really, really good is very high.
Similar to games like Quake and Unreal, virtually anyone can play those games. They’re pretty dead simple. But if you watch pro-tier players it looks almost like they’re playing a different game altogether due to how fluidly they move. Solaris has that same flexibility.
Solaris: Offworld Combat Additional Details
This article was called 5 ways Solaris is liek Unreal or Quake, but there are actually a bunch of other things I want to talk about. Thus, you get a small brain dump at the end here:
Progression
If you played Firewall Zero Hour you might remember in that game that you not only unlocked new things like guns, equipment, and skins by ranking up your level, but also by spending the in-game currency that you either earned slowly by playing or by spending real money to buy it. Solaris is rank-based progression only and all weapons are just map-based pickups.
From what I’ve seen there aren’t many cosmetics yet, but thankfully the outfit models like the shape of the helmet and style of your armor are separate from the color skin that’s applied, so you can mix and match pretty freely. It just takes a while to unlock anything, so hopefully they add a lot more.
Dedicated Servers, Fast Load Times
Another thing to mention as a key point is that Solaris is launching with dedicated servers rather than peer-to-peer and load times are really, really quick.
No Party System
I mentioned this already, but just to emphasize: you cannot join up with a friend, make a party, or invite anyone to a game — yet. That is coming as the first major update, but for pre-season it’s not in yet.
No Bots, No Solo Play
When I pressed the developers for an answer here they basically just said, “We never say never,” but at this time there are no plans for anything other than strictly 4v4. That means if only seven people are online, you can’t play. There is no training mode, no bots to fight against, and no solo options at all. Hopefully they reconsider and add something, even if it’s just an option to have bots fill empty slots and balance teams.
No Map Selection Or Lobby System
The main menu has a play button or you can put the helmet on — those are your options for joining a match. Behind the scenes the game then slots you into a match and starts the game. There is no map selection, it’s just always random, and you can’t tweak options or anything yet. I’m under the impression that private lobbies with settings to tweak and filters to set are coming, but aren’t there yet.
No Jumping
Sorry, no jump button. However — you can slide! And that’s pretty fun.
Solaris: Offworld Combat releases on September 24th for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift with crossplay and crossbuy. There are plans for a PSVR release later, but there’s no date for that yet. Keep an eye here on UploadVR and our YouTube channel for more coverage. You can also preemptively join the developer’s Discord server.
Let us know what you think of Solaris down in the comments below!
Secret Location revealed Blasters of the Universe: Infinity Forever today, a new free-roam location-based VR shooter for up to four players.
The original Blasters of the Universe was one of the first room-scale VR interpretations on the classic bullet hell wave shooter genre. Instead of controlling a spaceship, you’d move your body to dodge bullets while returning fire in a neon-soaked retro-futuristic landscape. It was a blast (pardon the pun) and is highly regarded as one of the best early VR shooters with lots of replay value that eventually left early access after a couple of years.
Now, Secret Location (also developers of the excellent time-bending VR puzzle game, Transpose) is back with Blasters of the Universe: Infinity Forever, a free-roam location-based entertainment take on the franchise. Designed for up to four people, it follows a linear story structure as players make their way through a series of levels at actual physical VR arcade locations powered by SynthesisVR.
The choice to focus on LBE VR rather than at-home VR is an interesting one given the current state of the industry. Top-billed attractions like The Void are struggling to retain leases for their locations and arcades around the world, but most especially in the United States, continue to struggle.
“We have remained optimistic about the state of our industry in the past months as we continued to make our games from home”, said Michael Masukawa, Director of Strategy and Business Development at Secret Location, in a prepared statement. “We know that now more than ever, families and friends are going to be craving meaningful shared experiences and so we’re happy to be able to offer them exactly what they need. As family entertainment centers start to reopen with safety in mind, we are thrilled to be partnering with Synthesis on the launch of our first location-based VR game.”
What do you think of the move? Risky considering the state of affairs, or forward-looking as the world slowly tries to return to normal? Let us know what you think down in the comment below!
Admittedly, you’d be forgiven for thinking that because this newest trailer shows an image of an Oculus Quest at the end just before mentioning this in small print at the bottom:
“Compatible PC required. Link cable required for Oculus Quest.”
Honestly if you blink more than once you’re liable to miss it, but if you look really closely you can notice a cord draped behind the Quest there too. Naturally, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is compatible with Oculus Quest via Link when plugged into a VR-ready PC because, well, everything is. You still need the PC and Rift store to access the game, it’s not a new platform.
Other than the arguably misleading end to the trailer, it’s actually quite fantastic. There’s a less campy tone to it all when compared to the original announcement, visuals seem more polished and sharp, and I notice a bit more emphasis on blood spatter from gunshots, which makes sense, this is World War II after all. Still a bit surprising given past comments on violence from the developers.
We didn’t really learn anything new about the game other than getting a feel for its cinematic nature. The team at Respawn, some of which have worked on past Medal of Honor titles, seems to be tapping into the roots of the franchise by aiming for a more immersive movie-like experience over the gritty, grounded take that most modern military shooters go for these days.
For more details on Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond make sure and check out our past coverage on the game such as this detailed hands-on impressions from a year ago. There are still no details on the multiplayer offerings at all, but Facebook and EA have confirmed that more details on Medal of Honor are coming soon at Facebook Connect next month.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is still slated for this holiday season as an Oculus Rift platform exclusive. Stay tuned to UploadVR for more information as it’s available and in the meantime let us know what you think down in the comments below!
For today’s livestream we’re playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein in VR using a brand new Oculus Quest mod! If you’re curious about how we livestream the way we do then look no further than this handy guide for general tips and this guide specific to our Oculus Quest setup.
There’s something special about replaying an older game in VR with updates visuals that just never gets old to me. Checking out DOOM on Oculus Quest was a real nostalgia trip and now getting to play Return to Castle Wolfenstein in VR with updated textures, one of the all-time classic FPS games on PC, is just really surreal. And not to mention an absolute blast! Check out our original story and 10-minutes of gameplay here.
Our Return to Castle Woflenstein VR livestream is planned to start at about 11:00 PM PT today and willb around an hour or so, give or take, depending partially on how long my small toddler child decides to behave. We’ll be hitting just our YouTubeand I’ll likely be streaming from a Pimax 5K+ using two Index controllers. I’m flying solo on this one.
Check out the Return to Castle Wolfenstein VR stream embedded right here and down below once live:
You can see lots of our past archived streams over in our YouTube playlist or even all livestreams here on UploadVR and various other gameplay highlights. There’s lots of good stuff there so make sure and subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up-to-date on gameplay videos, video reviews, live talk shows, interviews, and more original content!
And please let us know which games or discussions you want us to livestream next! We have lots of VR games in the queue that we would love to show off more completely. Let’s get ready to lock and load!
Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds is the next big VR game from inXile Entertainment, developers of The Mage’s Tale and non-VR classics like The Bard’s Tale and Wasteland, and publisher Thirdverse.
Today, the developer revealed Closed Beta testing kicks off next week from August 24th – September 4th on Steam and you can sign up right now at this website.
Frostpoint is a fast-paced team-based competitive online multiplayer VR shooters that takes place around a dilapidated military training base in Antarctica. Grotesque creatures roam the enviroment, creating an innovative PvEvP scenario in which you’ll need to contend with both the monsters and opposing team at all times.
The Closed Beta test lasts for nearly two weeks on Steam with players due to receive invites in waves across the testing period. When the Open Beta launches later this year, testers that meet specific (although currently undetermined) playtime requirements will receive free copies of the game. inXile is calling this its “Play to Own” initiative.
We revealed Frostpoint last month in an exclusive story that featured an in-depth interview (embedded above) and the debut trailer. Fans of competitive multiplayer first-person shooters should be excited for this one, as it blends realistic weaponry with a dark sci-fi settings in a really unique way.
At its core, Frostpoint isn’t that different from games like Onward, other than the setting and details surrounding it. Rather than picking a class, for example, your gear and abilities is just based on what you equip before entering combat. Armored suits provide some slight differences for speed and stats, but everything else just comes down to your weapons and personal skill level.
Frostpoint does not have a set release date yet, but it will arrive this year for PC VR headsets, specifically Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Valve Index devices. Closed Beta sign ups are now live.
Let us know if you sign up and what you think about the news down in the comments below!
