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Gladiator Sim ‘GORN’ Releases on Oculus Quest Today
GORN (2019), the single-player arcade battle simulator, is finally coming to Oculus Quest today.
Update (January 28th, 2021): GORN is set to launch on Oculus Quest sometime today. There’s still no word on exactly when it will arrive on the Oculus Store—even the developers aren’t sure. As soon as it is, we’ll include the link here.
Original Article (January 20th, 2021): Created by Free Lives, the studio behind Broforce (2015) and Genital Jousting (2018), Gorn is officially headed to the Quest platform on January 28th, 2021.
First launched on Steam Early Access in 2017, Gorn is primal cartoon violence at its best, offering up physics-driven combat against teetering beefcakes who are clad with swords, maces, bows, nunchuks, and everything in between—even Conan-style two-handed broadswords. Check out the PSVR launch trailer below to see more.
Gorn is an awesome excuse to literally tear your frustrations limb from limb, but equally also a great reason to reacquaint yourself with the Guardian feature on your headset, lest you want a broken lamp, TV, controller, or bloodied hands. Don’t say we didn’t warn you, because it’s easy to forget where you are as a mob of gladiators start swinging battle axes your way.
With its launch on Quest, the critically-acclaimed game can finally says its on all major VR headsets. You can also grab Gorn on SteamVR headsets, Oculus Rift, and PSVR.
The post Gladiator Sim ‘GORN’ Releases on Oculus Quest Today appeared first on Road to VR.
Gorn’s Oculus Quest Launch is in Two Weeks
Several months ago Gorn developer Free Lives announced that its comedic brawler would be coming to Oculus Quest, ported over by 24Bit Games – the studio behind the PlayStation VR port. Today, the launch date has been confirmed and there’s not long to wait.
Alongside a new Oculus Quest screenshot the studio announced that Gorn will be available on 28th January, less than two weeks away. Popular with PC VR and PlayStation VR players alike, soon those on Oculus Quest or Quest 2 will find out why this is an indie success story.
Or VRFocus can just tell you, it’s violence, pure over-the-top cartoon chaos like an episode of Happy Tree Friends. Gorn puts you inside a classic gladiatorial arena to vanquish wave after wave of muscle bound fighters. You can utilise weapons, fists or the environment to win, basically anything goes when it comes to success.
Gladiators will come in various guises, from basic lumbering idiots to armour-clad assailants and some unusual bosses. Yet one theme runs throughout its visceral, stupid mayhem. Blood will fly everywhere, limbs and heads can be severed and bones broken, all in the name of combat sport. The daft aspect comes from the ragdoll effects, with opponents easily flung around. Should all the red stuff get too much, switch on the Pinata mode for a friendlier alternative.
In its PC VR review of Gorn VRFocus said: “It is stupid, and over the top on almost every level yet it’ll still put a smile of most players faces. Additionally, GORN will help you lose two things, time and calories. You’ll find that one fight will turn into ten, and you’ll be a sweaty mess from all that arm swinging. If you want something deep and thought-provoking go read a book, for everyone else there’s GORN.”
With Gorn now scheduled to launch on 28th January 2021, that gives Oculus Quest owners something to look forward to as nothing else is expected to launch in that time. For further updates from Free lives on Gorn, keep reading VRFocus.
Gorn Will Soon Arrive for PlayStation VR
It’s been a good day for PlayStation VR owners. Earlier saw Pixel Ripped 1995 release dates announced and now it’s the turn of brutal arena brawler Gorn.
After developer Free Lives said back in September 2019 that gladiator sim would see a launch that winter, the team has now confirmed a launch date, putting Gorn a couple of weeks away.
Gorn made a name for itself thanks to the videogame’s over-the-top violence, pitting players against waves of enemies who can be smashed to pieces. An assortment of weapons are at their disposal from knives and axes through to maces, bows and much more. All helping them easily decapitate, dismember and slice opponents to survive.
All the weapons have been designed to have their own feel and weight. “To create the sensation of weight, we added wobbliness to the weapons so that players can see the impact of gravity and various other forces on their shapes,” said Adone Kitching, Producer, Free Lives via PlayStation Blog. “Wobbly weapons have become a signature GORN aesthetic, and we’re pretty happy about that.”
The gameplay is designed so players can adapt on the fly, picking up dropped weapons, using bodies as shields or a severed arm to attack. If players are really quick, they can even catch arrows mid-air. Plus there are environmental obstacles which can be employed.
Brought to PlayStation VR thanks to a partnership between Free Lives, Devolver Digital and 24Bit Games, all the blood and gore can be turned down thanks to Gorn’s Pinata Mode. Gladiators are turned into paper mâché with their heads exploding with candy.
Reviewing Gorn for PC VR, VRFocus said: “It is stupid, and over the top on almost every level yet it’ll still put a smile of most players faces. Additionally, GORN will help you lose two things, time and calories. You’ll find that one fight will turn into ten, and you’ll be a sweaty mess from all that arm swinging. If you want something deep and thought-provoking go read a book, for everyone else there’s GORN.”
Gorn is now slated to arrive for PlayStation VR on 19th May 2020. For further updates to the experience, keep readng VRFocus.
Gorn Finally Arrives On PSVR In Two Weeks
After a long wait, the PSVR version of Gorn is finally coming in two weeks’ time.
Developer Free Lives announced the news on the PlayStation Blog today. Gorn sets down on Sony’s headset on May 19th. It’s been a long wait for Gorn on PSVR; we were initially hoping to be playing the game by the end of 2019. But multiple delays, most recently brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have seen the game slip.
Gorn is a physics-driven, slapstick gladiator battle game where you beat your opponents senseless using an array of ancient weaponry. You might consider it an early precursor to games like Boneworks and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners; enemies are designed to be toyed with and weapons to be used pretty much however you see fit.
That’s not to say Gorn doesn’t have any structure to it, though. The game comes with a campaign in which you move through progressively tougher arenas using specific weapons. As you play, you’ll unlock more items for a sandbox mode, too. On PC, there’s also a local multiplayer mode where one player takes control of an enemy on the screen.
We’re big fans of Gorn here at Upload, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the PSVR version pans out. It’s no secret that the PS4 is less powerful than a PC required to run Gorn and the headset’s tracking is limited too, but developers have in the past done a great job porting their games to the hardware. Let’s hope that’s the case here.
Excited to play Gorn on PSVR? Let us know in the comments below!
The post Gorn Finally Arrives On PSVR In Two Weeks appeared first on UploadVR.
Brutal Brawler Gorn to Hit PlayStation VR This Winter
Earlier this year Free Lives announced that its over-the-top gladiator brawler Gorn would be coming to PlayStation VR but never mentioned when that might happen. Today, a release window was revealed during Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) State of Play broadcast as ‘Winter 2019’.
Gorn was an Early Access release for PC VR headsets in 2017, being fully launched in July. It’s one of the more brutal virtual reality (VR) titles available, with the entire gameplay experience revolved around causing as much bloody mayhem inside an arena as possible.
You play a gladiator tasked with one challenge, survive. Trading realism for outlandish cartoon violence, Gorn features ragdoll physics so that the muscle-bound opponents look really menacing but in fact, you can mess them up really bad. Using an assortment of weapons from a simple knife through to axes, maces, bows and much more, you can easily decapitate, dismember, smash, stab, rip or slice opponents to bits. There are even environmental hazards which appear like spiked walls the throw enemies against.
Because of all of this Gorn isn’t for the squeamish, with arms being ripped off, skulls exposed, bones smashed and lots and lots of blood. Each round in the solo campaign pits you against more characters who are progressively harder, armed with bigger weapons and more armour to breakthrough. While each section is finished off with a boss to face.
When reviewing the PC version VRFocus gave the videogame a solid four-star rating, saying: “It is stupid, and over the top on almost every level yet it’ll still put a smile of most players faces. Additionally, GORN will help you lose two things, time and calories. You’ll find that one fight will turn into ten, and you’ll be a sweaty mess from all that arm swinging. If you want something deep and thought-provoking go read a book, for everyone else there’s GORN.”
With an exact release date still to be confirmed within the next three months, there’s not too long to go until Free Lives release Gorn for PlayStation VR. When that happens VRFocus will let you know. Also revealed today was Enhance Games upcoming title Humanity.
Review: GORN
The human race is at a point in its evolution of moral standards where blood sports such as ancient Roman gladiatorial combat has become obscene and abhorred. However, after picking up a nail filled bat in GORN and smashing it over an unlucky enemies head, watching as their skull disintegrates and the left eye suddenly wishes to leave its socket at great speed, it’s difficult not to smile as the digital carnage unfolds. Is it wrong to enjoy such visceral violence? Why make such a ludicrous videogame you may ask yourself? Well, bury those moral questions deep as things are about to get much worse (better). GORN is not for the squeamish.
Launched into Early Access in August 2018, GORN has gained notoriety on a similar scale in virtual reality (VR) circles to Beat Saber – although for very different reasons. You might be swinging swords (and a bunch of other weapons) but there’s no music, only the cheers of the crowd, the tearing of limbs, the squirt of blood and the crack of bones.
There literally isn’t another VR videogame currently available that allows the same level of violence and pure graphic destruction. GORN has dispensed with the fluff of things like narrative, novelty modes, and right and wrong. You are a gladiator and you have one job, kill and don’t die – which you will, many, many times.
The core experience is very much a wave brawler, where you’re in an arena given weapons and told to kill everyone, no exceptions, no mercy. So the main hook of the gameplay is its brutality mixed with some dark comedy. Both go hand in hand in GORN with dumb enemies infused with ragdoll physics and bodies seemingly held together with loose tape. The early levels and weapons are just about smashing bodies, whacking enemies over the head to see it explode. As you progress and access more weapons such a sword’s and axes, these offer even greater dismemberment opportunities.
For example, take a leaf out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with its Black Knight scene. Remove an arm with a well-placed strike, or two in fact and watch these meatheads try to attack with their head – more comedy value. Or go for the legs. Take out both and the enemy gladiators will still come at you no matter the blood loss – it’s almost inspiring. Pick up a flail swing it around and watch whatever poor sucker wanders into it fly off with a trail of blood following them.
Plus you can mix and match as you like. Rounds start with a singular weapon, then as you kill opponents take whatever they were carrying, dual wield some maces or go with a sword and shield. It’s all about adapting on the fly as the situation changes.
But (there’s always a but), GORN is a bit of a one-trick pony. Once you’ve ripped the arms of these idiots one hundred times or caved their skulls in endlessly the feeling of repetition does kick in. Developer Free Lives tries to get around this in a number of ways, from specialist boss battles to custom matches which offer a plethora of settings, it does all come down to killing NPC’s over and over again.
The one saving antidote to all of this is the local multiplayer mode. Up to four of your mates can grab gamepads and become the gladiators, free to do what they want. They can all team up against you or cooperate – it tends to be the former for some strange reason.
One annoying little facet of the gameplay which hampers the fluidity of the fights is the movement. There’s no teleportation or smooth locomotion to speak of – the former was likely unsuitable for this style of videogame. Instead, you drag the environment around you much like you would in a tabletop RTS such as Final Assault. It should be comfortable for most players yet you can’t swing two weapons and move at the same time, meaning there’s no way to step in and inflict a double blow. Well, you can if you have space by physically stepping in. Alas, not everyone has that luxury, so in smaller roomscale spaces you need to be careful. It’s very easy to get carried away arms flailing and hit a wall, especially if the player is new to VR. You have been warned.
That being said, GORN is still fun to play. It is stupid, and over the top on almost every level yet it’ll still put a smile of most players faces. Additionally, GORN will help you lose two things, time and calories. You’ll find that one fight will turn into ten, and you’ll be a sweaty mess from all that arm swinging. If you want something deep and thought-provoking go read a book, for everyone else there’s GORN.
80%
Awesome
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Verdict
Gladiator Sim ‘GORN’ Launches on PSVR Today, Including Less Violent ‘Piñata Mode’
GORN (2019), the comically violent VR combat game, has finally made its way to PSVR. Starting today you’ll be able to clobber a near-endless supply of teetering barbarians—and living room TVs if you don’t watch where you swing those Move controllers.
Update (May 19th, 2020): GORN is now available on PSVR, priced at $20 on the PlayStation Store.
Update (May 5th, 2020): Officially launched out of Early Access on PC VR headsets in July 2019, the hyper-violent gladiator sim GORN is finally making its way to PSVR on May 19th.
Announced via the PS blog, this will also include the previously seen ‘piñata mode’, which turns all of the comically oversized enemies into paper, replete with candy that falls out when you hit them.
Check out the new trailer below. Yes, that’s a rap video featuring a fictitious barbarian language (and yes, it’s awesome).
Original Article (July 9th, 2019): The physics-based gladiator sim—available on Steam (Rift, Vive, Index) and the Oculus Store (Rift)—is slated to leave Early Access on July 18th.
Free Lives, the team also behind Broforce (2015) and Genital Jousting (2018), haven’t spoken yet about what updates they’ll be bringing to the full version of the game when it launches next week, although a Free Lives developer took to Reddit to say that new content was ‘definitely’ coming at launch.
Earlier this year, the studio released their biggest update yet, dubbed ‘The Teachings of ODALBE’, which reworked the progression and unlock system of the game’s campaign. The Teachings of ODALBE arrived in February (and a hotfix one month later), however at the time Free Lives didn’t consider the campaign as properly finalized, so we’d expect the studio will bring yet more polish to the campaign as a part of their launch day content.
Otherwise, it’s still a mystery what GORN has in store—maybe more giant crab-bros? We’ll be keeping our eyes open, so check back soon for more info on launch day.
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Gorn Is Finally Getting Its Full Release Next Week
Nearly two years to the day since its Early Access launch, Gorn is getting a full release next week.
Free Lives’ brilliantly gory VR gladiator battler is leaving pre-release on July 18th. The developer is promising new content for launch and just released a new trailer. Details such as pricing are still to come.
Early Access is almost over…Are you ready?#Gorn #GornVR #VRgaming #VRessential #indiegames #GameLaunch pic.twitter.com/zkWS3kSo3Y
— Free Lives (@Free_Lives) July 8, 2019
Gorn is one of VR’s most popular games. It’s a brilliantly slapstick experience in which you do battle with others in a coliseum. You have to survive each level to unlock boss fights and rack up specific types of kills in order to earn more weapons. The game is incredibly gruesome, with weapons that let you impale and bludgeon approaching meatheads and wince-inducing dismemberment. On a related note, though, it’s also absolutely hilarious, though certainly not for the faint of heart.
Over the course of Early Access Free Lives has been adding a steady stream of new weapons, enemies and features to the game. We’ve seen everything from a giant mode to honey badgers added in. The game was worth buying a long time ago, but we’ll definitely try and give you final impressions of next week’s release. It’s been a while since we last dived in and cracked some skulls.
With full release approaching, we’ll also hopefully see the promised PSVR port sooner rather than later. Free Lives says it’s coming, but exactly when we have no idea.
The post Gorn Is Finally Getting Its Full Release Next Week appeared first on UploadVR.
Gorn Update Adds A Death Pit And Improved Campaign
Looking for more ways to kill people in Gorn? Really? The other 100 ways aren’t enough? Well, then you should give the new Death Pit a spin.
This new level is the highlight of this week’s Gorn update. In this more morbid arena, you can toss enemies into a pit of spikes for a quick way to finish them off. Lovely.
The other big addition here is an improved campaign. Developer Free Lives says its reworked progression and the unlock system to make it feel “a bit more complete”. Currently Gorn has you trying to execute certain types of kills to gain new weapons and getting a certain number of wins in the arena to unlock bosses. We’ll be interested to see how that’s changed. Expect more tweaks to the system in the future, though.
Free Lives also says that the game is now running “much better than before” thanks to some optimization. Other additions include a new sound spatializer engine, new voice lines for enemies and the emperor and “More narrative content than anyone could realistically have expected given the nature of the game.” We’re not exactly sure how you fit a story into a game about yammering knuckleheads, but the update image above does perhaps provide some hints.
Finally, there are improved seagulls. Yay! You can see the full list of tweak over here.
Elsewhere, Free Lives says its “pouring blood and sweat” into the game on the road to final launch. No word yet on when they launch will finally arrive but we’ll keep you posted. Gorn remains one of our favorite VR games for wanton destruction.
Tagged with: Free Lives, Gorn, updates
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