Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
Lawbreakers, the next game from Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, enters closed beta in March 2017, the developer has announced. You can sign up to participate on the game's official website.
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When HTC invited me to a behind-closed-doors demo at the 2017 Game Developers Conference (GDC) to show off a brand new VR shooter in development by Skydance Interactive, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I was familiar with Skydance Media from their work on several film properties, such as Star Trek, True Grit, Mission Impossible, and more, but interactive entertainment such as video games and virtual reality is something else altogether.
As it turns out their debut project, Archangel, was on display at the show this year. Archangel is an intense, narrative-focused, action-packed VR shooter that puts players in the cockpit of a massive mech, similar to those found in Pacific Rim or even the Power Rangers. The design is quite realistic and evokes a very MechWarrior vibe.
My demo was brief, only spanning a small part of a single chapter, but the entire experience is promised to clock in right around the 3 hour mark. In addition to the main story there will also be a replayable Arena mode that you can use to earn upgrades for the story mode. Replaying missions is also encouraged to get higher scores.
Since this is a mech shooter, my demo took place while I was seated in a chair. Holding an HTC Vive wand controller in each hand, I extended my arms as if they were holding controls from within a mech cockpit. Moving my hands around manipulated the arms of my giant robot, enabling me to aim precisely at enemies.
Each arm had two different types of weapons that could be switched out. The right arm had a standard machine gun and then a powerful single-blast rail gun, while my left arm had single-shot rockets and a lock-on launcher that targeted multiple units before firing. I could also deploy a shield on either arm that could be raised for my defenses.
The entire game will be an on-rails shooter, meaning that the story and your mech are automatically progressed through each level without any input from you. In this way, it felt similar to arcade shooters like Time Crisis, although it had a much more sophisticated story. As the pilot of this massive, powerful mech — The Archangel — you’re tasked with transporting it through enemy lines to the final place of safety for the resistance so that your side can replicate and mass produce the technology to create an army of mechs.
Since each mission unfolds on rails, the short level I played was mostly a shooting gallery with some dialogue and exposition sprinkled throughout. The lack of movement control was disappointing, but the action was intense enough to make me forget.
This isn’t quite on the level of an ideal Pacific Rim-esque VR mech combat game, but it’s a step in the right direction. The voice acting was top notch, the visuals were superb, and the controls felt extremely tight and fun. The wave-based Arena mode and upgradeable weapons should all go a long way towards making this a solid package when it releases in July of this year for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift with Touch, and PlayStation VR (PSVR).
What do you want to see in your dream VR mech game? Let us know in the comments below!
Tagged with: archangel, skydance interactive
'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' can be difficult and downright unforgiving at times. Thankfully, these tips will help you learn how to cook, make a fire, and otherwise survive a Hyrule on the edge of ruin.
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The Nintendo Switch currently has four methods for connecting with friends, some of which are cumbersome. There are better solutions for building your friend list in the future, but for now, here's how to become pals on Switch.
The post How to connect with friends on Nintendo Switch appeared first on Digital Trends.
Has it been a while since you dived into the wacky world of VR compatible multiplayer shooter, World War Toons by Studio Roqovan? You might want to give it a look over today; there’s plenty of new content inbound.
Headlining this update, seen in the trailer below, is a Chinese-themed new map called The Great Brawl. Set in the the wreck of the Axis team’s Dread Zepplin blimp, you’ll dart around a map unlike anything else seen in the game thus far. Also included are new weapons and player skins to decorate yourself with.
Perhaps more interesting on the VR front is a new prototype control scheme, which might help anyone that suffers from simulation sickness whilst playing. It’s a teleport option, which many developers use to comfortably move players from one spot to the next, but hasn’t really been utilised in VR multiplayer games that also use traditional stick-based locomotion before. Whether the control scheme works out with this mix remains to be seen, but for now it’s only available on the Basic Training map.
World War Toons is available now for free on PlayStation 4 in the US with optional PSVR support, and a closed PC beta is ongoing. There’s no word on when it might move into a full worldwide release on both platforms just yet.
Tagged with: World War Toons
The 2017 Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) is now officially over. This year there was a ton of news and lots of great looking games for all manner of VR systems from the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift to the Gear VR and PlayStation VR (PSVR). One of the highlights of the week was undoubtedly The Mage’s Tale from inXile Entertainment, lauded developers of Torment: Tides of Numenera, Wasteland 2, and The Bard’s Tale IV.
During GDC week, we invited the team behind of The Mage’s Tale to our offices to let us do an exclusive Facebook livestream of the game in action. If you missed out on the action last week, you can watch it right now down below!
The 40-minute long gameplay video starts all the way back at the tutorial section of the game and runs through the first level of the first dungeon. The team is promising an approximately 10-hour long adventure complete with dozens of enemies to fight, spells to cast, and rooms to plunder. The action and gameplay is reminiscent of the classic old-school RPGs of yesteryear, albeit with a modern aesthetic and built-for-VR polish.
During my time with the game one of the elements that stood out the most is just how satisfying it is to throw a fireball in VR. It’s a sensation that’ been captured before — perhaps best by The Unspoken — but never has it been extrapolated to a massive, sprawling, first-person RPG adventure such as this.
What’s more is that it doesn’t just stop there as you’re able to carefully and creatively concoct spells of your own by mixing ingredients and effects together in a massive cauldron. Shooting rainbow-colored lightning bolts shouldn’t be this much fun.
The Mage’s Tale is currently slated for a summer 2017 release first on Oculus Rift with Touch and then other platforms later. You can read more about the game in our extended hands-on preview and original title announcement.
Will you be playing The Mage’s Tale when it releases later this year? Let us know in the comments below!
Tagged with: GDC, inxile entertainment, the mage's tale
In celebration of Google Play's fifth birthday, the company published lists of its top five most-popular games, apps, music, movies, and books since the platform's launch in 2012.
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If you like your in-game units to stand out from the crowd, pre-ordering Dawn of War III will net you several unique skins for your units. If you want to spend more though, the special editions offer some interesting perks.
The post ‘Dawn of War III’ to launch on April 27, pre-order bonuses now live appeared first on Digital Trends.
GNOG is… uh… weird.
Totally weird, actually.
Like really, really weird.
So weird, I don’t really know where to begin describing it.
“Was this inspired by those huge Olmec heads like Xtapolapocetl from The Simpsons?,” I inquired while playing. “No, we were thinking more Mighty Max and Polly Pocket,” Ko_Op studio director Saleem Dabbous fired back.
GNOG – pronounced “nog,” as in “noggin’” – is a colorful point-and-click puzzle game that takes place inside a creature’s head. The puzzle elements take place on both sides of the head, so you have to flip back and forth to see what your actions have affected on the other side.
Similar to The Witness, when you first jump into puzzles, you don’t really know what you’re supposed to do, so part of the challenge of the game is hitting every switch, button and lever to see what it does. Soon you’ll start seeing the patterns and method to the madness, and once you solve a puzzle, you’re treated to a trip-tastic light display, some trance diddies and the satisfaction of knowing you unlocked another big-ol’ monster noggin’. All in all it’s a very cute, chill, Zenlike experience.
GNOG should be available soon for PSVR and 2D PS4, with Steam and iOS versions following later.
'Persona 5' improves on its already fantastic predecessors through its attention to detail, and fixes a major complaint made by series fans - long, tedious, randomly generated dungeons.
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