If you’re a big fan of first-person shooters (FPS) and virtual reality (VR) then you might have heard of Gunheart. Created by developers who have a background in FPS videogames such as Gears of War and Halo, Drifter Entertainment, you know you’re in for a good videogame.
Gunheart throws you into a futurist world where you have the options of three weapons. A shotgun, because an FPS is incomplete without one, a crossbow where you can guide and control the bolt with one controller to hit enemies hiding behind cover as well as a giant spinning disc lovingly called the death disc where you can slash straight through enemies.
VRFocus interviewed Ray Davis the CEO of Drifter Entertainment, and he explains that there are three major biomes where you have to adjust your strategy to face various enemies in different play modes. What’s really interesting about Gunheart is that this will always change from mission to mission, so no matter what map or gamemode you choose enemies will always be changing. You won’t play the same game twice. The idea is you can drop in, do a few missions, kill and collect rewards and drop out again. Davis hopes that as VR becomes more popular that online co-op will grow. The title will launch for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift with Touch and whilst you’re waiting in the lobby you can also play around with Tetris blocks or alternatively annoy friends with arrows because friendly fire is on.
It’s been a few months since developer Drifter Entertainment announced their debut videogame in both virtual reality (VR) and general, a futuristic shooter using teleportation that is inspired by peers of the genre such as the Gears of War and Halo franchises. “We’ve set out to create a game that we can’t wait to play ourselves, utilizing all that VR has to offer and expanding on traditional gameplay mechanics with seamless teleportation and co-op strategy.” Explained one developer working on the title.
In Gunheart players take on the role of bounty hunters using robots effectively as avatars and not risking their own in direct conflict. With minds uploaded to the robotic host bodies they set out to hunt down whatever target theyre hunting. Designed using the Unreal Engine for both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive initially and with the intention to come to PlayStation VR at a later date, interested players who use either of the PC VR head mounted displays (HMDs) can sign up for spaces on the closed Beta using this Google Docs form.
As explained by Tech Director and Drifter Entertainment CEO Ray Davis on Reddit, “We’ll be focusing on making sure our servers are scaling/stable, as well looking for feedback on the new player experience. Both Touch and Vive players welcome, thanks!”
You can see a recent trailer describing the way motion is used in the videogame below. VRFocus will bring you further news on Gunheart and other VR experiences very soon.
Drifter Entertainment’s Gunheart has quickly become a highly anticipated virtual reality (VR) first-person shooter (FPS) videogame since its announcement last month. Over the past few weeks, the development studio has been listening to player feedback and decided to showcase the many locomotion options available in the videogame.
While teleportation has become a standardised form of movement in VR, many of the core early adopters are calling for more experiences which allow for greater freedom of movement. The consensus, it seems, is to offer the option for both; and that’s exactly what Drifter Entertainment will be doing.
The natural movement settings appear to be similar to that of Bethesda Softworks’ DOOM VFR, in that they combine strafing and teleportation opposed to limiting your choice, while the ‘comfort’ mode allows for snap rotation (known in Gunheart as ‘swipe’) and ‘strafe blinders’ that black out some of the environment to ease the strain of sideways movement.
Gunheart is promising to deliver a fast-paced co-operative FPS experience on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. VRFocus has been hands-on with Gunheart, and will bring you more details in the near future.
Gunheart is a high-quality upcoming cooperative VR shooter from Drifter Entertainment coming to Rift and Vive later this year. When we got the chance to go hands-on with the game last month we loved the inventive setting, creative weapons, and solid gunplay, but felt a little underwhelmed by the focus on teleportation-only movement.
Luckily it looks like that’s only one of the movement options in Gunheart according to this new development video from the team. You can see more details in the video below:
In the video we can see teleportation still used as an option, especially for getting up onto tall structures, but there is a new “Strafe” feature now as well. This lets the user move around the environment freely and even sprint at a higher speed if needed. Mixing the two together will help players be more agile than ever while avoiding the swarms of enemies.
You can see more from Gunheart in the gameplay announcement trailer below. Let us know what you think of what you’ve seen so far down in the comments!
Virtual reality (VR) start-up developer Drifter Entertainment have today announced the upcoming release of the company’s first title, a VR action shooter designed for VR cooperative multiplayer gameplay.
Players of Gunheart take on the role of futuristic bounty hunters who take control of sophisticated robots to track down their prey. Since the bodies they control are just robots, players don’t have to worry about death. Get shot up a lot? No problem, just load your mind into another robot and keep going. Visuals and gameplay were inspired by classic sci-fi shooters such as Gears of War and Halo.
Gunheart will use a teleportation travel scheme to travel across the galactic battlefields. The developers have told players to expect a lawless frontier filled with unknown alien monsters, rival gangs and factions as well as the opportunity to earn vast wealth. The title has been created with motion controllers in mind to make the experience as intuitive as possible.
“We’ve set out to create a game that we can’t wait to play ourselves, utilizing all that VR has to offer and expanding on traditional gameplay mechanics with seamless teleportation and co-op strategy,” said Ray Davis, Drifter Entertainment. “We hope people will have as much fun playing Gunheart as we’ve had building it.”
Gunheart was developed in Unreal Engine 4, which was updated earlier this year to include many features that made it better for developing VR titles. Gunheart will be coming to HTC Vive and Oculus Rift later in summer 2017, with a PlayStation VR version expected later in the year.
A trailer for Gunheart is available to view below
VRFocus will bring you further news on Gunheart and other VR titles when it becomes available.
The dawn of consumer-grade VR headset technology happened over a full year ago. Developers had their hands on dev kits for years prior to that and the game industry has been churning out quality content for decades. Naturally, the convergence of all that game developer talent and powerful VR technology has led to a lot of amazing experiences but in some cases it still feels like we’re struggling to really gain our balance.
Familiar isn’t necessarily bad though as some of the best games ever made are more iterative than innovative after all. Gunheart, the cooperative multiplayer shooter debut from new VR game studio Drifter Entertainment doesn’t seem to be breaking any new ground, but is looking to add enough polish onto an already proven concept to keep gamers coming back to their Rifts and Vives for months on end.
I got the chance to try out an early build of the game and play a bit of multiplayer with members from the team. The lobby area that loaded up felt appropriately ripped right out of the cantina scenes from the Star Wars films and made me feel immediately at home.
There was a circular bar in the middle with different attractions spread around, such as a corner that let me join games, as well as a small gallery of enemy models to inspect. Getting up close made me uncomfortable because of how detailed and grotesque they were. Drifter has even built social tools such as voxel painting in the air and the ability to make balloons shoot from a handheld device to add a bit of levity to the game’s otherwise grim tone.
When we booted into the match I had two items in my hand. One was your standard sci-fi pistol while the other was a revive tool. Reaching behind my back with the left hand allowed me to switch weapons, swapping the revive tool for a handheld crossbow, but this was no ordinary crossbow. After firing this weapon I was able to curve the arrow through the air and control its trajectory which is perfect for hitting enemies behind cover.
As it stands the only form of locomotion in the game is a point and click teleportation system. I can either beam myself to a spot immediately or use the analog stick to aim the direction I’d face, just like the default controls in games like Robo Recall and Arizona Sunshine. I’d have liked the option of full locomotion, but that doesn’t seem to be on the agenda at this time.
Ray Davis, co-founder of Drifter, told me they are embracing teleportation as a “superpower” for characters in the game so it’s ingrained as a key part of the experience at this time. It works great as intended, but after playing games like Farpoint, which feature similar cooperative multiplayer elements, I felt restricted not being able to maneuver around the battlefield without pointing to teleport somewhere.
Luckily the combat itself feels fantastic. Each of the weapons I tried have satisfying feedback and feel unique. As a special weapon I can even hold both guns out in front of me and let them meld together to create a massive bow in my hands. Pulling back the string and firing an arrow this way felt incredibly powerful.
I only got to play a single mission in my demo, it was short, and it mostly unfolded like a glorified wave shooter. I’d move from one area to the next, killing groups of enemies until they were all dead, then moving to the next area. The level had a lot of layers and verticality, which helped alleviate the sense of repetition. Overall though it did feel shallow.
Davis alluded to other game modes that will be included when the game releases, which should add more variety, but the early demo I tried failed to really grab my attention with regards to anything other than the polish and tenacity of its core gameplay mechanics. There were only two enemy types on display: infantry units that could flutter through the air as aliens with wings and tiny bugs that buzzed around in the air. I never really felt in danger.
The team working on Gunheart has an impressive collective resume and is clearly building towards a game that has the potential to be an amazing and collaborative cooperative multiplayer VR shooter. With experience building games like Gears of War and Robo Recall the tendency for polish is there so it just remains to be seen if the experience itself will hold up over the long haul.
For more details about Drifter Entertainment and Gunheart you can watch the announcement trailer at the start of this post and check out the company’s official website right here.
While teleportation has become a standardised form of movement in VR, many of the core early adopters are calling for more experiences which allow for greater freedom of movement. The consensus, it seems, is to offer the option for both; and that’s exactly what 
