Pistol Whip launched a brand new update today — the ‘Full Throttle’ update — with new modifiers and an additional free scene.
Cloudhead Games’ rhythm shooter Pistol Whip was one of the breakout VR titles of 2019. Since release, Cloudhead have continued to provide free content updates and listened to community feedback, adding modifiers and new levels (or ‘scenes’ as they call them) to the game across the last few months.
This new update, available now, introduces a new ‘Full Throttle’ scene and some new modifiers to the game. The Full Throttle scene is a Mad Max-inspired level laden with big monster trucks shooting across the level, as you can see in the teaser below. Cloudhead says the scene is the game’s hardest yet.
There are two new modifiers as well — Scavenger and One-and-Done. Scavenger is a drastic modifier that changes the game significantly, forcing you to pistol whip an enemy in order to reload. One-and-Done is, as the name suggests, a modifier that gets rid of armored enemies, meaning every enemy goes down with just one shot.
The update also includes new customization options such as wraps, metals and sounds, as well as a new Tac Ops pistol collection. Cloudhead noted that the update also “improves music synchronization across the board, and introduces new level design features to further empower future content updates.”
Cloudhead will continue to provide monthly updates for Pistol Whip until at least the Summer, while the Full Throttle update is available right now.
We’ll update this post with a full song playthrough as soon as we can.
One of the most energetic first-person shooters (FPS) of 2019 was most certainly Cloudhead Games’ Pistol Whip, which arrived for multiple platforms in November. Offering the chance to take down bad guys like you’re John Wick since launching the studio has released the ‘High Priestess’ and ‘Akuma’ updates and today rolls out a third, ‘Full Throttle’.
Making the announcement as part of Facebook’s Game Developers Showcase which has been created to fill the gap where the Game Developers Conference (GDC) once was, Pistol Whip’s Full Throttle update adds another lively tune to the growing roster of songs. The studio claims ‘Full Throttle’ is the hardest scene yet for Pistol Whip, offering a Mad Max-style flavour to the videogame.
Along with the new scene, Cloudhead Games has included the new Tac Ops pistol collection offering more customization options including wraps, metals, and sounds.That’s not all, two new modifiers, Scavenger and One-and-Done, alter the gameplay. Scavenger requires players to pistol-whip enemies to reload their gun while One-and-Done replaces all armoured enemies with one-shot kills.
Pistol Whip and the Full Throttle update will be part of the ESL VR League Play Cup on 22nd March where competitors have a chance to win an Oculus Rift S.
“VRLeagueGG has been running Pistol Whip cups on ESL Play throughout March, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to add ‘Full Throttle’ to our final cup. Each week the difficulty has been ramping up, and the combined challenge of Deadeye and Hardcore plus the sheer velocity of ‘Full Throttle’ will demand that players practice hard to not only post a top score, but even survive the scene. We’re looking forward to seeing how the best Pistol Whip players from around the world rise to the challenge!,” said Josh Folland of ESL in a statement.
VRFocus gave Pistol Whip a solid four-stars in its review, noting: “Pistol Whip is huge amounts of fun even on the easiest difficulty setting, suitable for VR players no matter their skill level.
Pistol Whip – Full Throttle is available today for Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive and Valve Index. Check out the new trailer below or some of the other showcase news today like B-Team coming to Oculus Quest or nDreams’ Phantom: Covert Ops announcement. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Pistol Whip, reporting back with further updates.
The cord-free, standalone Meta Quest system is one of the best options for VR fitness, exercise and workout routines. Here are our picks the best Quest 2 fitness and exercise apps to get your blood pumping.
[This article was originally published in March 2020. It was edited and updated in March 2021 and again in February 2022.]
The following list is in no particular order, however there are two general categories of apps on the list.
The first category is apps that are specifically designed for working out in VR — usually with specifically designed sessions that you follow for a workout session.
The second is incidental workout apps — apps and experiences that weren’t designed specifically for working out, but can be used in such a way because they get the blood pumping enough when played at a high intensity.
Despite all these new additions, the basic premise has always remained the same — it’s features rhythm-based boxing, dance and HIIT routines that gives you points for speed and accuracy. In July last year, the app also added a bunch of notable artists to its music catalog, including Calvin Harris and Tiesto.
FitXR is free to download on the Quest Store, with a subscription-based service in place for access to workouts. There’s a 7-day free trial for new users.
Let’s not beat around the saber – initially, Supernatural started out as a fitness-focused Beat Saber clone. Notes fly at you in time with music, which you have to hit in-time using bats and occasionally you’ll be forced to squat to avoid obstacles. However, the service has since added new boxing workout as well, expanding its offering of guided coach workouts.
Every 24 hours, there’s a new workout playlist/routine for you to run through. The aim is to get you sweating with big arm swings and quick squats. The better you perform, the harder the routine will get, thanks to Supernatural’s adaptive difficulty.
Supernatural is free to download on Quest, but is only currently available in select regions. Access to workouts uses a subscription pricing model, with a free trial period for new users.
One of the newer entries on the list, Les Mills Bodycombat is an attractive option for those looking to avoid a subscription model.
The app is brought to you by the Les Mills brand, which has gyms globally as well as a substantial online workout offering. The Quest Bodycombat app adapts one of these online workout classes into 30 boxing workouts for VR, available as a one-off purchase.
You’ll be punching and squatting to the beat of the music, with the option to select a playlist between five and 20 minutes. It’s not the most original VR workout option, but it gets the basics right in a polished experience available for a one-time price.
If you’re looking to pair a physical fitness machine with a virtual workout, then Holofit is one of two apps that lets you do so. The app pairs your headset with compatible bikes, elipticals and rowing machines, allowing you to use your physical machines in a virtual location.
However, even without any machines, the app also has HIIT, fat burn and time-attack programs that see you recreate skiing, running or cycling using movements with the Touch controllers.
Holofit is available on Quest via a yearly or monthly subscription model with a 7-day trial for new users.
VZFit
Another option for connecting physical machines and fitness trackers, VZFit uses Google Street View to let you virtually exercise anywhere you want. The app has Strava and Fitbit support, alongside connectivity with “most smart bike devices and trainer sensors.”
There’s also full body workouts and support for an optional cadence sensor, which you’ll have to buy separately, that allows you to connect a stationary exercise bike that’s missing smart bike functionality.
VZFit is available for Quest with a 7-day free trial and $9.99 monthly subscription.
Beat Saber was definitely never intended to be used as a workout app, but there’s a significant amount of people who use it for just that. A couple of levels on Expert or Expert+ in Beat Saber will get your heart rate pumping like there’s no tomorrow.
Beat Saber is available for Oculus Quest for $29.99.
Synth Riders is, yes, another VR rhythm game and while it takes some visual notes from Beat Saber and other entries in the genre, the gameplay is quite different. You’ll hit floating spheres to the rhythm of the music, and move your hands in circular or curved motions to follow tails that fly off each sphere. It’s similar in concept to other rhythm games, but with its own spin.
The game has implemented a variety of fitness-focused features, such as a calorie counter and a fitness update that arrived earlier this year and included live VR workout sessions, guided by a trainer.
Jamie described this game as “Beat Saber for your body” and said it was a “genuinely authentic fitness game.” It’s not a workout in the traditional sense, but it will get your blood flowing as you throw your body around to the music, fitting and moving yourself into all different shapes.
With the intensity ramped up, you might end up burning calories faster than some of the other fitness games on this list.
Pistol Whip might seem like a strange entry for a VR exercise list at first, but play a couple of the levels on harder difficulty and you’ll quickly see how Pistol Whip could qualify as a workout. The ducking and constant quick movements will have your glutes and quads burning after a long session.
While not designed as a fitness app, Until You Fall is a VR roguelike that will have you hacking and slashing in heart-racing melee combat. At its most intense, the game should offer you something comparable to a light upper body workout. That being said, its roguelike mechanics means it’s more game-y than other entries on this list. If you’re looking for something fun to play that also gives you a bit of a workout along the way, Until You Fall might be best.
There are a number of boxing games available on the Quest, but The Thrill of the Fight uses mechanics that aims to be more of a true-to-life simulator in a boxing ring, as opposed to a workout-first approach to VR boxing. A few rounds in the ring and you’ll be sweating profusely. We definitely prefer this one over Creed VR on Quest.
Oculus Move isn’t a VR workout app, but rather a feature that will let you track your progress, workouts and calories burned while in VR. It was announced in 2020 at Facebook Connect and should work Quest-wide on all of your apps. It’s a good option to natively track your fitness and workout sessions in VR across all activity on Quest.
Oculus Move can be enabled in the Quest system settings.
What are you favorite Quest exercise apps that keep you active in a VR workout session? Let us know in the comments.
SpringboardVR, the content distribution platform for VR arcades, has partnered with Cloudhead Games and eSports organizers The Virtual Athletics League (VAL) to bring a Pistol Whip (2019) tournament next month to more than 500 arcade locations as well as at-home players.
The competition is slated to take place over three weekends in March, including an at-home section open to anyone from March 13-14 and a global VR arcade section co-hosted by SpringboardVR from March 18-22. The Grand Finals are set to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 29th, and will include the top three finalists.
Outside of an all-expenses-paid trip to VAL’s headquarters in Salt Lake City, tournament participants will be vying for cash prizes, and other giveaways such as an Oculus Rift S, various swag, custom mixed reality avatars from Wolf3d, and other VIP packages. Here’s a breakdown of the prize pool structure:
Image courtesy VAL
“This tournament is our largest yet, and we are deeply grateful to all those we are working with here to bring this VR esports revolution to the world,” said Ryan Burningham, CEO and founder of the Virtual Athletics League.
More information about the competition and player sign ups forms are available on VAL’s website.
Developed by Cloudhead Games, Pistol Whip essentially marries rhythm and shooting in a package that feels a bit like a mashup between Superhot VR (2017), Beat Saber, and Smash Hit (2015).
The core of the gameplay consists of both physically dodging enemy bullets as they approach and firing back at baddies on the beat as you’re automatically pushed forward through a level—all the while underscored by a thumping EDM track.
It’s also garnered plenty of positive reviews since it launched in November 2019. It holds a ‘Very Positive’ user rating on Steam, [5/5] stars on Viveport, and well over 4 stars on the Oculus Store for both Rift and Quest. Not only that, but Road to VR crowned it ‘Best SteamVR Game of 2019’.
One of the most original rhythm-action titles of 2019 was Cloudhead Games’ first-person shooter (FPS) Pistol Whip, which recently won ‘Immersive Reality Game of the Year’ at the 2020 D.I.C.E. Awards. Today, the Virtual Athletics League (VAL) has announced a new esports tournament featuring the videogame, with the initial round starting in March.
The tournament is open to everyone – as long as you own a VR headset and copy of Pistol Whip of course!. Split into three sections the first is the home pool, where you can test your skills online against players worldwide. A prize fund of $2500 USD will be split amongst the eight best players, with the top scorer winning a cool $500.
In the second Arcade Pool section the same rules apply, just this time you have to head to a qualifying arcade to enter. SpringboardVR is supporting and sponsoring efforts to involve their 500 VR arcade customers. This also gives those who were unsuccessful in the first round to have a second shot. Once both of those have taken place then the top three scorers will move onto the finals hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah. Finalists will be flown out for an all-expenses-paid trip to Salt Lake City to compete for up to $2500 as well as a new Oculus Rift S.
In addition to the tournament VRespawn and VAL will be running a global social media contest in mixed reality (MR). Powered by LIV, this is an opportunity for creators and influencers to showcase their talents, with eight winners selected for goodies from Cloudhead Games and Wolf 3D.
The Virtual Athletics League Pistol Whip dates:
Home Tournament – 13th – 14th March
Arcade Tournament 19th – 22nd March
Grand Finals – 29th March
Social Media contest starts 1st March until the end of the tournament
Pistol Whip arrived in November 2019 supporting Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. VRFocus gave Pistol Whip a solid four-stars in its review, noting: “Pistol Whip is huge amounts of fun even on the easiest difficulty setting, suitable for VR players no matter their skill level. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Pistol Whip, reporting back with further updates.
The Virtual Athletics League (VAL) is teaming up with Cloudhead Games to launch the first worldwide Pistol Whip tournament, spread across three weekends in March. The tournament is supported by Oculus and iBUYPOWER and will be open to anyone, with the one pool taking place entirely online from the comfort of user’s homes.
The tournament will be split across three parts, each taking place over one weekend. The first part is the Home Tournament, which is entirely online and takes place on March 13-14. The second part is the Arcade Tournament, on March 19-22, and will take place at participating VR arcades across the world. The Grand Finals will then take place at Salt Lake City at VAL HQ on March 29.
For the home and arcade portions of the tournament, players will be competing to gain the highest combined score after playing two Pistol Whip levels – Black Magic and Download the Future. The levels will be played on the hardest difficult, with the ‘no-fail’ modifier enabled. At the end of the arcade section of the tournament, the results of both the home and arcade tournaments will be compared and the top 3 players with the highest scores will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the Grand Finals in Salt Lake City, which will also be livestreamed on Twitch and Facebook Gaming.
The total prize pool is $10,000, with $2500 allocated to the home tournament, $2,500 allocated to the arcade tournament, and $,5000 allocated to the Grand Finals. Players who place 1st-8th in the home and arcade tournaments will receive a share of the allocated cash prize pool, ranging from $100 to $500 depending on their placement. For the Grand Finals, the prize pool will be split up with $2,500 going to 1st place, $1,500 to 2nd and $1,000 to 3rd. The top three players at the Grand Finals will also all receive an Oculus Rift S in addition to their cash prizes.
The tournament will be run by VAL with support from Oculus and and iBUYPOWER, alongside other companies like SpringboardVR, who are supporting the effort to involve 500 VR arcades across the world. There will also be an accompanying mixed reality social media contest that runs through March, with categories like “best dressed” and “best deadeye score.”
The 23rd annual D.I.C.E. Awards were held this week and there were some surprising winners and losers across the various categories, not least the virtual reality (VR) sections. While big-name titles like Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding only took home two awards from eight nominations, Cloudhead Games and Sony London Studio were the big VR winners from the event.
In the category of ‘Immersive Reality Technical Achievement’, Asgard’s Wrath, Blood & Truth, Pistol Whip, Stormlandand Westworld Awakening were all nominated. Blood & Truthwas the eventual winner.
One of VRFocus’favourite PlayStation VR titles of 2019, Blood & Truth mixes high action gameplay with a tightly woven storyline and cinematic cutscenes as you play a Special Forces officer trying to take down a crime lord. It got a full five-star review: “While you don’t have the freedom of Borderlands 2 VR for example, with Blood & Truth you have a far more focused videogame that knows what it wants to achieve, and that’s put a smile on your face. From start to finish Blood & Truth is one hell of a ride, a finely choreographed John Woo movie that’s all about sheer entertainment.”
The other category was ‘Immersive Reality Game of the Year’ with Asgard’s Wrath, Blood & Truth, Pistol Whip, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Petsand Trover Saves the Universe all up for the coveted award. That went to Cloudhead Games’ rhythm-action shooter Pistol Whip a videogame which has received lots of positive feedback from players. VRFocus’ review went onto say: “Pistol Whip is huge amounts of fun even on the easiest difficulty setting, suitable for VR players no matter their skill level.”
Pistol Whip arrived in November 2019 supporting Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. December saw the studio release the “High Priestess Update” adding a new scene and updating the modifiers. Cloudhead Games recently released a new scene called “Akuma”, inspired by the Neo-Tokyo of anime action classics like Akira and Ghost in the Shell. The update also laid the groundwork for monthly content updates, each including a free new scene, leading up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2020.
After revealing a list of finalists across 20 categories in early January, the winners were revealed at the 23rd Annual DICE Awards in Las Vegas. Out of the 20 categories, two were dedicated to VR — the award for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement and the award for Immersive Reality Game of the Year.
Cloudhead Games’ VR rhythm shooter Pistol Whip took home the award for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement, with the PSVR exclusive title Blood & Truth taking home the award for Immersive Reality Game of the Year. Both these games appeared in multiple categories in our own Best of 2019 awards, but neither took home the Overall Best VR of 2019 award, which went to Asgard’s Wrath. At the DICE Awards, they were up against some tough competition such as Asgard’s Wrath, Stormland, Westworld Awakening and more.
Some other VR games, or games with VR support, were nominated in other categories at the DICE Awards as well. Concrete Genie, which has a VR mode on PSVR, was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Outstanding Technical Achievement but did not win either. Likewise, PSVR exclusive titled Golem was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition but did not take home the award. DiRT Rally 2.0, which is a VR-optional title, was nominated for Racing Game of the Year but lost out to Mario Kart Tour.
Although no VR games were nominated in the overall Game of the Year category at the DICE Awards, that coveted title went to Untitled Goose Game, winning over Control, Death Stranding, Disco Elysium and Outer Wilds.
Pistol Whip (2019), the rhythm-shooter from Cloudhead Games, just got a content update that brings a new level to the bullet hell-style VR title. Inspired by ’80s anime films Akira (1988) and the Ghost in the Shell franchise, the ‘Akuma’ update is now live on all supported platforms, which also brings with it some tweaks to the game’s scoring system.
Cloudhead says in a Steam news update that the Akuma update also brings improvements to the results screen and leaderboards, with a new “Beat Combo” metric, and percentage displays for both accuracy and on-beat scores.
“These changes allow you to more accurately track your performance across accuracy and rhythm, as well as compare performance with your friends and competitors in the leaderboard details panel,” the studio writes.
Akuma also includes what Cloudhead calls “major bug fixes” for the single eye / double vision rendering issue for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.
Akuma is the game’s second major content push following its ‘High Priestess’ update, which included a new scene inspired by the hallway fight scene in South Korean neo-noir action thriller Oldboy (2003).
Cloudhead says content updates will arrive monthly on the march towards E3 2020 this summer, each of which will include a free new scene.
It’s a beautiful day in the metaverse, won’t you be our neighbor in the VRecap? Let’s see what’s up with Oculus Quest, new releases for the week, and even how the coronavirus is affecting VR!
We may have just revealed our weekend movie plans. Anyway! Welcome back to your weekly roundup of the virtual headlines. This week brought with it a smattering of stories, some quite uplifting, but a few that aren’t so cheery.
Let’s start with Oculus Quest, shall we? Facebook’s VR standalone that could just got an update, adding enhanced hand-tracking features. Think that’s enough reason to finally buy a Quest? Well I have bad news; it’s out of stock until March in North America. Not only that but Facebook expects the coronavirus to impact production even further, so it could be a while before one arrives on your door step.
Next up, we’re talking Sony’s recent shuttering of its young Manchester Studio. The team was setup in 2015 to make PSVR games, but hadn’t even revealed its first project when the company announced the closure this week. What does that say for the highly-rumored PSVR 2?
Finally, there’s a new headset to talk about! Click the video above to get a glimpse of the Lynx-R1, a passthrough AR standalone device. Think it’s cool? How about $1,500 worth for cool? Because that’s what it costs.
Okay, onto releases, and this week we’re talking about two content drops. First up is Pistol Whip, which just added its latest free level. Then there’s also an update for Half-Life’s Oculus Quest mod that lets you play the Opposing Force expansion!
Finally, it’s time for our competition! This week we’re giving you the chance to win obscure Rift horror game, Happy Puppets. Want to be in with a chance of winning? Then jump on our Gleam in this very post.
