Category: psvr game

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10 VR Flight Combat Games to Hone Your Skills Ahead of ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’

Looking to dust off your flying skills before jumping into the cockpit of an X-wing or TIE fighter? Before EA’s upcoming space combat game Star Wars: Squadrons launches on PC VR and PSVR October 2nd, you may consider popping into a few of these VR-compatible flight combat games to get a head start on the competition.

Star Wars: Squadrons will have a few modes at launch, including a single-player campaign, and both a 5v5 multiplayer dogfighting deathmatch and objective-based battle mode. That said, there’s sure to be plenty of room for novice and pro dogfighters across all game modes. Check out the gameplay trailer to learn more.

Anyway, here’s our roundup of a few great VR flight games, which span simulator and arcade subgenres. We’ve listed both PC VR and PSVR games below.

PC VR

VTOL VR

VTOL VR is the quintessential VR-native flight combat game, which includes multi-role jets and an immersive, interactive cockpit that lets you flip switches, press buttons, and manipulate the virtual flight controls with your own two hands. That’s something that probably won’t be possible in Squadrons, so you might as well enjoy it.

  • Developer: Boundless Dynamics, LLC
  • Platforms: SteamVR
  • Price: $26

War Thunder

Free is a good price—especially for this full-featured MMO that puts you in basically any plane you can imagine, past and present. You don’t have to pay anything to jump right into a number of military-style jets and helicopters from some of the biggest battles in history. Arcadey controls for novice players, and bespoke ‘realistic mode’ designed for more experienced players.

  • Developer: Gaijin Entertainment
  • Platforms: SteamVR
  • Price: Free to play

DCS World

Digital Combat Simulator World is another great free-to-play title focusing on authentic and realistic simulation of military aircraft, tanks, ground vehicles and ships. There may not be any X-wings, but there’s a bustling playerbase ready to hunt you down.

  • Developer: Eagle Dynamics
  • Platforms: SteamVR
  • Price: Free to play

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad is definitely on the simulator side of things, but also approachable enough for new players. If you’re not well versed in flight combat games, you may be better off playing DCS World or War Thunder first before you throw down the cash for this one, which features detailed recreations of some Soviet/Nazi battles of WWII. Although released on Steam for PC in 2014, its VR implementation is on par with other retrofits.

  • Developer: 1C Game Studios, 777 Studios
  • Platforms: SteamVR
  • Price: $60

Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous is an MMO space sim that definitely has dogfighting. Will you be able to dogfight in space immediately? Not a chance. You’ll need to work for it, build out your ship, and learn the complex controls before you’re ready to cruise the universe.

Cross-platform

EVE: Vakyrie

EVE: Valkyrie is a space-based dogfighter that brings team-based battles to both SteamVR and PSVR platforms. It’s a multiplayer-only affair, which was its biggest stumbling block in the beginning, although its developers CCP eventually added support for traditional monitors in effort to pad out its largely empty servers.

From what we know about Squadrons so far, Valkyrie would have probably been one of the best jumping off points to get you used to team-based aerial combat. CCP has since abandoned the game about a year ago and some users have reported an inability to find matches. When you can, it’s probably one of the best training tools for Squadrons.

End Space

This single-player space dogfighter puts you in a Minos Starfighter where you lay down law at the mysterious edge of inhabited space. Complete increasingly difficult contracts for the United Trade Consortium and try to stay alive.

Ultrawings

This arcade-style flight game isn’t a dogfighter in the slightest, although it does offer a casual entry point into the genre without being frenetic or violent. Perform tight maneuvers through rings, shoot down balloons, and make precision landings. It’s all good fun in Ultrawings.

PSVR

Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One VR Mission

Think of this one as a big, big step towards the first proper Star Wars VR game. EA’s Criterion Games did the legwork implementing VR into the company’s Frostbite engine, and Motive Studios took that and ran with it, creating Star Wars: Squadrons. It’s a taster, not competitive, and well worth exploring. It’s also free.

  • Developer: EA, Criterion Games
  • Platforms: PSVR
  • Price: Free

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

You’re not getting the full fat arcade-style combat experience here in PSVR; it’s only a VR mode that features three missions not seen in the campaign and online modes. It’s typical Ace Combat fun, but way too short to drop the $60 on its own merit.

Know of any great dogfighters or flight games we missed? Let us know your favorite in the comments below!

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EA: Playing ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ in VR Will Be “more like being a real pilot”

Star Wars: Squadrons is coming to PC, consoles, and VR headsets on October 2nd. And while we got our first look at gameplay of the upcoming dogfighter in a special premier last night, it’s still not entirely clear what’s at stake for VR players.

The game’s creative director Ian Frazier sat down with Gamespot in a video chat where he touched upon subjects like the game’s progression system, the choice to nix microtransactions, and what sort of difficulty levels there will be across both the single and multiplayer modes. Because the game can be played entirely in VR though, Frazier dedicated some time to talking about the game’s VR implementation.

“I personally prefer VR because of the immersion factor, but playing in VR is more like being a real pilot, and being a real pilot is hard,” Frazier told Gamespot.

Image courtesy Motive

Frazier explained that some of the game’s ships—notably the very open X-wing and the comparatively closed TIE Fighter—create some natural bottlenecks for players. The X-wing offers a much more open canopy, which in turn gives the player more things to focus on, and viceversa.

“Being aware of all your instrumentation, physical space—it’s very challenging for many players, so we found that 2D, and/or being in an Imperial ship, [those things] kind of counterbalance what you’re losing and what you’re gaining in terms of focus,” Frazier continued.

Image courtesy Motive

Still, it’s clear VR players will have some material advantage over players on traditional monitors. The deadly combination of a VR headset and HOTAS setup in capable hands may be a boon for players with the stomach for twisty-turny action, best exemplified by what Frazier calls ‘drifting’, or using the ship’s airbrake to make a tight, sudden maneuver.

The lack of VR motion controllers would be a blow to in-cockpit immersion though, however Frazier says that players will be able to turn off HUD elements and rely on the ship’s interior instrumentation—a VR-native design choice if there ever was one.

While we’re still waiting to see the VR mode action from inside a headset, it’s heartening to hear that VR seems to have always been a part of the game plan with Squadrons.

EA’s Montreal-based Motive Studio says they specifically took learnings from Starfighter Assault and the Rogue One: VR Mission at the beginning of the game’s development. Frazier calls his team’s work like “standing on the shoulders of giants,” as Criterion were the first to implement VR in EA’s Frosbite engine with Rogue One: VR Mission.

“If [Criterion] hadn’t done that, this would have been a whole lot harder for us to build. The whole ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ thing, it’s very much a big part of the outstanding work that team did to make this game possible.”

Star Wars: Squadrons is slated to launch on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on October 2nd, priced at $40. You can check out the gameplay trailer below.

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‘Vacation Simulator’ Takes on the Gig Economy in ‘Back to Job’ Update Today

Vacation Simulator (2019), Owlchemy Labs’ laid back sequel to the madcap VR hit Job Simulator (2016), is getting its first big DLC drop today on SteamVR headsets and Oculus Quest.

Update (September 10th, 2020): Vacation Simulator: Back to Job is now live on SteamVR headsets and Oculus Quest, a free update that brings a load of new gig-style jobs to the game’s holiday hotspots. Owlchemy Labs says the update will arrive on PSVR in October.

The original article follows below:

Original Article (June 19th, 2020): Called ‘Back to JOB’, the free DLC update is slated to satire the gig economy where it seems like you’ll take on all manner of entitled customer.

Everyone (or every-bot) on Vacation Island has decided to join in the fun and quit their steady jobs in favor of fun in the virtual sun, leaving you to pick up the slack.

This is how Owlchemy describes it:

As a gig associate, players will man the Vacation Simulator poolside Cantina with their trusty partner GigBot at their side to assist them through their journey. In this new position players will meet an exciting cast of Bots, all who expect 5-star service. Get ready to cook, entertain, advise, and do whatever it takes for Bots to experience [MAXIMUM RELAXATION].

Vacation Simulator’s Back to JOB update will arrive for free on all supported headsets this fall, which includes SteamVR headsets, Oculus Quest, and PSVR (see update).

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‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ Gets First Gameplay Trailer, October Release Date

Just a week after the surprise reveal of Star Wars: Squadrons (and confirmation of full VR support), we’re already getting our first glimpse of gameplay. What’s more, it won’t be long before you can hop in your ship of choice; the Star Wars: Squadrons release date is set for October 2nd.

Star Wars: Squadrons developer Motive says that the game is built around the “spiritual core of the best Star Wars flight games of the past.” Today the studio revealed the first gameplay trailer which offers a full breakdown of the game’s ships and modes.

This story is breaking, check back for more detail soon.

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‘Pistol Whip’ Gets New DLC & Long-term Roadmap Reveal, Heading to PSVR in July

Hit VR rhythm shooter Pistol Whip got a brand new DLC level today on PC VR and Quest. Developer Cloudhead games also shared its long-term roadmap, including DLC planned for Q4 which will mark “a whole new era” for the game with a “cinematic campaign built from linked scenes.” The studio also announced a July 27th release date for Pistol Whip on PSVR.

Pistol Whip got a brand new level today called ‘Religion’, available now on both PC VR and Quest. Cloudhead Games describes the new track as its “most intense yet—fans will think ‘Death’ meets ‘High Priestess’—boasting a five-and-a-half-minute gauntlet of pure physicality that is sure to push even veteran players to their limits.” The new track includes three difficulties and a new John Wick-inspired collection of pistol skins.

Image courtesy Cloudhead Games

The new track is the latest in a string of regular updates since the late 2019 release of Pistol Whip which now boasts 15 tracks. But Cloudhead Games is far from done.

The studio announced today that it has plans for a brand new, free DLC pack called ‘Heartbreaker’ which is due to launch in August. This upcoming update will add three new levels, two new modifiers, new customization options, and it will bring achievements to the game for the first time.

Heartbreaker will also see Pistol Whip reaching into new musical territory. The studio says the levels will be accompanied by a “poppy and summery vibe, with abstract, colorful, and highly musical scenes.” Sounds like a chill time compared to the heavy EDM of the game’s existing levels.

Cloudhead also announced today the next DLC after Heartbreaker. Slated for release in Q4 this year, ‘The Concierge’ is the first of what the studio is calling an ‘Action Pack,’ which will “mark a whole new era for the game,” the studio says.

SEE ALSO
15 Minutes of 'Pistol Whip' Dual-wielding Gun Kata Gameplay

While prior updates have added new levels and songs, The Concierge sounds like it will be more ambitious and significantly shake up the gameplay. Cloudhead says the update will bring new weapon types, enemy types, and a “cinematic campaign built from linked scenes.”

Image courtesy Cloudhead Games

And last but not least, the Pistol Whip PSVR release date is set for July 27th. The game will include all of the DLC available on existing platforms (though the Heartbreak update isn’t expect to be added until after launch). Pistol Whip on PlayStation VR will include 26 trophies.

The post ‘Pistol Whip’ Gets New DLC & Long-term Roadmap Reveal, Heading to PSVR in July appeared first on Road to VR.

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VR Arena Shooter ‘Solaris Offworld Combat’ Delayed to Late September

First Contact Entertainment, the studio behind the PSVR exclusive multiplayer shooter Firewall: Zero Hour (2018), has delayed the release of its upcoming VR arena shooter, Solaris Offworld Combat.

Update (August 14th, 2020): Solaris Offworld Combat has been delayed from its original August 27th release date to September 24th, launching on Oculus Rift and Quest.

The studio says a PSVR version is still planned for release sometime in 2020.

Original Article (June 17th, 2020): First Contact Entertainment cut its teeth in the VR multiplayer shooter space with Firewall: Zero Hour [our review], which is held as perhaps the best game in the genre on PSVR. So there’s reason to be excited for the studio’s upcoming title, Solaris Offworld Combat, which is a VR arena shooter designed for four vs. four multiplayer combat.

The game was announced a year ago this week, and today the studio has revealed the first gameplay footage and release date.

From the gameplay trailer, the thing that stands out the most is the game’s surprising pace. Most VR shooters are tactical and slow paced, partly because moving quickly in VR can be clunky and even dizzying. Solaris Offworld Combat is clearly aiming to up the ante on the speed of gameplay. Despite mechanics like sprinting and sliding, there’s indications that the studio is smartly designing for comfort.

For one, the player’s HUD appears to be designed to give players a ‘cockpit-like’ static frame of reference, which is a known technique for keeping players comfortable even while moving quickly. We can also see ‘speed lines’ in the player’s peripheral vision when moving especially fast, which has similar benefits for comfort during fast motion. Speed lines were used extensively in Sprint Vector (2018) [our review], which managed to remain quite comfortable despite its breakneck pace.

While the studio’s prior title, Firewall: Zero Hour, was a contemporary tactical shooter, Solaris is shaping up to be much more of a run-and-gun arena shooter, including weapon pickups, respawns, and territory-style objectives. The studio says the game will feature dedicated multiplayer servers.

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Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment
Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment
Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment
Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment
Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment
Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment
Image courtesy First Contact Entertainment

The Solaris Offworld Combat release date is set for August 27th on Oculus Quest and Rift. Later this year the game will be released on PSVR as well. First Contact Entertainment hasn’t yet announced if Solaris will feature cross-play multiplayer or cross-buy between Oculus headsets, but we’ve reached out for more information.

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‘The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners’ Gets New Horde Mode in ‘Meatgrinder’ Update Today

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020) launched earlier this year to critical acclaim, and now the single-player zombie game just got an update that promises to bring more carnage to the dank, zombie-infested world with a wave-based horde mode.

Update (July 14th, 2020): Skydance Interactive has launched ‘The Meatgrinder Update’ for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. It’s now available across all supported platforms, including PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and SteamVR headsets.

The studio also released a dev walkthrough video, which is linked below:

Original Article (June 16th, 2020): As revealed during Upload VR’s summer showcase today, the so-called ‘Meatgrinder Update’ will bring a new arena-based horde mode to the game.

All weapons are said to be unlockable during the new mode, and it will include new difficulty settings as well.

The Meatgrinder Update is said to arrive sometime in July on all supported platforms, which includes Oculus, SteamVR, and PSVR.

It’s good to see the game’s creators Skydance Interactive and Skybound tossing in more replayablity to what we considered a [9/10] game in our review on PC. Being able to step back into the game well after finishing the campaign mode will definitely be a welcome return to some of the best zombie slashing and shooting we’ve seen in VR.

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‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ to Support HOTAS, No Mention of VR Motion Controllers

Star Wars: Squadrons is EA’s upcoming dogfighting game from a galaxy far far away, and it’s going to include VR support when it launches on consoles and PC in the fall. If you were hoping for an immersive in-cockpit cluster of virtual controls to poke at, you may be a bit disappointed though.

According to its Steam listing, the game is set to support Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Valve Index, although it only lists support for traditional gamepad, or keyboard and mouse on PC.

Image taken by Road to VR

Furthermore, in the game’s FAQ EA has specified that outside of gamepad and keyboard/mouse, that both joysticks and hands on throttle-and-sticks (HOTAS) will be supported as well. The studio says it will have more details on supported sticks closer to its October 2nd launch.

SEE ALSO
'Star Wars: Squadrons' to Support PSVR & PC VR at Launch This Fall, Trailer Here

All of this largely makes sense from a developer standpoint. The game is simultaneously launching on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, and serving a minority of VR players by creating an interactive cockpit with reactive virtual controls—where one likely doesn’t already exist—may be both time and cost prohibitive.

Still, it’s possible motion controllers may be supported to some degree insofar they can be used as normal gamepads—as long as all of the traditional buttons are present like on Oculus Touch and Valve’s Index controllers. Although if that’s the case, you might as well grab a HOTAS to get the immersion you’re sure to jettison behind you.

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‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ to Support PSVR & PC VR at Launch This Fall, Trailer Here

Star Wars: Squadrons is an upcoming first-person dog fighter that’s set to release on PC and consoles this fall. As luck would have it, both PSVR and PC VR owners will also be able to play the game when it arrives.

The game was first discovered on Friday due to a leak by Xbox.com, and was later formally confirmed by EA a few hours later with the promise of a trailer reveal, scheduled for today. At the time, there was no indication that we’d be getting a full-fledged VR Star Wars game.

According to the game’s website, you can:

Compete in intense 5v5 dogfights, unite with your squadron to tip the scales in monumental fleet battles, and take off in a thrilling Star Wars™ single-player story. Immerse yourself in the pilot’s seat completely with the option to play the entirety of Star Wars™: Squadrons in virtual reality (VR) on PlayStation®4 and PC with cross-play support.

Created by EA’s Motive Studios, the Star Wars dog fighting game is said to take place after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), letting you take part in both a campaign and multiplayer modes.

SEE ALSO
‘Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge’ is a New VR Experience from ILMxLAB

Star Wars: Squadrons is set to launch on October 2nd for $39.99 across PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Origin, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. Pre-orders are now available.

Although there’s no word on precisely which PC VR headsets it will support, it’s likely we’ll see the standard mix of SteamVR headsets.

This news is breaking. Check back for more soon.

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Open World Cyberpunk Adventure ‘LOW-FI’ is Coming to PSVR 2 This Year

IRIS VR, the studio behind TECHNOLUST (2016), announced that its long-awaited open world cyberpunk adventure LOW-FI is slated to launch sometime this year on PlayStation 5, PSVR 2, and PC VR headsets via Steam and the Meta PC platform.

Update (March 10th, 2023): It’s been nearly two years since IRIS VR announced a PS5 version was coming, which initially was set to arrive sometime in 2021. Now studio head Blair Renaud says in a tweet that LOW-FI is officially coming to PS5 and PSVR 2 this year. You can wishlist it on the PlayStation Store here.

The still in-development game has been available for purchase on PC and PC VR headsets for some time via the game’s itch.io, however Renaud also says we should expect to see it on Steam and the Meta PC platform in 2023 as well. You can wishlist it on Steam here.

If you haven’t followed along with the project, here’s a description courtesy of IRIS VR:

As the player, you are “low-fi”, the street name given to those who cannot merge with the platform, a ubiquitous virtual reality simulation where most of the population now live their lives. You are a police officer and have been transferred to a particularly crime ridden section of city-block 303. The only inhabitants of note in your jurisdiction are other low-fi, and the human intelligence (or lower) artificial life forms who have remained among the citizens after the AI singularity.

The original article announcing LOW-FI’s PS5 availability follows below. We’ve also included the latest trailer below this update:

Original Article (June 12th, 2020): A successful Kickstarter campaign late last year helped get LOW-FI off the ground, having garnered IRIS VR over $80,000 USD. At the time, it was pitched as a VR-native game intentionally built from the ground-up for PC VR headsets and “next-gen PSVR.”

The game’s developer, Blair Renaud, says that anyone can pre-order the PC version now, which gives you early access on SteamVR headsets. At the time of this writing the pre-release PC VR version costs $35 USD.

And it’s certainly an ambitious undertaking, boasting a massive, non-linear open world, “hundreds” of crimes and stories to solve and explore, branching narratives, and dialogue from what the studio says will be “photo-realistic NPCs.”

While the game’s creator seems fairly certain of LOW-FI’s 2021 launch window (see update), Sony hasn’t actually released word on when a next-gen follow-up to the PSVR is set to arrive.

We do however know that the current PSVR will be compatible with PS5 when the console launches holiday 2020, so upcoming VR releases for PS5 don’t necessarily indicate any implied time frame for a prospective PSVR 2.