Category: Spectro

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The VR Game Launch Roundup: Nature, Ghosts and a Little Pottery

Spectro

As it’s the end of the week VRFocus takes a look forward at what’s to come in the next seven days. There’s a nice mixed selection covering horror, stealth, the animal world and even pottery.

Ecosphere

Ecosphere – PHORIA

Not really a videogame more an interactive collection of 360-degree videos, Ecosphere nature documentary series. Featuring content from the jungles of Borneo to the rich coral reefs of Raja Ampat, viewers will be able to see a diverse selection of wildlife created in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

  • Supported platforms: Oculus Quest and Oculus Go
  • Launch date: 8th June

DreamBack VR – Come Over Gaming

A psychological horror where you have to escape an abandoned Victorian mansion, DreamBack VR doesn’t feature action elements like guns. You’ve got to hold your nerves and explore the building, solving puzzles and looking for clues to last the night.

DreamBack VR

Spectro – Borrowed Light Studios

Released as an Early Access title in October 2019, Spectro is a colourful ghostbusting experience where you play the owner of a ghost detective agency, going out to explore haunted houses and ridding them of their malevolent spirits.

République VR – Camouflaj

Originally a Gear VR experience, République VR was Camouflaj’s first VR title, exploring the perils of government surveillance in the internet age. The stealth videogame has been upgraded with new 3D assets and immersive puzzles to make use of the more powerful PC VR hardware.

Republique VR

Let’s Create! Pottery VR – Infinite Dreams

The only PlayStation VR game on the list, Let’s Create! Pottery VR is exactly as you’d imagine. Sit down, get comfy and create some pottery in a nice chilled environment, great for winding down from a stressful day.

  • Supported platforms: PlayStation VR
  • Launch date: 12th June (US & Canada),  9th June (EU)
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June VR Games 2020: The Biggest Releases This Month

Need a way to cool down this summer? Well we definitely don’t recommend VR; it makes you really hot. But with the new June VR games, it’ll be hard to stay away.

We’re rounding up the biggest releases of the month below, including the long-awaited launch of Phantom and the return of The Wizards. Don’t forget that we’re also hosting the Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition on June 8th, and there’s bound to be some surprises in there, too!

June VR Games 2020

The Wizards: Dark Times – June 4th (Rift, SteamVR)

Carbon Games’ popular spell-casting series returns with an all-new campaign. In The Wizards, you use gesture-based controls to summon elemental weapons. This started out as a standalone expansion to the original game but now Carbon says it’s grown into a full sequel.

Premium Bowling – June 4th (Quest)

Bowling… on Quest! Premium Bowling is a popular take on the sport that finds its way onto the standalone VR headset. With a raft of improvements made over the course of Early Access on PC VR, you can expect this to be a solid experience.

DreamBack VR – June 10th (SteamVR)

A brand new psychological VR horror. Haunted by suppressed memories of a terrifying night in a mansion, you face the events head-on with the help of a psychiatrist. The game was designed specifically for VR, so let’s hope it offers some real scares.

Spectro – June 11th (Rift, SteamVR)

This cutesy VR ghost game moves from Early Access to full release. You complete floors in a haunted house, ghost-busting your way to the top.

Mini Motor Racing X – June 20th (SteamVR)

mini motor racing x psvr

Already available on PSVR and Oculus platforms, Mini Motor Racing X is a Micro Machines-style racer in which players can either speed tiny cars around miniature tracks, or take the driver’s seat too. A raft of options makes this a palatable, if not essential experience.

Rinlo – June 23rd (SteamVR)

An Early Access launch of a new third-person adventure game from a new studio. Rinlo has you controlling Agatha in a quest to find her parents. Expect this to be the first steps in an intriguing new VR game.

Phantom: Coverts Ops – June 25th (Rift, Quest)

nDreams returns with its most promising VR game to date. Phantom is a stealth game set entirely within a kayak; you infiltrate a Cold War-era naval shipyard, avoiding detection with realistic movement and interactions. Plus it has David Hayter!

Which June VR games are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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Preview: Spectro – Perfect for Some Halloween Style Escapades

Originally unveiled in 2016, Borrowed Light Studios’ Spectro has made several appearances over the years, quietly disappearing then reappearing much like its content theme. It has always looked like an enjoyable concept. Making onto VRFocus’ ‘Best Mobile Games Coming in 2019’ list at the start of the year. That course has changed somewhat with the studio launching Spectro into Early Access on Steam, purely for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. In any case, it’s a nice easy going mix of action and puzzle gameplay.

Spectro

Looking like a mash-up between Ghostbusters and Luigi’s Mansion, Spectro is a single-player experience putting you in the shoes of a paranormal investigator tasked with saving the town of Wierdwood. The only way to do this is to venture into a haunted tower filled with ghosts and other mysteries to recover the Mask of Okeem and save the day.

What this means is blasting lots of ghosts level by level, working your way to the top. And for the most part, it’s a fun, if somewhat simple gameplay experience. You’re armed with a plasma blaster weapon thing which can weaken the malevolent spirits wandering the tower, before sucking them up and trapping them. These ghosts come in a variety of styles, small nippy ones which fire green balls of energy, others which throw bombs (which can be hit back), and massive angry looking ones which get in the way.

Battling these spirits is the high-light of Spectro, dashing in and out of rooms avoiding their projectiles, each capture feeling suitably satisfactory – there’s no wrestling them like in Ghostbusters, however. This does mean Spectro works really well with the smooth locomotion option, allowing for strafing and quick movement. For those that require comfort options don’t worry they have been included, there’s ‘Blink’: a point to point teleportation system, or ‘Dash’; which is essentially the same you just see a quick movement. All work well enough, but due to the tight conditions of each level, smooth locomotion does offer a little more flexibility.

Spectro

The levels aren’t just about fighting ghosts. Glinting items in each room indicate coins to be had which can then be spent in the store buying better weapons, health and other items. You can also open treasure chests with hidden keys to unlock better guns offering improved damage, speed and ammo capacity.

To progress each floor has a not so hidden totem (it grows bright blue), once collected it starts a brief treasure hunt where you need to find five objects as fast as possible. Using the totem then allows you to pinpoint a room with a secret door, behind which is a staircase to the next floor. The gameplay is all fairly playful in its nature with the only real difficulty coming from groups of ghosts.

Spectro is very much a family-friendly ghost-busting experience with nods to similar spooky film and videogame favourites. Its random level generation should provide enough variety to replay the tower over and over to gain the best upgrades. Even in Early Access form, VRFocus found Spectro to be a solid title with no noticeable bugs so far, paving the way for Borrowed Light Studios to turn this decent start into a hit.

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Spectro Is Welcome Bit Of VR Ghost Busting, Out Today

There are few things I would assign the word ‘hate’ to in this world. The Star Wars prequels would probably qualify. Probably seafood, too. But, most of all, I hate jump scares.

I mean that sit-in-the-cinema-fingers-in-my-ears-eyes-closed kind of hate. I freeze up at the slightest hint of suspense, ready to visit my happy place. As I’m sure you can imagine, this makes a lot of VR intensely unplayable for me. How I managed to survive Resident Evil 7 I’ll never know. How refreshing, then, to be able to enjoy Spectro’s brand of family-friendly spookiness scare-free.

One look at Spectro and you’ll know what it’s about. This is a stab at a Ghostbusters VR game (or, in gamer speak, Luigi’s Mansion VR). Curiously, though, there’s a hint of classic Wolfenstein to it; each level is small, containing a handful of rooms you need to clear enemies out of before searching for a way to progress to the next stage. Even the music ticks away in the background like an early id Software game. Throw in some rogue-lite inspirations and you have a game that’s clearly assembled on the foundations of others and remarkably similar to Bevan McKechnie’s Compound.

Out today in Early Access, this all makes for a surprisingly meaty, if imperfect haunted house. Ghosts are dispatched first by reducing a health meter with a Proton-style beam and then sucked up. It’s a reliable system in need of a little more substance. Ghosts feel like bullet (or laser) sponges, with robust health bars crawling to depletion. Regular upgrades, unlocked by finding keys and pairing them with chests, alleviate those frustrations, though there’s a desire for more process. It would be great, for example, to use motion controls to slam ghosts into walls to stun them, or to summon household items as shields.

Some variety does come in the way of enemy types. Most simply shoot projects at you but others drop bombs. Incoming projectiles are clumsily dodged using smooth locomotion or teleportation; it’s much more engaging to lean out of their way instead. It left me longing for some sort of Resident Evil 4-style stop-and-shoot system that would root you to the spot. Still, as it stands Spectro plays like an enjoyable shooter that could lean a little more on its weirder side and be a bit more intentive with its platform.

Spectro 2

There are a precious few examples of that already, though. To progress to the next level, you have to collect totems that expose hidden doors. It gives each level a fun sense of mystery, even if the item hunting minigame required to collect totems is a little monotonous.

But the appeal of tackling more levels with other upgrades, bought by discovering coins inside items, is a strong one. My first run at Spectro’s gauntlet lasted 25 minutes and, after a quick break, I found myself wanting to dive straight back in for the next.

It’s something of a relief, then, that Spectro launches as an Early Access game. This is an enjoyable little VR ghost hunter that could be much better if it more readily embraced its platform.  Fortunately, the developer is promising to add “more hand crafted level components, more pick-ups and upgrades, more ghosts” and other elements over the course of pre-release. I’m pretty optimistic that this one is going to get the love it deserves.

Spectro is available now on Steam Early Access with support for Rift and Vive for $19.99.

 

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The VR Game Launch Roundup: An Indie Selection

As October progresses, here’s another weekly roundup of all the new virtual reality (VR) titles to check out over the course of next week. This week sees the release of a variety of fantasy titles from well-known and up and coming studios. Make sure to check our freshly made compilation video to get a preview of each title. These roundup articles with accompanying videos will be available right here every Friday so be sure to check back here for up to date information about all forthcoming releases.

The Stars Between Us

The Stars Between Us – Invrse Reality

Previously released for the Oculus Go, this latest title from Invrse Reality, The Stars Between Us is a romantic puzzle experience involving a couple separated by the vastness of space. To bring them together players have to solve 3D puzzles in a similar vein to Candy Crush, matching three items together. There are 30 levels to complete, with charms to collect to keep you coming back for more.

Spectro – Borrowed Light Studios

Spectro is a VR-exclusive first-person ghostbusting experience filled with heaps of unlockable and hidden gems. After a paranormal force has swept through the town of Weirdwood, it’s up to you to uncover the elusive Mask of Okeem from a shape-shifting haunted tower. Run and teleport your way through various randomly generated levels featuring different and unique layouts. Search for hidden totems and save up coins to upgrade your armour and defence inventory. Duck, dodge and capture ghosts and the unique powers of each one.

Spectro headerKnockout League – Grab Games

In this single-player full-body arcade boxing videogame, you must move fast and dodge your opponents in VR. Without the need to rely on buttons for gameplay, users can earn rewards for the power and variety of your attack. Train in various fighting drills with a host of out of this world characters.

  • Supported platforms: Oculus Quest
  • Launch date: 17th October

Elite Escape – VDimension

As a member of an elite special forces unit, Alpha-X, you must pass an entry test in the form of a futuristic problem-solving escape room adventure! Solve over 10 challenging sci-fi-themed puzzle areas featuring a wide range of options presented to you in each room. Gameplay makes full use of VR hand tracking as you prove to be a worthy member of the world’s greatest military force.

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The Best Mobile Games Coming in 2019

Consumer mobile virtual reality (VR) may have been going longer than its tethered, high-end brother, thanks to Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard, but it was until 2018 that the industry took a shift thanks to Oculus Go and Vive Focus. While headsets like Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR have the graphical power, mobile and standalone devices have the freedom to be used anywhere, which opens up new possibilities for developers. 2019 looks to be even bigger for mobile with the upcoming release of Oculus Quest, but for now, VRFocus will be concentrating on videogames for the most currently available headsets.

The Best Mobile Games Coming in 2019

The Elder Scrolls: Blades – Bethesda

Announced during Bethesda’s pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018 press conference, The Elder Scrolls: Blades was originally due to arrive Fall 2018 for iOS and Android devices but a Tweet in November pushed the launch into this year. With classic role-playing game (RPG) mechanics the series is known for, The Elder Scrolls: Blades will feature three areas, Arena; a PvP area where players can challenge each other using melee and magical combat. An endless dungeon called The Abyss, filled with all sorts of enemies and treasure to help improve the character. And lastly The Town, which is the main campaign area, with a full storyline to complete.

Currently, there’s no precise launch date for The Elder Scrolls: Blades.

fiercekaiju_header

Unannounced Title – Fierce Kaiju/Coatsink Software

Honestly, this is a complete unknown at this stage. British developer Fierce Kaiju and Coatsink Software announced way back in November 2017 that they were working on a new VR project together. VRFocus knows that the title will be an entirely new IP, but the studios haven’t released any further details since 2017. As they have both primarily worked on mobile VR titles its safe to assume this will be the case again.

Hopefully, 2019 will be the year that Fierce Kaiju and Coatsink Software reveal more info.

Angry Birds VR Isle of Pigs Coming Soon Image

Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs – Resolution Games/Rovio

Resolution Games and Rovio Entertainment announced a couple of weeks ago plans to bring one of the biggest mobile franchises to VR. Details are still scarce, including gameplay details or what it’ll look like. When it comes to headset support they’ve simply stated it’ll be available ‘across all major VR platforms’ so VRFocus is assuming a franchise born onto mobile will keep with its mobile roots.

Expect more bird-flinging action when Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs arrives later this year.

InandOut

In&Out – Underdogz

A videogame VRFocus came across while wandering around Gamescom 2018 in Germany, In&Out is a spy adventure of sorts that’s played entirely cooperatively. Designed before Oculus Casting came about, the VR player has to navigate a secret facility with the help of their ever watchful companion viewing details on a mobile device. Without teamwork, the VR player will easily die, as they don’t have all the info to avoid traps and solve the puzzles.

We’ve not heard much about the Oculus Go compatible title since that first debut, so hopefully, 2019 will be the year for further updates.

Spectro header

Spectro – Borrowed Light Studios

From the team behind Vincent Van Gogh tribute, The Night Cafe is a rather spooky experience called Spectro. Originally announced way back in 2016, the studio has been somewhat quiet about Spectro’s development over the last couple of years. You are the sole proprietor of Spectro Co., a ghost detective agency, going out to explore haunted houses and ridding them of their malevolent spirits.

Borrow Light Studios says that: “Spectro is currently in development for all of the major VR headsets with a focus on releasing on mobile first.” That would make 2019 a great year for a frighteningly good mobile videogame.