It’s amazing to think that Puzzle Bobble (a.k.a. Bust-a-Move) is now 35 years old, providing decades of addictive puzzling across almost every videogame platform imaginable. Soon it’ll be the turn of virtual reality (VR), with Taito and Survios announcing that Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey will be making its way to Oculus Quest next month.
Since the initial reveal of the VR edition last summer, no other details have been released until now, where you can see the gameplay in action for the first time. Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey mixes the original bubble popping gameplay with immersive VR interaction, so rather than having a normal gun to aim and shoot, you’re provided with a weapon more akin to a high tech catapult, popping in colourful balls to then fling at the floating collection of bubbles.
Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey will provide players with 100 levels of bubble popping madness, with the aim to score a perfect three-stars on each level. As levels are completed players will earn coins to spend on unique power-ups with their own particular VR interactions.
The videogame will be split across three gameplay modes to offer players a nice mixture:
Story Mode: Make your way through 100 progressively challenging levels and achieve three-star mastery
Infinite Mode: Shoot and match to achieve a high score as a never-ending wave of bubbles take over the screen
Online Duel Mode: Challenge online opponents and send jammer bubbles to a rival’s board in this fast-paced 1v1 mode
Survios and Taito will be launching Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey on 20th May for Oculus Quest. Check out the launch trailer below and for further updates keep reading VRFocus.
Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey is a 3D version of the bubble-matching arcade puzzle game Puzzle Bobble (1994), and it’s finally slated to leave Quest exclusivity when it launches on PSVR, PS4, and PS5 later this year.
Update (June 3rd, 2021): TAITO and Survios today announced (with a slightly altered name) Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey is heading out of Quest exclusivity, where it will land on PSVR sometime later this year. This also includes flatscreen versions for PS4 and PS5, hence the ‘3D’ in the name. You can read our full review to find out why we gave it a middling score of [6/10].
The studios haven’t mentioned a specific launch date, but considering the game has already been optimized for Quest and Quest 2, it’s likely we’ll see it sometime soon. The original article announcing the original Quest launch date follows below:
Original Article (April 16th, 2021): Puzzle Bobble VR is being developed by Survios, the studio behind Creed: Rise to Glory (2018) and Raw Data (2017), and published by the series’ original creator TAITO.
The first-person game is said to include 100 levels in story mode, letting you physically take aim with hand-held slingshots, match colors, and burst 3D bubble clusters to progress through the island environments. Outside of trying to get a perfect three-star score, Survios says you can also unlock power-ups with “clever VR interactions” by earning coins.
There’s also set to be an ‘Infinite Mode’ which lets you battle against a never-ending wave of bubbles, and ‘Online Duel Mode’ which lets you go head-to-head in 1v1 multiplayer.
The game’s soundtrack is being created by Taito ‘house band’ Zuntata, which the studio says will include “well-known Puzzle Bobble classics plus new songs composed specifically for Vacation Odyssey.”
Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey is launching exclusively on Oculus Quest on May 20th. You can wishlist it on the Oculus Store here.
A massive Sh*t Just Got Real sale went live on Green Man Gaming with tons of PC VR game discounts including The Walking Dead, Superhot, LA Noire, and more.
Note: They can and will run out of keys and not every deal lasts as long as others. For example, as of the time of this writing at 12PM PT, the deal for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners only has six hours remaining and Star Trek: Bridge Crew is currently out of stock despite being on sale, but may become available again eventually.
You can find every game in the sale here or the ‘Top Picks’ from Green Man Gaming here. In total there are 63 games discounted including some deep price cuts as low as over 80% off. When you buy a game on Green Man Gaming it’s not a shady key reselling site, it’s just a storefront for Steam keys provided to GMG. It works like the Humble Store. After buying a game on GMG, you get a Steam key and access the game just like you had bought it on Steam directly.
Here are some recommended picks based on the sale price relative to the game’s value, in my opinion:
Creed developer Survios has high hopes for a potential PSVR 2 headset.
Speaking on a panel about the next generation of console gaming hosted by VentureBeat in November of last year, Chief Product Officer TQ Jefferson said that Survios was “putting our hopes on PSVR 2 and what PSVR 2 is going to bring to the platform.”
Jefferson pointed to many of the potential features that have been outlined in Sony research videos and patents over the past few years. He referenced things like finger-tracking on possible new motion controllers and enhanced haptic feedback as seen in PS5’s DualSense controller.
“Joysticks and standard face buttons being on controllers, seeing that homogenized is going to be a huge step forward because in the previous generation, the lack of thumbsticks really inhibited what we could do in terms of developing games for PSVR,” Jefferson continued.
“We’re making some inroads now; Quest and Quest 2 has given greater freedom of movement, but the economics of innovation there are interesting in that being untethered means, graphically, we’re sort of at that PS2 stage of visual fidelity. And with PSVR we’re hoping it’s going to push us up into PS3/PS4 fidelity.”
The developer also pointed out that Survios is “eager” to find out if PSVR 2 will have wireless streaming for enhanced freedom of movement.
Crucially, though, Jefferson didn’t imply Survios itself has any inside knowledge about PSVR 2, and we’re still wondering what Sony’s plans are for the headset. PS5 requires an adaptor to support the original PSVR and can’t use the new HD camera. Plus, in October of last year, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said that “the future of VR” wouldn’t arrive in 2021, so it seems unlikely we’ll see the headset this year.
With any luck we might at least start to hear more concrete rumors about PSVR 2 sometime in 2021, though. For now you can keep up with everything we know about the kit right here. What are you hoping for out of the device? Let us know in the comments below!
Last month Survios launched its much-anticipated zombie survival title The Walking Dead Onslaught for PC VR and PlayStation VR headsets. To celebrate the release VRFocus has another awesome competition where one lucky reader has a chance to win both the videogame and a bunch of merchandise.
The Walking Dead Onslaught is a collaboration between Survios and AMC, bringing the popular TV show to life in virtual reality (VR) with some of the show’s famous faces. If you’re a fan of AMC’s TV show then the storyline will be of interest as its set between season 8 and 9.
The main campaign follows Daryl Dixon, where you embody the character famous for his crossbow. In between missions you need to rebuild the Alexandria Safe Zone and help the community by going on supply runs, upgrading your weapons and killing a lot of walkers.
For this competition is dishing up a sizable selection of merch, all of it going to one lucky winner. You can see what’s on offer below. This will be shipped by Survios directly to the winner, worldwide.
The Walking Dead Season 8 Blu-ray
The Walking Dead Season 9 Blu-ray
The Walking Dead Onslaught Steelbook case (Includes a code for the platform of your choice)
The Walking Dead Onslaught Art book
The Walking Dead Onslaught T-shirt
The Walking Dead Onslaught Microfiber cloth
The Walking Dead Onslaught Postcard
Developer letter
So onto the competition. There are multiple ways to enter the giveaway with the standard prize draw entry rules applying: Follow us (or already be following us) on Twitter or alternatively, visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel to get an entry for each. The competition will be open until 11.59 pm GMT on Monday 2nd November 2020. The draw will be made shortly thereafter. After which VRFocus will contact the winner to get platform and address details. Best of luck.
In a massive update post, the developer outlines what it’s calling the Combat Rebalance Patch, which makes “significant changes” to the game’s combat system and zombie behavior.
One of the biggest issues at launch was the relative weakness of most firearms and other ranged weapons. The default starting knife was an instant one-hit kill if you stabbed the brain and didn’t even require much force, whereas guns would require multiple shots. There is no durability system in Onslaught, so there was little reason not to use the basic knife 90% of the time. That’s been changed quite dramatically.
According to the update, “all ranged weapons” now allow one-hit kills to the brain at close range, but less damage obviously to the jaw, neck, and below. There is also now damage drop off depending on distance, which can be improved at the workbench. Additionally, “all melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked” so that less damage is dealt to the non-brain areas of the head. Blades also get stuck in skulls requiring more force to pull them out and dead walkers will no longer automatically slip off onto the ground.
Other highlights include increased walker perception and aggression, higher damage from walkers, larger groups of walkers, and more. Progression is also eased so you’re not grinding for resources as much, plus a litany of other changes. You can read the full patch notes right here.
This still doesn’t address some of our key concerns from the review, such as the red misty fog indicated the “horde” approaching or the quality of other areas, but it’s a great start on quick notice less than a month after release.
Let us know what you think of these changes down in the comments below!
One of the major virtual reality (VR) releases in September was Survios’ The Walking Dead Onslaught, taking fans inside AMC’s TV show. However, the launch didn’t quite live up to expectations, with gamers unhappy with the combat – especially where the knife was concerned. Addressing those concerns, Survios has now released the Combat Rebalance Patch.
Details released show that Survios has tackled all aspects of the combat in The Walking Dead Onslaught, both ranged and melee, as well as adjusting the walkers’ aggression and difficulty. One of the biggest gripes was how easy the gameplay was, with hordes of walkers easily taken down, removing any sort of tense atmosphere.
For a basic overview, when it comes to ranged combat all the weapons can now perform one-hit kills to the brain at close range, larger guns have better simulated weight; ammo is scarcer, there’s fall-off damage over distance (improved via upgrades); pistol whipping damage has been increased, and the “Copper Tips” upgrade has better penetration values.
On the melee side, damage values have been slightly adjusted so less is caused from the jaw downwards. Sharp melee weapons can now become lodged inside a walkers skull, becoming harder to remove – high quality weapons like the Katana and Battle Axe will have the least resistance. Player movement is restricted whilst impaling a zombie, blunt melee damage has been reduced; Knuckle Knife re-tuned for blunt damage “two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded,” and tweaks to the simulated weight again.
As for other improvements, these include:
“Walker perception and aggression has been increased.”
“Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.”
“Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.”
“There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.”
“Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.”
“Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.”
Oculus Quest – “Virtual Desktop has released Update 1.16.2, which includes compatibility for The Walking Dead Onslaught.”
Valve Index – “published an alternative controller scheme which allows players to interact with the environment, grab pickups, and choke walkers using the Index’s grip sensor”
That does sound like it should address plenty of gameplay concerns to make the title a far more rounded (and terrifying) experience. For further updates on The Walking Dead Onslaught, keep reading VRFocus.
The Walking Dead Onslaught (2020) launched onto PSVR and PC headsets late last month to less than glowing reviews. Developers Survios aren’t giving up on the single player zombie shooter though, as the studio has released a new patch that aims to rebalance zombies, weapons, and the game’s combat system.
There’s a long list of changes (seen below) that are now live on all versions of the game. Survios says the patch was created to
“help players achieve our goal of walker-slaying fun.”
Since its September 29th launch, user reviews haven’t been super consistent across the board. At the time of this writing, The Walking Dead Onslaught is sitting [3/5] stars on the Oculus Store, a more positive [4/5] stars on the PlayStation Store, and undoubtedly the worst over on Steam at ‘Mostly Negative’ user reviews.
In our own review we gave it a [4/10] for being too grindy, and not presenting enough of a challenge when it comes to zombie-killing action. In short, the shambolic goons felt more like generic bullet sponges than identifiably different classes of zombies, and the one-way run and gun levels, although beautiful, felt like distractions to the game’s overall story, narrated by Daryl Dixon (reprised by Norman Reedus).
With the rebalance, Survios seems to be trying to reframe zombie encounters to be more deadly, and therefore more important obstacles to the main task of running and scrounging. Anyway, check out the full update list below, provided by Survios via Steam.
The Walking Dead Onslaught Combat Rebalance Patch
1) Significant Ranged Weapon Combat Overhaul
All ranged weapons have been tuned to allow for one-hit kills to the brain at close range; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Ranged weapons now have custom fall-off damage over distance, which can be improved via weapon upgrades (“Refined Powder”). This excludes the Lever Action Rifle, Revolver, and Crossbow.
Simulated weight on heavier / longer ranged weapons has been adjusted for better usability; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Ammo Pickups now grant less ammunition per weapon, increasing ammo scarcity.
All ranged weapons have had their maximum ammunition and upgraded ammunition capacities re-balanced to the new weapon damage values.
Ranged weapons brought into a Scavenger run as part of the player loadout now start with a single magazine’s worth of ammunition rather than the maximum for the weapon.
The ammo bonuses granted by The Forge have been increased from +40% at max level to +125% (+25% per upgrade).
Increased blunt melee damage on all ranged weapons (pistol whipping).
The “Copper Tips” upgrades for the Heavy Pistol, Lever Action Rifle, and Crossbow are now more effective; penetration values have been increased.
The Basic Pistol is now less accurate at range to compensate for its new one-hit kill capability.
2) Significant Melee Weapon Combat Overhaul
All melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Sharp melee weapons (blades and axes) now stick inside of a Walker’s skull on kill and will resist easy removal; higher quality sharp melee weapons such as the Katana and Battle Axe have the least resistance of removal.
Dead Walkers no longer automatically detach from sharp melee weapons when impaled.
While impaling a Walker with a sharp melee weapon, player movement is restricted for as long as the weapon remains stuck in the Walker.
Additional simulated weight has been added to heavier / longer melee weapons; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Reduced blunt melee damage for sharp melee weapons when striking with the hilt or other non-sharp surfaces; the Crowbar, Battle Axe, and Shovel have retained higher damage for these blunt attacks.
The Knuckle Knife has been completely re-tuned to better emphasize blunt damage (two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded); the knife end is no longer an instant kill head strike but also does not stick in skulls on kill.
The “Impact” upgrades for the Hammer, Bat, and Battle Axe are now more effective; explosive damage values have been increased.
3) Walker Aggression and Difficulty Increased
Walker perception and aggression has been increased.
Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.
On Survivor and Veteran difficulty, Walkers now also deal initial grapple damage before biting starts.
Increased number of Walkers in Campaign Chapter 1.
Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.
Spiked Walkers are now noticeably more deadly than other walkers.
4) Progression Has Been Eased
There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.
Changed the first time user Scavenger site mission from Main Street Supply Run to Military Checkpoint Supply Evac.
Reduced the speed of the Scavenger Herd Wall when playing on Novice or Survivor difficulty.
5) Additional Changes
Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.
Reversing grip on a bladed weapon will no longer cause a choked Walker to detach.
Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.
Increased velocity when throwing Walker corpses..
Choked Walkers can now be brought closer to the player’s face.
The Walking Dead Onslaught (2020) launched onto PSVR and PC headsets late last month to less than glowing reviews. Developers Survios aren’t giving up on the single player zombie shooter though, as the studio has released a new patch that aims to rebalance zombies, weapons, and the game’s combat system.
There’s a long list of changes (seen below) that are now live on all versions of the game. Survios says the patch was created to
“help players achieve our goal of walker-slaying fun.”
Since its September 29th launch, user reviews haven’t been super consistent across the board. At the time of this writing, The Walking Dead Onslaught is sitting [3/5] stars on the Oculus Store, a more positive [4/5] stars on the PlayStation Store, and undoubtedly the worst over on Steam at ‘Mostly Negative’ user reviews.
In our own review we gave it a [4/10] for being too grindy, and not presenting enough of a challenge when it comes to zombie-killing action. In short, the shambolic goons felt more like generic bullet sponges than identifiably different classes of zombies, and the one-way run and gun levels, although beautiful, felt like distractions to the game’s overall story, narrated by Daryl Dixon (reprised by Norman Reedus).
With the rebalance, Survios seems to be trying to reframe zombie encounters to be more deadly, and therefore more important obstacles to the main task of running and scrounging. Anyway, check out the full update list below, provided by Survios via Steam.
The Walking Dead Onslaught Combat Rebalance Patch
1) Significant Ranged Weapon Combat Overhaul
All ranged weapons have been tuned to allow for one-hit kills to the brain at close range; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Ranged weapons now have custom fall-off damage over distance, which can be improved via weapon upgrades (“Refined Powder”). This excludes the Lever Action Rifle, Revolver, and Crossbow.
Simulated weight on heavier / longer ranged weapons has been adjusted for better usability; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Ammo Pickups now grant less ammunition per weapon, increasing ammo scarcity.
All ranged weapons have had their maximum ammunition and upgraded ammunition capacities re-balanced to the new weapon damage values.
Ranged weapons brought into a Scavenger run as part of the player loadout now start with a single magazine’s worth of ammunition rather than the maximum for the weapon.
The ammo bonuses granted by The Forge have been increased from +40% at max level to +125% (+25% per upgrade).
Increased blunt melee damage on all ranged weapons (pistol whipping).
The “Copper Tips” upgrades for the Heavy Pistol, Lever Action Rifle, and Crossbow are now more effective; penetration values have been increased.
The Basic Pistol is now less accurate at range to compensate for its new one-hit kill capability.
2) Significant Melee Weapon Combat Overhaul
All melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Sharp melee weapons (blades and axes) now stick inside of a Walker’s skull on kill and will resist easy removal; higher quality sharp melee weapons such as the Katana and Battle Axe have the least resistance of removal.
Dead Walkers no longer automatically detach from sharp melee weapons when impaled.
While impaling a Walker with a sharp melee weapon, player movement is restricted for as long as the weapon remains stuck in the Walker.
Additional simulated weight has been added to heavier / longer melee weapons; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Reduced blunt melee damage for sharp melee weapons when striking with the hilt or other non-sharp surfaces; the Crowbar, Battle Axe, and Shovel have retained higher damage for these blunt attacks.
The Knuckle Knife has been completely re-tuned to better emphasize blunt damage (two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded); the knife end is no longer an instant kill head strike but also does not stick in skulls on kill.
The “Impact” upgrades for the Hammer, Bat, and Battle Axe are now more effective; explosive damage values have been increased.
3) Walker Aggression and Difficulty Increased
Walker perception and aggression has been increased.
Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.
On Survivor and Veteran difficulty, Walkers now also deal initial grapple damage before biting starts.
Increased number of Walkers in Campaign Chapter 1.
Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.
Spiked Walkers are now noticeably more deadly than other walkers.
4) Progression Has Been Eased
There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.
Changed the first time user Scavenger site mission from Main Street Supply Run to Military Checkpoint Supply Evac.
Reduced the speed of the Scavenger Herd Wall when playing on Novice or Survivor difficulty.
5) Additional Changes
Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.
Reversing grip on a bladed weapon will no longer cause a choked Walker to detach.
Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.
Increased velocity when throwing Walker corpses..
Choked Walkers can now be brought closer to the player’s face.
The Walking Dead Onslaught is this year’s second Walking Dead franchise game for VR, following the release of the The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020)in January. Unlike its scrappy RPG-style older sibling, Onslaught does away with dark and gloomy trepidation of entering a room halfcocked, instead replacing it with a constant pressure to run, gun, and scrounge your way through levels to an oftentimes ineffectual conclusion.
The Walking Dead Onslaught Details:
Available On: Oculus PC, SteamVR, PlayStation Store (PSVR) Release Date: September 29th, 2020 Developer: Survios Reviewed On: Oculus Quest (via Link), Oculus Rift
Gameplay
I quit watching AMC’s The Walking Dead probably after the third season, which, for me, was when the show stopped being about surviving zombies and sort of became a zombie it is own right. It shambled along in a way that just made me question: where the hell is this all going?
Whatever your level of fandom though, if you’re going to play The Walking Dead Onslaught, you only really need to know a few things to succeed: Methodically search through every building for supplies. Have a balanced loadout with at least one edged weapon. Make sure to point the shooty part of the gun at the zombie’s head. And run.
Image captured by Road to VR
You don’t need to know where to go, or what to do, and you won’t need to solve any puzzles along the way. Just aim down the iron sights, shoot, reload, and run from the constantly marching red fog of zombies behind you until the credits roll. The red fog works just like in a battle royale, which gives you all the motivation you’ll need to make your way to the finish line.
There’s no stamina, thirst, or hunger bars to worry about here (not a bad thing), making it all about moving quickly through the one-way snake-like pathway through each level—but not so fast that you’ll breeze past the inexplicably massive amounts of food, wood, metal scraps, adhesives, etc—all of which either helps you upgrade weapons or unlocks the next bit of story.
The game is divided into two discrete sections: Daryl, reprised by Norman Reedus, has a story to tell about trying to save a little girl. As Daryl, you play through a half-dozen levels to meet the conclusion of his story arc. It probably took around 3 hours to play through Daryl’s bit alone, but you aren’t set loose right away to run through each chapter as you please.
Image captured by Road to VR
For some reason you need to attract survivors to your encampment which is done by scrounging for food across a map that sequentially unlocks different zones after you meet a survivor number requirement. This basically ties you to grinding through scrounging missions to unlock Daryl’s story which then kicks you back out to more scrounging missions, rinse and repeat.
Image captured by Road to VR
It all felt a bit like the game was tacking on a pretty useless bit in the name of extending gameplay length. You’re forced to go through these missions, which have no other purpose than to find stuff, to then make self-serving upgrades to weapons, health, and supply retrieval ability.
Daryl’s story was interesting, and acted somewhat of a retreat from the grind, but I found myself mechanically repeating the same scrounging levels over and over just to get enough supplies to unlock the next chapter. These missions quickly started to feel like a dull chore than an honest way of engaging with the game.
The red fog of the horde, Image captured by Road to VR
That’s not to say there aren’t some really fun bits in shooting a massive crowd of walkers (all of them slow until they get within striking distance) and seeing the hardest zombies go down. The constant pressure of an enclosing zombie horde fog also keeps you on your toes during scrounging missions, never giving you enough time to search the byways for everything. Stabbing, slicing, shooting, and pushing the physics-based baddies around is all really satisfying.
I also liked that you can attack each level of the game, both story and scrounging missions, in easy, medium or hard difficulty modes, although the amount of stuff you find decreases the easier you take it. Onslaught does those things well, but I feel like it would be better served with a larger, more engaging storyline and significantly less supply grinding.
Image captured by Road to VR
As for the game’s antagonists, there’s not a ton of functional variation to the slow walking zombies in Onslaught. Later in the game, you’ll meet armored zombies in riot gear or covered in spikes that add additional pressure to the level’s slolam, however its overwhelmingly populated with civilian walkers that can die with a single knife plunge to the brain. Have enough ammo, aim for the head, and eventually all of the bullet sponges will lurch their last step.
In all, both Daryl’s story and the scrounging missions took me a little over seven hours to complete. After the credits roll, you can always head back in to upgrade every weapon, melee and gun alike, but I just didn’t see a need since I’d be playing through all of the same missions again with the only real variation being where key items are located.
Immersion
Onslaught misses the mark by being a little too simplistic and overly grindy, but it also misses the mark somewhat in the Immersion section too by being too damn predictable.
Level design is nearly always built around a one-way slog through a ruined town, which all starts to feel the same after about the first hour. It’s a shame, because the visual variety of the levels feels actually really quite good. Although you aren’t going to stop and smell the daisies ever, it’s clear there was some serious love in making the each level feel uniquely ruined by the zombie apocalypse.
Image captured by Road to VR
Unfortunately there’s no object interaction to speak of, as your dominant hand is tied to your weapon until you switch it out for another. Force grab is used in place of actually picking things up. Those aren’t bad things in and of themselves, but the abstraction away from actually holding something with your hands does limit user immersion somewhat.
Both character design and voice acting are however pretty exceptional considering Norman Reedus was the only original actor in the game. There is somewhat of an uncanny valley effect when characters speak, which only happens when you’re back at base, but it’s not very often that you even see another human being in the bulk of the game, so it’s mostly a non-issue. Although zombies are functionally the same, with the only variation being armor level, the designs are extremely well crafted.
Image captured by Road to VR
Onslaught’s clever use of positional audio is a highlight too, as you have to keep your ear out for the foggy horde inching ever closer behind you, free range zombies lurking around the level, and valuable caches of supplies, which sound like a soft radio fizzle when you get near them.
The game’s UI also smartly stays out of the way, which is a nice touch, letting you more fluidly engage with the hordes of zombies. You can also turn the UI completely off in the settings, although you may not even notice it most of the time since it hides in the upper and lower registers of the screen.
Comfort
The game’s developers, Survios, are old pros when it comes to VR comfort design. You can choose a number of locomotion options including teleport, snap turn, smooth turning, head or hand- relative forward motion, and even the arm-swinging style they’ve used in Creed: Rise to Glory (2018) and Sprint Vector (2017).
All of this, combined with a well-studied use of particle effects to help you stay grounded as you move forward, give you a wide swath of options according to your individual comfort level.
You can play both seated and standing, which is done through an automatic calibration process. An in-game recalibration button is also there if for some reason you want to switch between standing and sitting.
