Swarm Is An Agile Arcade Shooter Coming To Quest And PC Soon

More Spider-Man-style swinging antics await you in Swarm, which seems to be on the way to Quest and PC very soon.

The game, which we first reported on in early 2020, has shown up in the Coming Soon section of the Oculus Quest store. An official release date isn’t listed but developer Greensky Games has been targeting a Spring 2021 timeframe (after a delay from Summer 2020), and games don’t usually get listed on the Quest store unless they’re a few weeks away from launch. Check it out in the announcement trailer below.

In Swarm, you’re armed with grappling hooks that you’ll use to navigate arena-style levels. Also fitted to the hooks are pistols you’ll use to gun down approaching enemies in fast-paced combat. Greensky says the game is a throwback to arcades, with demanding difficulty and global leaderboards to keep you competitive.

When we first reported on the game we noted the Greensky had worked to make the swinging feel elastic and genuinely like you were swinging from a rope. Swinging like Spider-Man is something most of us have dreamed about doing in VR, but comfort has always been an issue with this sort of mechanic. Still, that hasn’t stopped games like Yupitergrad finding an audience, so we’ll be interested to see if the market takes to Swarm too. The studio even says that, from the “hundreds” of people that have tested the game, no one has gotten sick. We haven’t tried the experience for ourselves, though, so take that with a pinch of salt for now.

Will you be checking out Swarm? Let us know in the comments below!

Swing And Shoot Through ‘Swarm’, An Arcade-Style Shooter Coming To Quest, PC VR

We’ve seen a few Spider-Man swinging demos on the Quest and PC VR (both official and non-official), but now an upcoming VR game is set to take fun web swinging mechanics and apply them to an arcade-style arena shooter with a brand new property.

SWARM is an upcoming title from Greensky Studios, releasing Summer 2020 for PC VR and Oculus Quest. As you can see in the recently-released trailer embedded below, the game is a frantic arcade shooter that employs Spider-Man-like swinging mechanics for what looks like a whole lot of hectic fun. “Armed with just a grappling hook and your handy pistols, you’ll be plunged into a flow state as you grapple, shoot and battle your way to the heart of the SWARM before it’s too late,” reads Greensky’s description. 

The gameplay is fast-paced and intense,” said Peter Le Bek, founder of Greensky Studios. “You’re moving all the time, swinging through explosions, plunging down on enemy bots while showering them with fire. It’s the most intense movement experience you can have in VR without getting dizzy or motion sick.”

Le Bek says the team spent four months iterating on the grappling system alone, to make it feel satisfying, before fleshing out the rest of the game. They made a breakthrough when they added elasticity and tension simulation to the rope, making it feel “more like Spider-Man.” From there, they settled on an arena shooter genre to implement their grappling mechanic, resulting in SWARM.

“We were really worried that the movement would be too intense for most people,” said Bek. “So when we tested with everyone in our office – most of whom had never tried VR before – we were really surprised that no one complained about motion sickness.” After further testing with “hundreds” of VR newbies and veterans, Le Bek says they’ve still had no complaints about nausea, but have added comfort settings just in case. 

We’ll have to take his word for it for now. SWARM releases Summer 2020 for PC VR via Oculus and Steam, as well as on the Oculus Store for Oculus Quest. SWARM will also be cross-buy between Oculus Rift and Quest.

The post Swing And Shoot Through ‘Swarm’, An Arcade-Style Shooter Coming To Quest, PC VR appeared first on UploadVR.

Grapple Shooter Swarm Coming to Oculus Quest and PC VR Headsets Summer 2020

Grapple mechanics aren’t often used in virtual reality (VR) as they can be tricky to pull off comfortably, the most well known being Psytec Games’ Windlands series. Today, indie developer Greensky Games has announced its take on this dynamic locomotion mechanic, Swarm, combining with first-person shooter (FPS) gameplay.

Swarm

Instantly striking thanks to cel-shaded graphics which have that Borderlands 2 VR feel to themSwarm is built around frantic arcade action. Set in arenas filled with platforms to swing from, the gameplay showcased in the video below looks like players will be challenged to take on a succession of boss fights, dealing with one primary enemy as well as smaller drones and other minions.

Players will be able to nip around arenas using grappling hooks from either hand whilst being able to dual wield two pistols. Other weapons do pop up including rocket launchers for crowd control and a gun which fires electricity.

On the subject of all that swinging around in VR, Peter Le Bek, founder of Greensky Games said in a statement: “You know, after we finished prototyping the grappling mechanic, before there were enemies, we were having so much fun just swinging around, but we were really worried that the movement would be too intense for most people. So when we tested with everyone in our office – most of whom had never tried VR before – we were really surprised that no one complained about motion sickness.

“And Swarm’s now been tested by hundreds of VR veterans and newbies alike, we haven’t had one complaint about nausea. Just to be safe we added comfort settings, but Swarm can be played without the fear of motion sickness.”

Swarm

“From the start we were focused on building something where you can jump in for a 10-20 minute session and make progress,” Le Bek continues. “We also wanted to build a game with an incredible motion mechanic. We’d been enjoying grappling in Windlands and we felt like grappling in VR could feel even better.

“We spent 4 months iterating on grappling, and had a breakthrough when we gave the rope some elasticity and tension simulation – suddenly it felt like we had more control and power, more like Spider-Man. From there we considered building a 3D platformer, or a racing game, but we settled on the arena shooter because swinging through explosions and plunging down on enemies while shooting them was just ridiculously fun!”

Swarm is currently slated for a Summer 2020 release supporting Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and SteamVR compatible headsets and it’ll feature cross-buy support on the Oculus Store. As further updates for Swarm are revealed VRFocus will keep you updated.