A new Tarzan VR Trilogy Edition collects all three episodes of the adventure for PC VR.
Previously Tarzan VR released its first two episodes as paid installments for PC headsets. A third episode was promised, but didn’t appear until the game launched on Quest as the entire trilogy. Even then, however, the PC VR versions were missing the third installment.
But this week’s launch of the trilogy edition brings that third and final episode of the game to PC VR headsets. It’s available on Steam and the Oculus Store (where it supports cross-buy with Quest) for $19.99. It’s no longer possible to buy the episodes individually but, if you already own the first installment, you’ll get the update for free.
Alongside the new episode, the update also adds a new bow weapon and performance and graphical improvements. We thought the Quest version of the game was incredibly troubled thanks to muddy graphics, though the PC VR version does offer much tighter presentation. That said, it’s still true that the overall experience is very short and the gameplay is overly simply. Still, any excuse to share that trailer once again, no?
Don’t let them destroy your jungle.
Elsewhere, publisher Fun Train is planning to release a Twilight Zone VR game in July and a sequel to The Exorcist: Legion VR in the near future. Both projects feature development from UK-based Pocket Money Games.
Are you going to be picking up Tarzan VR Trilogy Edition on PC? Let us know in the comments below.
Tarzan VR might be VR’s strangest game yet, but oddball hilarity doesn’t disguise incredibly shallow offerings. More in our Tarzan VR review.
I’ve done a lot of strange things in my time covering VR. I’ve made out with aliens, saved Baby Shark and braved the nauseous dangers of Rollercoaster Dreams. But none of that even begins to approach the untamed insanity of Tarzan VR.
I suppose that inexplicably infectious trailer song was a bit of a giveaway. In the 90 second video (which I’ve included below because I know you want to hear it again) you can never quite tell if the game is taking itself seriously enough to amount to more than a series of memes.
And that’s the exact same case actually playing Tarzan VR – anytime you try to dig beneath the surface and find anything of substance something profoundly baffling happens. You might hear one of the lines from what sounds like an old radio adaptation of the character, repeated ad nauseam and often completely out of context. One of our hero’s gorilla companions might charge at you in perhaps the scariest display you’ll ever see in VR, then proceed to crack jokes. Or, if you’re playing on PC, maybe an unconscious enemy farts after you knock him to the floor (yes, really).
Tarzan VR Review – The Facts
What is it?: The lord of the jungle beats up baddies in a story-driven campaign Platforms: Quest, PC VR (Incomplete) Release Date: Out now Price: $24.99
Attempting humor is one thing, but why is Tarzan VR trying to be this kind of outrageous?
It might be, I suspect, trying to get you to look past the game’s bizarrely shallow structure and mechanics. Because, on the surface, lots of Tarzan VR’s elements have charm. On PC at least, enemies bruise and bluster when you punch them in the face, vine-swinging is fast and fun, and the leafy jungle and cartoonish art offers a nice change of pace from developer Stonepunk Studios’ (otherwise infinitely better) Primordian. Most of that disappears on Quest (more on that below).
But it takes mere minutes for the cracks to reveal themselves. The combat simply has no order to it; it’s a case of running in, flailing your arms around with all the coordination of a loose pressure hose, and then sprinting on down the linear path in search of the next helpless mannequin to butcher. Again, on paper, there are some sound ideas here; you can pick enemies up and throw them, execute deadly dive attacks from the vines and each of the game’s three chapters introduces new weapons to use. But the experience gives you no real reason to utilize these tools and is in desperate need of some sort of player restraint to keep you from becoming a one-man killing machine.
Tarzan VR Review – Quest vs PC
I’ve played both versions of Tarzan VR now and even though the Quest version seems to make a few revisions to try and improve the experience it’s easily the worst of the two. The once lush jungle is now shrouded by a brown fog that makes it hard to see what’s ahead, and some of the swinging sections seem to have fewer vines to hang onto, making it harder to actually navigate. Textures are stretched out and enemies now wear masks, so there’s no deformation in combat. It’s a bit of a mess, to be frank.
The Quest version does have one big advantage in that it’s actually complete. All three episodes of the game are included here, whereas the PC version still doesn’t have the third installment. So, if you absolutely have to see the experience now it wins by default but we’d still advise waiting on SteamVR instead.
You can imagine a take on this that really does work in step with VR, setting out an ambush from the treetops before descending from above to take a camp of enemies by surprise. Instead, the game feels like it’s racing you toward the end with brain-dead enemies that run toward you like lambs to the slaughter. In fact you sometimes don’t even need to fight; you can tame lions in certain segments and they’ll join you in your battle by wiping the floor with any and every enemy in a matter of seconds. You’re just left to sit back and wonder, yet again, what the heck is going on.
All of this madness is contained within a criminally short hour-long campaign, which means the game’s alarming erraticism never really lets up. To its credit, the game fires along at breakneck pace, but it ultimately feels like you’re being hurried along so you don’t stop to think about how ridiculous everything is.
Quite a ride, then, and and worthy of ‘so bad it’s good’ recognition, even if it knows it. But, even if it provides laughs, the game’s just far too rudimentary to recommend in 2021 – a mix of lifeless combat and overly straightforward design that never really capitalizes on the Tarzan fantasy.
Tarzan VR Review – Final Impressions
Part of me would like to give Tarzan VR a higher score than this because, in all honestly, the game provided plenty of entertainment as I tried to decipher the many missteps its creators took, leaving the laws of the jungle to crumble around me and let anarchy ensue. But, while this madness might be enough to save the game from boredom, it is ultimately a paper-thin and unacceptably short experience that hopes to hide its lack of depth with its surreal take on the Tarzan lore. You’ll definitely remember the name of Tarzan VR, but not for the reasons you’d expect.
Today sees the launch of Tarzan VR, bringing the iconic comic book character to life inside virtual reality (VR) for Oculus Quest. An episodic adventure told over the course of three chapters, if you’ve been interested in picking the title up then take a look at VRFocus’ latest gameplay video showcasing an early section of the videogame.
Tarzan VR originally launched last year as a project between Fun Train (The Exorcist: Legion VR) and Stonepunk Studios (Primordian) for SteamVR headsets. For the Oculus Quest edition, Fun Train brought in the talents of Steel Wool Studios (Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Most Wanted) to ensure a perfect fit for the comic book caper.
As you’ll see in the gameplay video, Tarzan VR’s art style works well on the standalone headset and so does the gameplay, being able to freely swing through the treetops, climb trees or fight the mercenaries invading his jungle home. All of Tarzan VR’s gameplay is designed to be fairly physical, punching enemies, actually having to swim underwater and swinging your arms to run.
While each chapter will continue the main narrative each one will introduce new elements. Episode 1 for example features the “Mighty Axe” whilst in the second instalment, it’s all about the slingshot. Plus, as this is an officially licensed videogame there are plenty of easter eggs to find such as audio recordings from the 1950’s live-action instalments.
In its SteamVR review of Tarzan VRVRFocus said: “Much like the comic books it’s based around, Tarzan VR is a light affair that can be easily consumed in stages. The action isn’t too particularly tough, and the enemies aren’t at all clever but the overall experience is enjoyable enough for a couple of hours.”
Unlike the SteamVR launch which saw Tarzan VR released episodically, the Oculus Quest version will contain all three chapters (Episode 1- The Great Ape, Episode 2- The Jagged Edge and Episode 3- The Dead of Night) for $24.99 USD. For further updates on Tarzan VR including the PlayStation VR version, keep reading VRFocus.
In 2020 developer Stonepunk Studios and publisher Fun Train brought iconic character, Tarzan, into virtual reality (VR) with Tarzan VR for PC VR headsets. It’s now been revealed thatthe videogame will be coming to Oculus Quest, this week in fact!
For the Oculus Quest edition Steel Wool Studios (Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Most Wanted) has been handling the port, with Fun Train confirming that the launch will feature all three episodes; Episode 1- The Great Ape, Episode 2- The Jagged Edge and Episode 3- The Dead of Night. Currently, the Steam version of Tarzan VR doesn’t offer the third episode, still listed as “coming soon”.
Best known for its horror title The Exorcist: Legion VR with Wolf & Wood, Fun Train’s latest episodic adventure Tarzan VR takes you to his lush jungle home where you can explore his treehouse and the surrounding environment to look for secrets. After which each of the comic book-inspired episodes takes you deeper into the jungles, fighting mercenaries and learning new skills along the way.
While each episode will unlock a new weapon to play with – Episode 1 features the “Mighty Axe” for example – classic mechanics like being able to swing through the trees and talk to animals still feature. Gameplay offers plenty of physical exertion to keep you immersed in Tarzan VR’s world, if you’re not swinging then you’ll be climbing or swimming or beating up enemies.
Reviewing the PC VR edition of Tarzan VRVRFocus said: “Much like the comic books it’s based around, Tarzan VR is a light affair that can be easily consumed in stages. The action isn’t too particularly tough, and the enemies aren’t at all clever but the overall experience is enjoyable enough for a couple of hours.”
Tarzan VR is scheduled to launch this Thursday, 1st July 2021 for Oculus Quest. See it in action in the new Oculus Quest trailer and for further updates on additional platform support – PlayStation VR has been mentioned previously – keep reading VRFocus.
Announced last year, episodes one and two of Tarzan VR are finally available for PC VR. But does the game really make you feel like the King of the Jungle?
I’ll be honest — going into Tarzan VR, I had pretty low expectations. None of the promotional material had particularly wowed me from a gameplay perspective, and I didn’t expect much at all from the experience. I wouldn’t say my expectations were wildly exceeded, but it certainly has its moments and floats some fun ideas around.
Tarzan VR: King of the Jungle?
Tarzan VR is releasing episodically, with the first two installments (or comic ‘issues’, as they are referred to in-game) available now. You play as Tarzan, doing all the things you would expect Tarzan to do — rescuing Jane, swinging on vines, punching colonists, and wildly beating his chest. As far as the Tarzan lore goes, Fun Train seem to have covered all bases.
I played through most of the first episode, and the tone was quite different to what I was expecting. It kind of runs with the tongue-in-cheek vibe set by the mixed reality trailer — it’s more humorous than I was expecting, in a good way, and more visually interesting too. The voice acting is over the top, the punching sound effects are like something out of an 80s action movie, and the gorillas run comically fast, both towards you or away from you.
Combined with the cell-shaded art style that draws inspiration from comic book art, the game does have a certain charm that kept a smile on my face all the way through.
Getting into the Swing of Things
While it’s a lot of fun and a little bit silly, the gameplay is still pretty shallow. The combat is spam-based and incredibly easy, and the almost self-aware jankiness isn’t enough to fully forgive the more uninspired sections I played.
The fun-yet-shallow tone of the game is hard to explain, and you’re better off watching some of the footage embedded above — it’s a funny game and the developers have done a good job representing the iconic parts of the Tarzan story, but it’s nothing to write home about when it comes to gameplay.
Tarzan VR is definitely not a masterpiece and maybe not even something I’d recommend you try out yourself, but I can’t deny I still had some version of fun while playing it. The art style can be quite striking at times, especially the gorillas and NPCs, and it’s fun to run around a giant island map as Tarzan. The swinging mechanics are simple and quite unrealistic, but nonetheless still exciting to play with.
Tarzan VR: Final Thoughts
The game almost toes the line of so-bad-it’s-good, but that might be a bit too harsh. A lot of love has clearly gone into the game and if you can accept the shallow gameplay and just run with the weirdness of it all, you’ll probably have a good time.
The moment when you have to bang your chest and unleash one of Tarzan’s famous bellowing screams is a perfect example of the dichotomy of Tarzan VR. It’s a fun moment to act out in VR, but in-game it only results in a few rocks slowly moving into the ground to clear a path for Tarzan to run through. It makes absolutely no sense logically, but it was so silly that it made me smile anyway.
The game is a fun romp through the Tarzan universe, despite it’s shortcomings, and I’m excited to see how it develops over future episodes.
In just a weeks’ time we can all become the lord of the jungle – Tarzan VR swings onto PC VR headsets November 17th. Or at least part of it does.
Publisher Fun Train confirmed the news today. Tarzan VR will be an episodic release, with the first two installments arriving on the 17th and a third episode coming later down the line. To celebrate the news, Fun Train just released a behind-the-scenes video about the game with plenty of new gameplay and a pretty in-depth look at the project’s origins, even including a trip to the offices of Tarzan creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Sadly, there are only a few opportunities to dance to the music from the ridiculous but inarguably memorable gameplay trailer from a few months back.
Tarzan VR Release Date Confirmed
The first episode or ‘Issue’ of Tarzan VR is called The Great Ape and sees players jump into action when Jane is captured by a group of invaders. Issue 2, meanwhile, is called The Jagged Edge. Both installments introduce new weapons, including an axe in the first and a slingshot in the second episode.
Meme-laden trailers aside, everything we’ve seen from Tarzan VR thus far definitely looks intriguing, from the vine-swinging locomotion to the lush jungle environments and melee combat. It’s developed by Stonepunk Studios, which was behind the pretty excellent Primordian, so we’re excited to see the team move onto a new project. Fun Train told UploadVR that the PSVR version should be coming around a month and a half after the PC VR launch.
Will you be checking out Tarzan VR next week? Let us know in the comments below!
Virtual reality (VR) gamers have been treated to some big IP videogames over the course of 2020 and that’ll continue this month with the news that Tarzan VR has a release date. To mark the occasion, Stonepunk Studios and Fun Train have released a behind the scenes video revealing more details about the project.
The video delves into the history of Tarzan, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the early 20th century. Keeping faithful to the original character, Stonepunk Studios wanted to create a comic book visual design inspired by many of the books.
Naturally, an important part of any Tarzan experience is being able to swing through the jungle; not an easy task in VR. The team spent a considerable amount of time perfecting the mechanic which so far looks very fluid in footage. Adding to that freedom, players will also be able to swim and climb to explore Tarzan’s domain, whilst fighting invading mercenaries.
A single-player experience, Tarzan VR will also feature randomised elements so that returning players won’t see a lot of repetition. For example, all the enemies are random, faces, voices, clothing and equipment will change each time around, and the same goes for the animals and other little details.
Just like Fun Train’s previous project The Exorcist: Legion VR, Tarzan VRwill be episodic, split across three instalments. Issue #1: The Great Ape and #2: The Jagged Edge will be released on 17th November for PC VR headsets, with the second bundled with the soundtrack. Each will unlock a new region of the world as well as a new weapon for players to master. At the moment no date has been set for Issue #3: Dead of Night.
As for other headsets, the team notes Tarzan VR will support all major headsets with PlayStation VR previously mentioned, although no launch date has been revealed. Whether this will include the Oculus Quest platform remains to be seen. As further details are released, VRFocus will let you know.
The upcoming single-player Tarzan VR game is shaping up to be an action-packed journey through the jungle if the latest trailer is anything to judge it by.
Publisher Fun Train and developer Stonepunk Studios debuted the new mixed reality trailer this week put together by Splitverse. The video showcases some of the game mechanics that’ll be used in the official Tarzan VR title, which has planned support for PSVR, Index, Vive, Rift and Rift S.
The game will feature swinging, swimming and fighting with different weapons as well as Tarzan’s skills like “Call of the Wild” and “Earth Vision.” According to the developers, the plan is to release the game episodically in three “issues”. Here’s the description provided for each of those:
Issue 1 – The Great Ape: Jane has been abducted by a group of invaders, and Tarzan must seek the wisdom of The Great Ape in order to find the trail of her mysterious captors. Features The Mighty Axe.
Issue 2 – Jagged Edge: Tarzan begins his pursuit of Jane’s captors and must make his way across the dangerous Cliffs of Kombatu where one misstep leads to certain doom. Features the Slingshot.
Issue 3 – The Dead of Night: As night draws in, the jungle swamp poses all manner of hidden dangers. Only the strange fruit found in the heart of the Valley of Eden can save the life of Tarzan’s true love. Features The Long Bow.
Tarzan VR is planned for release late this year. We’ll have more updates for you on the game as soon as we have a closer look at it.
Fun Train, the publisher behind Wolf & Wood’s virtual reality (VR) horror The Exorcist: Legion VR,announced back in July it was working with Stonepunk Studios on an episodic adventure based on the famous Tarzan novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Now the studios have released the first gameplay trailer for Tarzan VR, showcasing the title in a little more detail.
With a distinctive comic book art style, the new trailer naturally features swinging through the treetops with bonuses to speed when you string together several well-timed swings. There’s also a little fist fighting with some mercenaries and some scenic locations to admire.
Tarzan VR will be split across five episodes designed as a serialized comic-style series of issues. Details released for each are as follows:
Issue 1 – The Great Ape: Jane has been abducted by a group of invaders, and Tarzan must seek the wisdom of The Great Ape in order to find the trail of her mysterious captors.
Issue 2 – Jagged Edge: Tarzan begins his pursuit of Jane’s captors and must make his way across the dangerous
Cliffs of Kombatu where one misstep leads to certain doom.
Issue 3 – The Dead of Night: As night draws in, the jungle swamp poses all manner of hidden dangers. Tarzan
continues to pursue his quarry across the Sargos Swamps, and must face a familiar and deadly predator from a lost
era.
Issue 4 – Undertow: The secret gate to an undersea temple lays buried in the ocean depths. There is only ONE
way for Tarzan to continue his journey… straight down!
Issue 5 – The Valley of Eden: In this grand finale, TARZAN MUST RALLY HIS ALLIES IN THE SHADOW OF AN ERUPTING VOLCANO! Only the strange fruit found in the heart of the Valley of Eden can save the life of Tarzan’s true love.
Players will have five expansive environments to explore, each offering their own unique set of weapons and challenges. To help complete these players will have access to unique Tarzan “skills” such as Call of the Wild, Earth Vision and Fish Eye.
A single-player adventure, Tarzan VR will support PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive and Valve Index when the first episode arrives by the end of 2019. As further details are released regarding Tarzan VR, VRFocus will keep you updated.
Yesterday was the final day of the San-Diego Comic-Con 2019. As part of the event, Fun Train, the publisher behind virtual reality (AR) horror The Exorcist: Legion VR announced a new immersive title coming later this year, Tarzan VR.
Currently being developed by Stonepunk Studios, Tarzan VR will be an episodic adventure based on the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Tarzan of the Apes, first published in 1912. The single-player videogame will feature a mix of exploration, combat, athletics and creature interaction, with the series designed as multiple serialized comic-style issues to conquer.
Just like the many version of Tarzan since that first book, players will be able to swing, swim, climb and fight in a variety of environments (not just the jungle), with five open-world locations available. They’ll also have access to Tarzan’s special “jungle skills” such as Call of the Wild, Earth Vision and Fish Eye.
“Who hasn’t wanted to swing like Tarzan at some point in their life?” said Douglas Nabors, Fun Train CEO in a statement. “Stonepunk Studios is crafting an imaginative world that demonstrates a faithful but unique vision for the Tarzan franchise. We can’t wait for people to experience it.”
“We are especially pleased to partner with Fun Train and Stonepunk Studios to develop our first TARZAN virtual reality game” said Jim Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. “Using this new technology, we believe we have entrusted the best team to develop an exciting game that reimagines Tarzan for a whole new generation.”
Fun Train plans on releasing the first episode in late 2019, supporting PlayStationVR, Valve Index, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift/ Rift S headsets. Stonepunk Studios has developed two VR titles previously, back in 2016 there was RollerGirls from Beyondand most recently and still in Early Access, Primordian, another single-player adventure.
As further details are released regarding Tarzan VR, VRFocus will keep you updated.
