Earlier this month Secret Sorcery announced that it’s virtual reality (VR) title Tethered would be coming to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive having originally launched for PlayStation VR. A release date wasn’t confirmed at the time, but now the studio has revealed it’ll be next week.
Tethered is a strategy videogame casting players in the role of a Spirit Guardian looking to restore balance to the world. All the other guardians have been imprisoned inside ancient totems by an evil consuming the world, and by gathering enough Spirit Energy players will be able to free their fellow guardians. This is accomplished by aiding the inhabitants of the world, called Peeps, who in turn help the quest.
Scott Kirkland, Managing Director at Secret Sorcery said in a statement: “Following overwhelmingly positive feedback from pre-launch events such as EGX Rezzed, a successful launch on PlayStation VR last year and countless tales of players losing track of time whilst immersed in our godly creation, we can’t wait to hear what the PC VR gaming community thinks about Tethered.
“To encourage folks to take the plunge (and minimize Peep casualties), PC versions of Tethered will be available for just £18.99 GBP / €22.99 EUR / $24.99 USD. With 13 beautiful levels, a competitive leaderboard (to contrast your godly prowess with that of your friends) and a superb G.A.N.G. award nominated interactive score, Tethered is manna from heaven!”
If you’ve not yet seen the videogame in action Secret Sorcery has released a hands-on video, this showcases gameplay on Oculus Rift using Oculus Touch controllers.
Tethered will launch on Monday, 27th February via Steam and Oculus Home. For further updates to the title, keep reading VRFocus.
Still one of the better games for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset, Secret Sorcery’s Tethered [Review: 7/10] will soon be landing on other platforms.
The UK-based developer this month confirmed that Tethered is on its way to both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on PC. A full release date hasn’t been confirmed, but the new versions of the game will support the Oculus Touch and Vive wand controllers respectively. New features are being piled into the strategy game, such as allowing players to scale the camera from the standard god mode view either down to the size of one of the tiny ‘Peeps’ that they command, or bigger than the entire islands featured in each level.
PSVR owners won’t miss out on the updates, either, as the original version of the game is getting upgraded to support Sony’s enhanced PlayStation 4 Pro console and Move motion controllers. Graphical enhancements include new islands surrounding each level, additional cloud layers and more details, while with motion controls players will be able to interrupt running water in waterfalls and more.
Tethered is one of VR’s first god games, getting players to carefully balance resource management during the day as you collect a certain amount of Spirit Energy to progress to the next level. By night, creatures roam the land and you’ll have to prepare your Peeps for battle. It can be a tough game if you’re not paying attention; Peeps need constant care if they’re to make it through a level alive, and neglecting one for even a few minutes can send them tumbling off a cliff.
We were quite fond of the game when it released last October, calling it a “demanding” experience that a “lot of hardcore gamers will be pining for” though we took issue with the camera and head-tracked controls. It sounds like the adjustments made here could improve upon the original experience, though.
A couple of weeks after Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) launched PlayStation VR Secret Sorcery released strategy adventure title Tethered for the device. Today the studio has now confirmed it’ll be adding support for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Since Tethered’s arrival in October the studio has developed a range of motion controller interactions allowing players to physically use their hands in the world. As such support for Touch, HTC Vive and PlayStation Move have been confirmed.
“Tethered has never looked more beautiful. Harnessing the additional power of PC VR platforms and PS4 Pro, we’ve created an even more magical experience that really helps cement the player’s sense of immersion. With your hands in the world in front of you, reaching out to interact with things feels totally intuitive,” said Alan McDermott, creative director at Secret Sorcery in a statement. “Until now, the player’s perspective was fixed to the clouds, but with motion control, you can physically move through the lovingly hand painted environments and get really close to the Peeps to watch them carry out their tasks! You can even scale your presence so you’re the same size as a Peep (which genuinely heightens the emotional connection the player has with them) or bigger than the island itself (so it appears as a tiny diorama laid out before you). We’ve also included a range of options to allow the player to customize their hands-on experience and, of course, standard controller configuration is still available on all platforms.
“We couldn’t be more excited about bringing our beautiful virtual reality game to Windows PC platform and we can’t wait for Oculus and HTC Vive players to join the quest to save the Peeps from the evils of the night!”
Secret Sorcery hasn’t confirmed when Tethered will be released on Rift and Vive, but when it does VRFocus will let you know.
Got through PlayStation VR’s massive launch line-up yet? If so, then there’s some really good stuff waiting for you this week. We’ve got the return of one of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive’s best games, and a new IP that should appeal to hardcore gamers.
In the meantime, if you missed last week, you can see those new releases here. Also, UploadVR just launched the ‘UploadVR PS VR Community’ on PlayStation 4! Join up, find other gamers to play with, and engage in discussions.
Windlands, from Psytec Games
Price: $24.99
One of VR’s best games so far arrives on PlayStation VR. Windlands is a first-person platform-based adventure game in which you explore a series of epic environments, collecting crystals and swinging around like Spider-Man with a pair of hookshots. It supports the DualShock 4 for now, though Move support is in testing.
Recommendation: Windlands isn’t to be missed, though be warned it takes some getting used to.
Tethered, from Secret Sorcery
Price: $32.99
One of VR’s first god games. Take on the role of a Spirit God and command Peeps to raise your energy levels as they gather resources and fight monsters. Make sure you take proper care of the little critters or they’ll become depressed and jump off cliffs. There’s a good seven hours of gameplay here at least.
Recommendation: If you’re looking for something a little meatier and more challenging, you should pick this up.
Weeping Doll, from TianShe Media
Price: £7.99 (Only in EU)
A first-person psychological thriller in which you take on the role of a housemaid that comes to work one day to find her employers missing. Explore a creepy mansion solving puzzles to find out exactly what has happened. Use the DualShock 4 and a teleportation-based ‘Shadow Step’ system to get around.
Recommendation: Probably the weakest release this week but a harmless bit of content.
How did it take someone this long to make a VR god game? Headsets have only been out a few months, but the thought of taking one of gaming’s most beloved genres and actually making you that omnipotent being is so compelling I’m surprised that Secret Sorcery wasn’t beaten to it. Even more intriguing is that it’s been done first on PlayStation 4 with PlayStation VR, and not the genre’s usual home on PC.
As a first stab at this type of game, Tethered is pretty successful. It translates some staple features like resource gathering, elemental management and prayer systems with great results, but it’s not without its stumbles.
In Tethered, you are a Spirit Guardian, and your subjects are Peeps, adorable little critters, hatched from eggs that drift down from the heavens above. In each of the 13 levels, you’ll need to raise your Spirit Energy to a certain amount by scooping it up as your minions/subjects/believers farm resources, defeat enemies and make prayers. As Peeps work for you, you’ll need to keep them happy by making sure food is well stocked, health is full, and everyone is busy. Ignore the prayers of a Peep for too long and they’ll jump off a cliff. Really, they’ll become depressed and sleep walk over to the nearest rock and step off.
It’s a dark turn for what’s otherwise a bright and breezy game. Staring down into Tethered‘s floating worlds from above is a sheer delight in VR. Leaning in to inspect tiny details like the stalks of wheat that grow in farms or surround yourself in butterflies as they hover below is absolutely lovely. You move around the island by teleporting between a handful of set positions, represented as clouds.
That’s where the game’s first issue rises from. Tethered‘s locomotion is restricted and often frustrating, especially during the nighttime sections of levels in which beasts attack and you’ll quickly have to order Peeps to fight them. This is done by looking at your unit, pressing and holding the X button, and then ‘tethering’ them to the enemy by looking at them and letting go. That’s how you perform all of the game’s actions.
At times, you’ll want a specific Peep for a specific job, but from where you’re looking you won’t be able to select them both. Moving the camera to see them should be as simple as using the analogue sticks to fly through the air, but Tethered doesn’t support this kind of movement. Instead, you have to find a cloud that will give you a better angle, which involves looking away from the targets and gathering your bearings once more.
It’s more than likely the most comfortable option, but the game doesn’t even use the sticks, which is infuriating for people that don’t suffer from sim sickness. Games like Kittypocalypse prove that you can have comfortable free-flying camera movement.
It means that flatter levels in Tethered, where you can see most of the world around you, are decidedly better than the multi-layered areas that are intentionally designed to keep you moving about. The game zig-zags in enjoyment from level-to-level, though the learning curve can also make some of the earlier levels a challenge. Learning and perfecting all of the games’ systems stretches well beyond the already-lengthy tutorial, and you’ll undoubtedly be able to improve scores in previous levels as you get better toward the end of the game.
That’s testament to some pretty excellent design. When you finally master all of Tethered‘s mechanics, including making sure all your Peeps are doing something at all times and regularly using elements to replenish supplies and open up new areas, the game has a great flow to it. It’s a demanding process, especially if you’re going for A ranks across Peep happiness, use of elements and timing, but learning how to juggle it all is a big part of the fun.
Less key to that system are the upgrades. In each level you’ll unlock a set of buildings that can speed up workers, offer more Spirit Energy, create more efficient resource gatherers and more. Each of these buildings can be upgraded, but I never needed more than two or three of them across the entire campaign, and some of their specific functions unnecessarily complicate matters. Upgrading your Peeps is also inessential unless you’re aiming for the best scores. Ultimately, it was a side of the game I largely forgot about as I played.
Still, the amount of micromanaging required here can occasionally become overwhelming, and not in a good way. During the day cycles in Tethered, it’s quite easy to keep Peeps working. During night, however, things become a bit more confusing. As slug-like enemies attack, you’ll need to assign Peeps to go and fight them, and they’ll also fight any they naturally come across. The system doesn’t always work flawlessly; you can send three warriors off to fight a pack of monsters and then look back a few seconds later to find only one of them actually fighting while the others stand by the first one they’ve killed.
Also working against these moments are the head-tracked controls, which lack the finesse required in tight situations. I’d often trying to get one Peep to help another in a fight but accidentally target a small stack of resources sitting next to the battle, and then watch them pick up those resources and leave with their friend in need.
That puts the Peep still fighting at risk of dying needlessly, and in the heat of battle you might neglect some that have already defeated their monsters and are now on the other side of the map. If you leave them for too long they’re going to get depressed, which feels like a needless mechanic. It seems strange to find a Peep kicking around with nothing to do when he could be mining the pile of rocks right next to him. By making you assign every single action and punishing you for not noticing something, Tethered can suddenly leave you with a mess on your hands when you thought everything was okay.
But, in a way, I appreciate that Tethered has these issues, because it demonstrates what Secret Sorcery is really trying to achieve here: a meaty, full videogame. At about seven hours (each level takes between 25 – 45 minutes) it’s lengthier than most VR games, and its mechanics are deeper, no matter how flawed.
Final Score: 7/10 – Good
Though far from the likes of XCOM, Tethered is a more demanding strategy game than anything we’ve yet seen in VR. Though its islands are smaller and its matches are shorter than something like Black & White, it’s the first VR game to even resemble that type of experience. Tethered is far from perfect, but it also represents something that a lot of hardcore gamers will be pining for after 45 minute Batman experiences; something they can really sink their teeth into. For hardcore VR videogames it is, quite simply, a good start.
Curious about this score? Check out our review guidelines for more information.
If you’ve already received your PlayStation VR then you’ll be working through a veritable selection of launch videogames. But Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has also ensured the titles keep on coming during the launch window and now Secret Sorcery has revealed its strategy title Tethered will be arriving next week.
Tethered is a magical strategy videogame casting players in the role of a Spirit Guardian looking to restore balance. All the other guardians have been imprisoned inside ancient totems by an evil consuming the world, and by gathering enough Spirit Energy players will be able to free their fellow guardians. This is accomplished by aiding the inhabitants of the world, called Peeps, who in turn help the quest.
Featuring 13 hand-painted islands, each serving as a level, players need to uncover each islands secrets, complete the puzzles and challenges, and gather enough energy to fill that islands totem to free the guardian.
The title features day and night cycles, each will its own tasks to complete. During the day the Peeps need to gather the Spirit Energy and resources needed to aid construction of defenses, because as soon as night falls the evil creatures that are running amok appear to feed.
Tethered will launch for PlayStation VR on 25th October. The title is available to pre-order from PlayStation.Store for £24.99 GBP, or for PlayStation Plus members the price is £19.99.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Tethered and PlayStation VR, reporting back with any further updates.
Launch day seems to have come and gone without any major hiccups, but now PlayStation VR faces one of the most challenging questions of any new platform; what’s next?
A swarm of games were available on day one, but we don’t doubt some of you have already made your way through most of the pile (not that that’s too hard when you have games as long as Batman: Arkham VR). From here on out we’ll be eagerly looking forward to seeing what’s on the horizon for the platform. Fortunately, the next two weeks of games look pretty good.
Launching on PSN today is Pixel Gear, a simple wave-based shooter in which you take on blocky enemies that look like they marched straight out of Minecraft. It’s a pretty straightforward affair; use the Move controller to aim a gun, aided by a laser sight. You’ll juggle attacks between standard one-shot canon fodder, enemies that can only be hit in the head and hulking behemoths armed with miniguns. It’s not exactly revolutionary, but we’ve gone hands-on with it and had some harmless fun.
If you’re in the US, you’ll also be getting Sports Bar VR this week, which launched in the EU last week. Still no sign of The Brookhaven Experiment for European players, sadly.
Next week things are a little more plentiful. Launching on October 25th are both Tethered and Windlands. The first, from Secret Sorcery, is an intriguing new strategy game in which you guide a cutesy clan of creatures as they gather resources by day in preparation to defend themselves from enemies by night. EU PS4 owners can already pre-order it over on the PlayStation Store. Windlands, meanwhile is Psytec Games’ first-person adventure that’s already available on both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. It’s a great platformer and the PS VR version really holds up, so it’s one to look forward to.
Also arriving next week on October 28th is Carnival Games the VR debut from 2K Games. It’s a refreshed version of a Wii game in which, yes, you use the Move controllers to play carnival games. Again, don’t expect VR’s killer app but we’ve found this to be a pretty charming and whimsical pastime.
There’s a pretty healthy offering of games over the next two weeks, then, and with games like Robinson: The Journey also on the way, PS VR should keep fans happy for a good while.
With Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE’s) PlayStation VR only a few weeks away from launch all eyes will not only be on the head-mounted display (HMD) but also the videogames available on day one. PlayStation VR is due to have quite a sizeable selection of titles with Secret Sorcery’s Tethered featuring. The studio has today released a new trailer detailing more of the title and its story.
The debut virtual reality (VR) title from Secret Sorcery, Tethered is a magical strategy videogame where players have to save the world and its inhabitants ‘peeps’ from evil. The new trailer showcases the hand drawn artwork and aesthetics that players can expect to see, with floating worlds, distant waterfalls and the colourful creatures that populate the world.
On the PlayStation.Blog Alan McDermott, Creative Director, Secret Sorcery talked about some of the work that’s gone into Tethered: “As we approach master submission, our dedicated and passionate little team continue to pour all of our energy into polishing the game and ensuring it offers loads of entertainment and a real strategic challenge.
“We’ve added depth and complexity to the buildings, resources and combat systems. We’re also continuing to carefully craft the beautiful worlds of Tethered – delicately hand painting objects and landscapes and creating a lush audio experience to ensure we maximize the magical sense of wonder when you take your first steps in our universe.”
