Nearly two years on from its initial launch, Carbon Studios’ The Wizards: Dark Times is getting free cooperative multiplayer support.
A recent Steam post for the game confirms the news. The multiplayer mode will support three players and allow them to play as either Frost, Fire or Storm mages. You’ll meet up in a hub world and then head into two randomly-selected maps to fight off waves of enemies and complete other objectives. Survive these and you’ll get to fight a boss. It’s not quite campaign co-op, which the developer said it couldn’t get right after “extensive testing”.
Expect plenty of new content, though, as Carbon is promising new spells and enemy types. There’s no competitive element, but other modes are being worked on. A beta for the mode is expected to launch on Steam either this month or next, and the finished version will launch first on PC, too. Quest support is in the works too but the studio says it’s too early to tell if it will support cross-play.
It’s perhaps surprising to see more updates for Dark Times given Carbon released an entirely new game in Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Tempestfall late last year. That’s still in the works for Quest, too, and Carbon has added post-launch updates there, too. We were big fans of Dark Times, however, so it’s good to see the game getting continued support so long after launch.
Will you be trying out The Wizards: Dark Times’ multiplayer mode? Let us know in the comments below!
Just under a year on from PC VR launch, The Wizards: Dark Times finally hits Oculus Quest. How does it stack up to the original version? Find out in our The Wizards: Dark Times graphics comparison!
Carbon Studio has achieved a lot in the past five years. The Poland-based team has released not one but three different iterations of The Wizards series and, where it can, ported them to a wide range of platforms too. Not only that but the team is one of the few to push the boundaries of VR visuals, with amazing fantasy worlds. That’s especially true of the 2020 PC VR release of The Wizards: Dark Times, a game we were very fond of. Just like the port of the original The Wizards from PC VR to Quest, though, a lot has inevitably changed to get the game onto a standalone headset.
The Wizards: Dark Times Graphics Comparison
From a technical perspective, this port is an incredibly ambitious one. Dark Times offers an expansive single-player adventure with gorgeous and diverse worlds you can navigate in different ways. All of that is intact in the Quest version of the game – you’ll still get the same levels, enemies and weapons summoned from the excellent gesture-based system.
But, as is to be expected, there are heavy concessions to get the game running on Quest. Dark Times is a game of sweeping vistas, ones that look immaculate on PC but scaled back on Quest. You won’t see the mountain ranges in the distance, textures are much more blurry, and lighting is streamlined to do away with shadows and other effects.
The same is true of the spells. Fire no longer glows with the same brilliant orange, ice weapons don’t subtlely glisten in the sunlight, and your magical shield isn’t imbued with the same sorts of details. Effects like damage displays and shattering frozen enemies have been paired back, too, and the changes to lighting give the game a less convincing color palette. While Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife made design choices that allowed for near-parity across PC and Quest, Carbon has clearly gone all out for the PC VR version, making the gap with what’s possible on Quest that much more noticeable.
With that said, compared to other Quest games, Dark Times is still very much an achievement. For the most part, level geometry is exactly the same as it was on PC and, though they’re not as detailed, it’s still incredibly impressive to take in the views in the standalone version. It’s definitely one of Quest’s better-looking games even if the difference between it and PC is night and day. Still an easy recommendation, then, but if you have a PC up to snuff then you probably want to try playing Dark Times through Air Link.
Looking for the new VR games May 2021 list? We’ve got you covered.
We’re moving into Summer and releases are certainly heating up for VR headsets. Well, they are for the Oculus Quest at least – most of the big titles launching this month are on the standalone headset, though there are some offerings for PSVR and PC VR too. Let’s dig in!
New VR Games May 2021
Demeo (May 6th) – Quest, PC VR
Boardgame night moves to VR in Demeo, a four-player tabletop dungeon-crawling RPG that has you rolling die, casting spells and slaying monsters. Look out for a flat-screen version later this year too.
The Wizards: Dark Times (May 6th) – Quest
Carbon Studio’s fantasy adventure finally touches down on Quest. The Wizards has you summoning spells by making gestures with your motion controllers. Cast fire balls, shoot ice arrows and take on the linear single-player campaign, which is a first for the franchise.
Zero Caliber: Reloaded (May 13th) – Quest
The Quest version of the popular PC VR shooter is nearly ready to go. Zero Caliber packs a full single-player campaign and co-op support for up to four players, with weapon customizations promising a realistic combat experience.
Puzzle Bobble VR (May 20th) – Quest
The classic arcade puzzle game comes to VR for the first time. Puzzle Bobble is the ultimate color-matching experience. Arm yourself with a bobble cannon and blast your way through over 100 puzzles. Plus those dinosaurs have never looked so cute.
Wraith on SteamVR (May 25th) – SteamVR
Following last month’s launch on Rift and Quest, Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife haunts SteamVR later in May. Travel to the Barclay Mansion as an undead Wraith and uncover the mystery behind your death, all while trying to keep your pants dry.
Solaris (TBA May) – PSVR
There isn’t an exact date yet but the PSVR version of Solaris should be touching down in May. Fast arena-style combat awaits in the new game from the makers of Firewall: Zero Hour and support for Sony’s Aim controller is in too.
That’s the list of new VR games for May 2021. What are you going to be picking up? Let us know in the comments below!
Spring 2021 is in full swing and VRFocus has got another crop of VR titles to look forward to in the coming week. There are so exciting VR videogames on their way including Resolution Games’ latest multiplayer and Carbon Studio’s magical adventure expanding its hardware support.
Flow Weaver – Stitch Media, Silverstring Media Inc.
Described as a ‘multidimensional escape room’, in Flow Weaver you’re trapped in a single room but are able to control ‘Flows’, a way of moving between dimensions which overlap the material world. You therefore have to navigate between them, solving puzzles which can link across dimensions and hopefully make your escape.
Revealed for the first time only a few months ago, Demeo is a turn-based strategy title allowing up to four players to engage in a dungeon quest, exploring the dangerous hallways and rooms whilst working together to defeat any foes they encounter. Players can assume one of four roles, an eagle-eyed hunter, a mystical sorcerer, a deadly assassin or a protective guardian each bringing their own unique skillset to the team. The end goal is to defeat the Mad Elven King.
Released last year for PC VR headsets, Carbon Studio is now bringing The Wizards – Dark Times’ gesture -based magic to Oculus Quest. Players have to learn and master 11 individually designed spells which can only be cast with their hands, freezing foes where they stand or setting them on fire for example. All the while trying to rid the land of Meliora from a mysterious dark plague sweeping the land.
Imercyve: Living with Intellectual Disability – Valley General
Appearing in last week’s roundup, the launch of Imercyve: Living with Intellectual Disability has been pushed back to this week. “Developed in partnership with support services not-for-profit Mercy Connect, this experience explores the efficacy of an immersive approach to strengthening communication and understanding between advocates and people with a disability by simulating a variety of effects that may be familiar to those with diverse and high care needs.”
Experience the Energy: Take the Challenge – Mammoth
A free app designed to see if you’d like a career in the Canadian energy industry. “Take the challenge to see how your skills align with 10 exciting careers in oil and gas. Try your hand at drilling, adjust valves to maintain pressure, and send one-of-a-kind robot assistant, Appo into the field to look for hazards.”
The Oculus Quest port of The Wizards: Dark Times will launch next week, developer Carbon Studio confirmed.
The fantasy adventure touches down on the standalone platform on May 6th. Dark Times is a full sequel to the original Wizards that packs a linear single-player campaign. In it, players use gestures to summon spells and weapons like fireballs and ice arrows they can then use against different monsters. Check out the trailer for next week’s launch right here. The game’s already listed in the Quest store’s coming soon section.
The Quest port of the game has been a long time coming – we first announced Dark Times as part of the Upload VR Showcase in 2019 and the game released on PC the following year. We debuted the first Quest footage for the title late last year.
We gave the game 4/5 on PC last year, saying: “The Wizards never lets you forget you’re playing a VR game. Rarely do more than 10 seconds pass without the need for grand hand gestures to summon magic or for you to reach out and interact with things around you. They’ve got a great magic system that’s intuitive and fun to master in a fantastical world that provides a unique type of adventure you won’t quite find anywhere else.”
Naturally, we’re excited to see how the Quest version holds up. A co-op mode is also planned for the experience post-launch. Carbon, meanwhile, is also working on a new Warhammer VR game due out later this year.
May 6th also sees the launch of Demeo, the new tabletop VR RPG from Resolution Games. Will you be picking up either game? Let us know in the comments below!
When it comes to spellcasting virtual reality (VR) experiences Polish team Carbon Studio is well versed in this magical gameplay, previously releasing The Wizards – Dark Times. Today, the studio has announced an upcoming expansion to that videogame, adding a multiplayer component to the franchise for the first time.
Planned for Q4 2021, the content update will allow players to team up and cooperate to fight monsters in an arena. They’ll be able to specialise in a type of magic to encourage them to work together.
“Ever since The Wizards appeared on the VR game scene, ‘please make it multiplayer’ was the most common request we received. Now I’m happy to say and confirm – we’re doing it!,” said Carbon Studio’s Co-Founder, Aleksander Caban in a statement. “The cooperation arena mode will let you choose your magical affinity and character class, and then pit your Wizard party against increasingly difficult challenges.”
Carbon Studio hasn’t revealed how many players the mode will support but that’s not all fans have to look forward to. The team will be introducing new enemies, enhancing the story campaign and porting the title to Oculus Quest. These features will be rolled out over the course of 2021 and into 2022.
VRFocus found The Wizards – Dark Timesto be a substantial upgrade over the original, saying: “Once all the spells are unlocked the magic system showcases why VR is a natural fit this style of videogame, wielding powerful spells with abandon. There are no RPG elements to get bogged down with, potions to collect or stats to upgrade, unencumbering players for a lighter gameplay experience which is easy to step into.”
As Carbon Studio continues to expand The Wizards – Dark Times universe its also working on a high profile project in the form of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall. Slated for launch this year, few details have been released since the initial announcement, only a devblog via Steam on its backstory.
VRFocus will continue its coverage on both titles, reporting back with further updates.
Carbon Studios’ The Wizards: Dark Times will be getting a new co-op multiplayer mode later in 2021.
Announced today, the new mode will see players team up to face enemies in an arena-based challenge. Players will be able to pick a character class and magical affinity before taking on increasingly difficult hordes of enemies. As usual, you’ll need to master a series of gesture-based spells using your VR controllers. Carbon will also be designing and adding new enemy types to face in this mode.
The update is due at the beginning of Q4 2021, but Carbon says there’s plenty more to come for Dark Times. We already know, for example, that an Oculus Quest port is in the works and will arrive before this update. We debuted a first look at the Quest version in our Winter Wrap-Up event in late 2020.
But the team is also planning yet more content to enhance Dark Times’ story campaign. When it launched on PC VR last year, the campaign was the main feature of Dark Times, evolving over the original The Wizards with linear progression and new spells. These updates are set to roll out over the course of this year and into 2022.
We thought the campaign was great, awarding Dark Times 4/5 when it first launched. “Rarely do more than 10 seconds pass without the need for grand hand gestures to summon magic or for you to reach out and interact with things around you,” we said. “They’ve got a great magic system that’s intuitive and fun to master in a fantastical world that provides a unique type of adventure you won’t quite find anywhere else.”
Elsewhere, Carbon is also working on a new Warhammer VR game, Tempestfall, which is set in the Age of Sigma universe. That’s due to hit Quest and PC VR later this year.
Action-adventure spellcasting VR RPG series The Wizards from Carbon Studios has sold over 200,000 copies across all platforms combined. There have been four releases so far, with The Wizards – Dark Times launching most recently in mid-2020.
The first game in the series, The Wizards, was an ambitious action-adventure that pitted spellcasting warriors against hordes of enemies across a variety of levels punctuated by brief moments of exploration and light puzzle solving. To give credit where credit is due, at the time, it was refreshing expansion of the tired “wave shooter” format that had become all-too-popular at the time.
After that it got an Enhanced Edition with more content and features, ported to PSVR, then an Oculus Go spin-off titled The Wizards: Trials of Meliora, and finally Dark Times last year. Carbon Studios is now working on a full Quest port of Dark Times, as well as a new Warhammer VR game: Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall. Carbon Studios intends on continuing to support Dark Times after it hits Oculus Quest as well.
“We want to show all VR gamers that we appreciate their involvement and thank them for their support,” says Aleksander Caban, Carbon Studios Co-Founder, in a prepared statement. “The best way we can do that is by giving them even more entertainment in our title. All of the planned additional content will be available to everyone who bought the game, free of charge. The VR community supports and trusts us, and thanks to them we have the opportunity to keep working on this title by introducing new features and improving on what has already been presented.”
What makes The Wizards so enduring as a VR series is the interactivity of its gameplay. Rather than just pointing and pulling a trigger to cast spells, you have to actually draw the runes in the air to summon the magic into your hand first. Things like fireballs, ethereal bows, shields, lightning blasts, and more all require you to memorize and reenact various gestures. It does a great job of making you feel like a sorcerer.
This is a big milestone for a small indie studio with a plucky brand and well-received franchise. Let us know if you’re a fan of The Wizards down in the comments below!
We’re kicking our Winter Wrap-Up event off with a little magic – 12 minutes of gameplay from The Wizards: Dark Times on Oculus Quest, right here!
Carbon Studios’ full sequel to its popular spell-casting VR adventure, The Wizards, first hit PC VR earlier this year. Since then, the studio has been busy stirring the cauldron and cooking up an Oculus Quest port. Check it out below.
The Wizards series has built its name on intuitive gesture-based controls and great visuals, and both seem to be intact here. Dark Times offers a full single-player campaign that evolves on the original’s arena-based battles. You’ll summon ice arrows and fireballs with the flick of a wrist and put them to use against some truly weird and wonderful enemies.
We were big fans of Dark Times when it launched on PC VR. “The Wizards never lets you forget you’re playing a VR game,” we said in our 4/5 review. “Rarely do more than 10 seconds pass without the need for grand hand gestures to summon magic or for you to reach out and interact with things around you. They’ve got a great magic system that’s intuitive and fun to master in a fantastical world that provides a unique type of adventure you won’t quite find anywhere else.”
Carbon says the game will be launching in early 2021, though there’s no specific date just yet. The team’s also working on the recently-announced Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall, which is also due to hit Quest and PC VR next year.
Thanks to Carbon for kicking off Winter Wrap-Up with us! But don’t go anywhere; there’s plenty more where that came from! Later today we’ll be talking about the biggest headlines of 2020 from our VR studio, and we’ve got exclusive looks at Demeo, Wraith, Sam & Max and more later this week. See the schedule above!
Of late there seems to have been a real drought of fantasy, magic-based virtual reality (VR) experiences, a genre which was once teeming with new titles. Back when VRFocus reviewed Carbon Studio’s The Wizardsin 2018 there was also The Unspoken, Wands and The Mage’s Tale. Now there is a sequel, The Wizards – Dark Times, expanding on the original premise that conjuring spells shouldn’t be a button press away.
Originally The Wizards – Dark Times was going to be an expansion for the original title but Carbon Studio rightly did away with this idea, envisioning a grander adventure with more freedom to do what you want. And it does, sort of. The levels aren’t constrained like they used to be and the spells feel more powerful and natural to wield, yet the experience seems shorter with less to do.
Still set in Meliora, this time the magical land has been twisted and taken over by a dark force called the Umbra. This has altered the inhabitants, turning the elves into a plagued army called the Unlit while others have become more aggressive. This sets the scene for an epic adventure across a mixture of regions from poisonous swamps to lakes which don’t exactly obey any physical laws. While the story is decent enough, it’s your narrator buddy Aurelius who keeps the journey light-hearted with the odd quip in the quiet moments between fights so not to be distracting.
As a mage, all these fights require magic with 11 spells to learn over the course of the journey. These are introduced gradually so you aren’t suddenly overwhelmed trying to learn the various gestures each requires. This has been one of the big upgrades from the original, providing hand/arm gestures that aren’t overly complicated, becoming intuitive with practice. You can also be completely ambidextrous with your conjuring, casting spells in either hand – great for double fireballs.
Some of the same spells return whilst getting an upgrade. The fireball is the first you learn, activated by a flick of the wrist whilst holding the trigger. Then there’s the shield which is a horizontal arm motion and super useful now that you can have one in each hand. Then there are their powerful secondary functions, all activated by bringing both controllers together, pressing grip and then pulling apart. These include the homing Radiant Missiles for those distant enemies and electrical Storm Nova for stunning nearby opponents. There’s enough of a mix for an abundance of strategy options when engaging in battles.
Generally, the spells aren’t difficult to master as it just takes repetition. However, in the heat of battle there were a number of occasions where trying to cast the Arcane Shield would bring up a fireball, or vice versa. Testing The Wizards – Dark Times with Valve Index also caused casting problems as your hand naturally grips around the controller. This meant the system could get confused as to whether you were activating a grip function when simply pressing the trigger. A minor gripe but one that was noticeable when trying to move around the environment whilst engaging multiple enemies.
As for movement and the overall immersive qualities of The Wizards – Dark Times, Carbon Studio has players well covered. There’s smooth movement, teleportation (or both together), snap turning of various degrees, a vignette and support for lefties, which covers most base needs. There are plenty of nods to make sure the player is connected with the world, an abundance of climbing for instance, as well as light environmental puzzles which require magic to keep those hands busy.
There are some glitches to be solved as there were moments when the view went black because of walking into a rock or wall mid-fight. And the hub felt really underused. It looks awesome, with a little goblin strumming away and glowing mushrooms growing out the walls, yet apart from changing the colour of your hands or using the portal to visit a previous level, it was pretty vacant. Certainly, an area that’ll be expanded upon in future updates. Also, The Wizards – Dark Times is shorter than expected, clocking in at around 4 hours. And do turn off the subtitles if you don’t need them, as they ruin the look of the experience.
The Wizards – Dark Times needed to be a bigger, better adventure than its forebear and for the most part, it does. Once all the spells are unlocked the magic system showcases why VR is a natural fit this style of videogame, wielding powerful spells with abandon. There are no RPG elements to get bogged down with, potions to collect or stats to upgrade, unencumbering players for a lighter gameplay experience which is easy to step into. Even though there are some gripes along the way The Wizards – Dark Times still proves a satisfying magical adventure.
