VR has lots of wave shooters, but is lacking in full FPS campaigns. That’s why we’re so interested in Vindicta from Game Cooks, and this week’s launch trailer shows you why.
Vindicta is aiming to bring a full run n’ gun campaign to the HTC Vive, but it’s first going to launch in Early Access. The game was originally set for pre-release in April with four to six hours of gameplay, but the studio recently told UploadVR that it’s pushed that release back to June. The studio said this was to help incorporate some of the feedback it had recieved for the game when showcasing it at recent events like GDC.
There will be another chance to play the game soon, though, as Game Cooks is bringing it to VRLA on April 14th and 15th. The game’s got a Steam page now, too.
Vindicta casts players as an elite agent that infiltrates the facility of an evil corporation and takes down swarms of robotic enemies. We’re hoping for something that resembles Epic Games’ Robo Recall, only with support for full locomotion, which is something a lot of VR players that are used to smooth locomotion are requesting right now.
Indie studio Game Cooks, the developer behind 3rd-person endless runner HOVR for Samsung Gear VR last year, will be demoing its last project, VINDICTA, to the Virtual Reality Los Angeles (VRLA) event next month.
A first-person shooter (FPS) for HTC Vive, VINDICTA has players infiltrating a robotic facility with the sole purpose of eradicating the mechanical menace and shutting down operations. Rather than going for the standard teleportation mechanic, or using the touchpad to walk around – which can induce sim sickness in some players – Game Cooks has gone for a more energetic movement system. Players have to swing their arms to wander about, taking ques from how people generally move their arms whilst walking, aiming for a more natural system.
As you’d expect from an FPS, Game Cooks has added an assortment of weapons, from hand guns and rifles, to cluster grenades and more, all of which can be dual wielded.
As part of the VRLA conference, the studio will be showcasing an advanced demo of VINDICTA, which was selected to be part of the show’s Indie Corner. As for when the title comes out, Game Cooks has scheduled a release date for June 2017.
The VRLA takes place from Friday 14th to Saturday 15th April at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. Tickets are still available with a business-focused 2-Day Pro Pass at $299 USD and a 1-Day Pass for Saturday priced at $40.
Checkout the first gameplay trailer below, and for further updates on Game Cooks and VINDICTA, keep reading VRFocus.
We know, we know, you’re sick of wave shooters. Who isn’t? Well you might want to take a look at Vindicta, then. Yes, it’s got guns, and plenty of enemies to use them against, but they’re not coming at you in waves, and you’re certainly not rooted to the spot; Vindicta wants to bring a full FPS campaign to your HTC Vive very soon.
Like many of you, this week’s teaser trailer for this new title from Game Cooks had us intrigued, so we reached out to the developer to find out a little more. We came away with more than we’d expected, including the first footage of gameplay from Vindicta, which you can see below.
Based on the clip, you might think the team’s been chipping away at development for six or seven months.
In reality, it started last December.
That’s what Director of Publishing Lara Noujaim tells me when we speak over Skype. “We’ve been really aggressive,” she says, explaining that the game really came together in January. “We set a very aggressive timeline, and I’m really happy because we’re meeting all of our timeline targets.”
Game Cooks seems to have accomplished a lot in that small amount of time; Vindicta is aiming to launch in Early Access in April with “four to six hours” of its campaign in place. The story sees you cast as Agent V, an elite agent tasked with infiltrating UB Industries, an evil company amassing a secret robot army. You’ll make your way through a sprawling facility dismantling your metallic enemies.
While sneaking does play a part in the game, it’s a shooter first and foremost. “A lot of effort was put on the shooting,” Noujiam explains. “We actually had weapon experts, ex-army who came to our office and tested it out just to make sure that the effect of shooting was realistic as possible.”
Weapons should feel chunkier and carry weight as a result. “The team are big FPS players, so they take inspiration from everywhere, even movies,” she adds, noting that one of the guns in the trailer reminds the team of Suicide Squad. In fact, as we talk, the rest of the team is apparently still in the office at 8:00pm, playing Counter-Strike.
To get about you’ll use a mix of both room scale tracking, allowing you to physically walk around spaces, and swinging your arms to simulate running, a method we haven’t seen used in many games of this caliber so far. The team was eager to avoid teleportation and other VR shooter tropes. “There’s nothing wrong with them, we just wanted to try something different,” Noujaim says. Instead, it wants an active shooter that keeps you moving, adding intensity to the action by keeping you on your toes.
Part of that comes through different enemy types. You’ll constantly be on the lookout for flying drones and crawling spiders that edge towards you as you fend off more traditional infantry. As you can see from the gameplay, you’ll also be able to shoot the heads off of friendly robotic scientists because, well, for the hell of it.
It’s hard to believe that Vindicta is really the product of just two months’ worth of work, but Game Cooks appears to be a committed team and there’s still another two months to go before release. Following the Early Access launch, Game Cooks will be looking to add more to the campaign, though the direction it takes will be dependent on how reception it gets in pre-release. The developer is also planning a multiplayer mode. Until April, you can follow the game on an official website.
Disclaimer: Vindicta will be on display at UploadVR’s GDC Mixer next week, though this content was arranged separately from that agreement. For more, you can read our Code of Ethics.
