Sky Strikers VR mixes Gorilla Tag and Rocket League into a new VR experience, and it’s out now on Quest 2 and Steam.
A free-to-play team-based multiplayer game that supports 6 players, Sky Strikers comes from developer Chamber 8 Studio, who claims they created the game “in just 10 weeks with a team of only 6 people.” While last year’s Ultimechs had a similar premise, Sky Strikers uses a movement system similar to Gorilla Tag, letting you freely explore the pitch and climb across different platforms while swinging baseball bats at the ball.
Released in early access, the current build includes three casual game modes and one arena, which includes “equal or non-equal matches, and a lobby-based social experience.” There isn’t a ranked mode yet but in the early access FAQ, Chamber 8 states its looking to provide “wild modes” and “intense competition” at full release, alongside new arenas. As confirmed by an official Discord server moderator, it also supports cross-platform multiplayer between PC VR and Quest. You can find the official description below:
Sky Strikers combines the thrill of sports games with the immersive experience of virtual reality. Watch the ball soar through the sky, anticipate its trajectory, and make your move. With a powerful boost from your rocket, you’ll soar into the air and make your strike. Get ready to experience the ultimate “moment” in Sky Strikers.
Sky Strikers VR is available now on PC VR via Steam and on Meta Quest via SideQuest. On the Steam page, Chamber 8 confirms the game will remain in early access “for a few months” but pricing won’t change at full release.
Seeker: My Shadow brings a new VR co-op puzzle platformer to PSVR 2, available now.
Developed by Finnish studio Jestercraft, Seeker: My Shadow appeared on PC VR nearly two years ago, and it’s now leaping onto Sony’s latest VR headset. Playable alone or in two-player co-op, you’ll play as a mountain-sized giant, guiding a small Seeker named Kippo through various puzzles to locate Seeker Eggs. There’s also support for asymmetric multiplayer on PSVR 2, which sees one user play in VR as the giant and the other play via the television to control Kippo.
You step in the shoes of mountain sized giant, Spirit, and your goal is to lead and assist a tiny yet courageous Seeker named “Kippo” through a collection of casual puzzle levels set in serene and imaginative surroundings. You will seek, rescue, and gather your friends to safety in the spirit of Pokemon’s “gotta catch ’em all.”
Seeker: My Shadow is available now on PSVR 2 for $29.99, alongside PC VR via Steam for $19.99
Digital Lode released an Espire 2 update today, introducing 13 new “highly-replayable short missions” missions called Espire Ops on Quest 2.
First released last November, Espire 2‘s latest patch is available now. Titled Update 1.4, this adds quality-of-life improvements like new public matchmaking parameters, reworked aim assist, and a main menu UI refresh. More prominently, Espire Ops introduces these new missions across three separate Ops modes. These occur between Espire 1 and Espire 2 and, according to the developer, “provide players with more narrative through their descriptions.” In total, this new short missions should up to about 90 minutes of extra content.
You can read the full Espire Ops description below:
Sneaking Ops: Designed for players who love stealth, these four increasingly difficult missions require the player to get to the objective without raising any alarms.
Take Down Ops: The ultimate panther challenge. In these five ops, the player is required to pacify all guards in the area silently.
Elimination Ops: For players who enjoy action, these four ops allow players to go loud and will need to clear the area no matter the cost.
Ops were previously confirmed in the Espire 2 2023 roadmap last December and so far, Digital Lode’s hitting these release targets. After initially adding co-op voice chat, bHaptics support and public matchmaking, Q2 2023 promises further co-op missions and a hardcore difficulty, while Frame skins and weapons variants will arrive at an unknown date later this year.
Espire 2is available now on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro for $29.99. While though no specific platforms were confirmed, Digital Lode previously announced its coming to new VR platforms later this year, and the team states they will have “more to announce in 2023.”
It’s exceedingly rare to see a VR software startup transition to making hardware, let alone decent hardware. But that’s exactly what Bigscreen—creators of the long-running social VR theater app of the same name—has done with its upcoming Beyond headset.
Bigscreen has clearly targeted PC VR enthusiasts who are willing to pay for the best hardware they can get their hands on. And with major players like Meta and HTC focusing heavily on standalone headsets, Bigscreen Beyond could prove to be the best option they’ll find any time soon.
Photo by Road to VR
The company has set out to make a headset that’s not just better than what’s out there, but one that’s much smaller too. And while it remains to be seen if the headset will hit all the right notes, my initial hands-on shows plainly the company knows what it’s doing when it comes to building a VR headset.
IPD (fixed, customized per customer)
eye-relief (fixed, customized per facepad)
IPD Adjustment Range
58–72mm (fixed, single IPD value per device)
Connectors
DisplayPort 1.4, USB 3.0 (2x)
Accessory Ports
USB-C (1x)
Cable Length
5m
Tracking
SteamVR Tracking 1.0 or 2.0 (external beacons)
On-board Cameras
None
Input
SteamVR Tracking controllers
On-board Audio
None
Optional Audio
Audio Strap accessory, USB-C audio output
Microphone
Yes (2x)
Pass-through view
No
Weight
170–185g
MSRP
$1,000
MSRP (with tracking & controllers)
$1,580
Custom-made
Bigscreen is building something unique, quite literally—every Beyond headset comes with a custom-made facepad. And this isn’t a ‘choose one of three options’ situation, Bigscreen has a sleek app that walks buyers through the process of capturing a 3D scan of their face so the company can create a completely unique facepad that conforms to each specific customer.
And it really makes a difference. The first thing that Bigscreen CEO Darshan Shankar showed me during a demo of the Beyond headset was the difference between my personal facepad (which the company created for me prior to our meetup) and someone else’s facepad. The difference was instantly obvious; where mine fit against my face practically like two connected puzzle-pieces, the other facepad awkwardly disagreed with my face in various places. While I’ve recognized for a long time that different facial topology from person-to-person is a real consideration for VR headsets, this made me appreciate even more how significant the differences can be.
The facepad may look rough, but it’s actually made of a soft rubber material | Photo by Road to VR
Shankar says the custom-fit facepad is an essential part of making such a small headset. It ensures not only that the headset is as comfortable as it can be, but also the user’s eyes are exactly where they’re supposed to be with regard to the lenses. For a headset like Beyond, which uses high magnification pancake optics with a small sweet spot, this is especially important. And, as Shankar convincingly demonstrated by shining a flashlight all around the headset while I was wearing it, the custom-fit facepad means absolutely no external light can be seen from inside.
And the custom facepad isn’t the only way each headset is dialed in for each specific customer; instead of wasting weight and space with the mechanics for an IPD adjustment, the headset ships with one of 15 fixed IPD distances, ranging from 58–72mm. The company selects the IPD based on the same face scan that allows them to make the custom facepad. And given the size of the Beyond headset, there’s no way that glasses will fit inside; luckily the company will also sell magnetically attached prescription inserts for those who need them, up to −10 diopter.
Diving In
With my custom facepad easily snapped onto the headset with magnets, it was time to dive into VR.
The baseline version of the $1,000 Bigscreen Beyond headset has a simple soft strap, which I threw over the back of my head and tightened to taste. I felt I had to wear the strap very high on the back of my head for a good hold; Shankar says an optional top-strap will be available, which ought to allow me to wear the rear strap in a lower position.
Photo by Road to VR
As I put on the headset I found myself sitting in a dark Bigscreen theater environment, and the very first thing I noticed was the stellar darks and rich colors that are thanks to the headset’s OLED displays. The second thing I noticed was there was no sound! That’s because the baseline version of the headset doesn’t have on-board audio, so I still had to put on a pair of headphones after the headset was donned.
While the baseline headset lacks on-board audio, Bigscreen is offering a $100 ‘Audio Strap‘, which is a rigid headstrap with built-in speakers. As someone who really values rigid straps and on-board audio, I’m glad to see this as an option—for me it would be the obvious choice. Unfortunately the company wasn’t ready to demo the Audio Strap.
Shankar toured me around a handful of VR environments that showed off the headset’s 2,560 × 2,560 (6.5MP) per-eye displays, which offered a level of clarity similar to that of Varjo’s $2,000 Aero headset, but with a smaller notably field-of-view (Bigscreen claims 90°H × 93°V).
On many current-gen headsets like Quest 2 you can’t quite see the individual lines of the screen-door effect, but it’s still clear that it’s there in aggregate. While the Beyond headset isn’t ‘retina resolution’ there’s essentially no evidence of any screen-door effect. Everything looks really sharp. This was best demonstrated when I ran around in Half-Life: Alyx and the game felt like it had instantly upgraded graphics compared to a headset like Valve’s Index.
There is, however, some persistence blurring and glare. Shankar openly demonstrated how the brightness of the display directly relates to the level of persistence. While there’s some noticeable persistence at the default brightness, when overdriving the display’s brightness the persistence becomes entirely unbearable. The reverse is true; turning the brightness down below the default cuts the persistence down noticeably. While it would be nice if the default brightness had less persistence, at least users will be able to trade brightness for lower persistence based on their specific preference.
Fast Travel Games are planning new post-launch content for Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game, as a new patch adds minor bug fixes today on Quest 2.
Following its launch last week, Fast Travel Games released a minor update for Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game.Patch 1.0.1 added small fixes like stopping a soft lock bug during the research tutorial, stopping the Chimera boss spawning twice, and an updated credits list. More notably, Fast Travel Games used this release to announce further post-launch patches are coming with “more improvements and new content.” However, the exact nature of the “new content” is still unknown and a release window remains unconfirmed.
Captains of the Aurora: Your journeys through the universe have improved slightly withPatch 1.0.1!
— Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game (@GhostSignalVR) March 28, 2023
We enjoyed ourselves in our recent Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game review and consider it “one of the best VR roguelites yet.” Though we criticised its lack of an in-game suspend function, we had high praise for the core gameplay, visuals and replayability.
Rather than attempt the unenviable task of recreating Stellaris for Quest 2, this successful spin-off shines by forging ahead with its own ideas, offering an entertaining premise packed with strong replayability and a refined presentation. Minor issues aside, I immensely enjoyed my time exploring this universe, and Fast Travel Games are onto another winner. I can see myself coming back to Ghost Signal for a long time.
Eye of the Temple, a room-scale VR platformer, will make a surprise leap onto Quest 2 soon.
Initially released for PC VR, Eye of the Temple comes from solo developer Rune Skovbo Johansen, who is collaborating with Salmi Games for the Quest 2 port. Requiring a minimum play area of 2m x 2m, this Indiana Jones-style adventure sees you exploring ancient temples, dodging traps and solving puzzles. Instead of artificial locomotion or teleporting, movement is entirely physical. You can read the full description below:
Eye of the Temple is a VR adventure that will take you on a daring journey through a treacherous temple. As you attempt to uncover the legend of the Eye, you’ll step between moving blocks (don’t lose your balance!), dodge hazardous traps, and solve environmental puzzles. What mysteries will you uncover with just a torch, a whip, and your wits?
“A lot of the game’s visuals, such as the lighting and water effects, had to be reimplemented from scratch in order to retain the same aesthetic on the lower-powered hardware,” says Johansen in a prepared statement, who continues detailing the technical challenges involved in this Quest 2 port. “We also had to create our own manual occlusion system to supplement the engine’s built-in solution in order to support the game’s expansive world.”
There’s no pricing details or confirmed release date yet for Eye of the Temple, but its “coming soon” to Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro. A PC VR version is available now on Steam, and you can check out our preview impressions from 2020 to learn more.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two will soon join its predecessors in PC VR, arriving as a free Steam mod on April 6.
Having previously confirmed plans for an Episode Two VR port, the Source VR Mod Team revealed the release date for this final part (sorry Half-Life 3 hopefuls) of Valve’s iconic FPS last week when Half-Life 2: Episode One VR Mod released. Like the Half-Life 2 VR Mod and Episode One, you must own the base Episode Two game on Steam to access this. Furthermore, the Source VR Mod Team states anyone using someone else’s account via family sharing feature won’t work.
Offering full room-scale VR with motion controls, new weapon interactions, comfort options like motion vignettes and more, that’s compatible with any headset supported by SteamVR. You can check out the mod page for more information. Based on the quality-of-life updates Half-Life 2: VR Mod received post-launch, support for bHaptics TactSuit vests and Steam Workshop also seems likely.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two is available now on Steam for $7.99, and included in the The Orange Box bundle for $19.99 alongside the Half-Life 2 base game and Episode One.
Genotype, an upcoming sci-fi adventure VR game, reached its alpha milestone last week, targeting a late 2023 release on Quest 2.
Created by Danish studio Bolverk Games (Kittypocalypse, Dick Wilde duology), Genotype promises an atmospheric mystery completely different from the developer’s previous games. Described as a chilling “escape-the-dungeon” adventure set in Antarctica, it involves exploring an abandoned scientific facility.
You can print organisms and use their abilities with high-tech gloves, taking down strange creatures while investigating what happened to the former research team. Joined by a lone human survivor, Bolverk claims Genotype presents “a series of moral choices” alongside puzzle solving and various minigames.
“The Alpha release marks the first time the game is playable from end to end. We now have a shared goal for the rest of the development,” says CEO Bo Bennekov in a prepared statement, explaining that key gameplay functionality is complete. Here’s the official gameplay description:
Print living organisms and use them to survive by wielding a pair of high-tech gloves. Hold life in your hands as you journey into the icy depths of an abandoned Antarctic gene research facility overrun by strange creatures. Trapped deep under the ice, you must explore the large facility and solve the mystery of what happened to the people who worked here. The place crawls with hostile and strange creatures. Finally, the only human survivor seems to slowly lose his mind while speaking about a mysterious giant organism deep in the ice.
Genotype arrives in late 2023 on Meta Quest 2. You can sign up for the beta test now through the official website, which begins “hopefully sometime in the spring.”
Virtuix revealed the final version of its Omni One VR treadmill, which is now shipping to early investors.
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2020, the consumer-focused Omni One has been a long time coming. Originally targeting the second half of 2021, Jan Goetgeluk, Virtuix CEO and founder, claims they faced a “challenging development process,” citing issues relating to COVID-19 and supply chain shortages.
Virtuix claims high interest in the Omni One, with a “waitlist” of more than 35,000 expressing interest ahead of a wider consumer launch later this year. 900 of Virtuix’s crowdfunding investors have applied for an Omni One beta unit, with the wider release to follow once the beta program ends in late 2023, claims Virtuix. You can view the finalised design below:
Taking inspiration from Virtuix’s commercial Omni Pro VR treadmill, the Omni One is designed as a more compact option designed to fit inside your living room, where it functions as a complete entertainment unit. Previously shown with a Pico Neo 2, Virtuix is pairing the final version with a Pico Neo 3 Pro standalone headset, which includes a unique operating system, social features and “a proprietary game store targeting 30 titles at launch.”
Virtuix claims Omni One will receive a wider consumer launch later this year, releasing at an introductory cost of $2,595 plus shipping (which includes the Pico Neo 3 Pro). Virtuix claims unit quantities will “start small and gradually increase as the program proceeds.”
Into The Darkness, an upcoming physics-based VR action-adventure game, dropped a new teaser trailer for PC VR.
Developed by Vietnam-based Cosmos Games, Into The Darkness was first revealed two years ago with similar gameplay to Boneworks. Initially targeting a late 2021 release, its faced significant delays ever since, and now, publisher Gameboom VR offers a refreshed look at gameplay. The new teaser showcases combat, traversal, object interaction and underwater swimming, which you can watch in full below:
A dystopian sci-fi adventure set in the near future, Into The Darkness puts you in the shoes of Frank, an agent investigating a research facility that’s gone radio silent. Here’s the full gameplay description:
Humanity is trying to achieve immortality by transferring consciousness to machines. Transhumanism, however, is a dangerous path, and a poorly conducted experiment can end in a tragedy. As agent Frank, you are sent to one of the research facilities with which contact has been interrupted, and the previous agents never returned. Navigate through environments, solve the puzzle, engage the enemy… to find out the dark secret behind the experiments.
Into The Darkness VR arrives in late 2023 on PC VR via Steam. In the meantime, you can check out our Into The Darkness preview from 2021.
Patch 1.0.1!
