Something For The Weekend: SteamVR Deals On A Mid-September Afternoon

Time for another entry of Something for the Weekend, the weekly series where VRFocus bring you a number of deals on virtual reality (VR) titles. As the month of September continues it’s time once again to check out the Steam store and find the latest deals on all things VR. This week you’ll find a range of unique experiences that let you explore a space station, enjoy an idol show and even direct traffic. As always, be sure to check back every weekend for even more deals right here on VRFocus.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station

“Downward Spiral: Horus Station does exactly what it needed to, presenting a far grander and more engaging instalment to the VR series. It’s not perfect, with some annoying glitches that really do need to be ironed out. However, the core experience is thoroughly enjoyable and more importantly massive. With eight acts to play through, and each one taking around an hour – depending on how long you search for collectables – there’s a solid amount of content to get engrossed in. For players that enjoy floating around in space, Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a great all-rounder.” – Read VRFocus’ Senior Staff Writer Peter Graham’s review of Downward Spiral: Horus Station.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station is available now for £8.99 (GBP) down from the usual £14.99 for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.

Hop Step Sing! Nozokanaide Naked Heart (HQ Edition)

Step into a virtual world and enjoy the songs and performance of this VR idol group. This time, players are heading to a magic factory where the wounded hearts of the world go to be healed. As the girls’ leader, it’s your job to bring a smile back to the world through the power of song and dance. More of a music video than the videogame, this title has a lot of colour and style that is sure to put a smile on your face.

Hop Step Sing! Nozokanaide Naked Heart (HQ Edition) is available now for only £4.15 (GBP) down from £5.19 for the HTC Vive.

Catan VR

The ever popular and best-selling board game has made it’s way to VR in this immersive and exciting installment. Now with online multiplayer making it easier than ever to play against others and friends alike, you’ll never be without someone to play against. Featuring AI personalities as well, you’ll be able to play offline and enjoy the same experience as the table top version.

Catan VR is available now for £7.51 (GBP) down from £11.39 for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.

Walk on Arrow

“Walk on Arrow is an innovative hybrid of archery and complete freedom of movement only possible in VR! Hide, trace and fight! Using your bow and arrow to beat all of your opponents and become the one stand at last.”

Walk on Arrow is available now for £6.63 (GBP) down from £8.29 for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.

Traffic Cop

Welcome to the 1950s where you are starting your job as a traffic cop smack dab in the middle of a busy intersection. You’ll need to direct traffic, dodge flying food, fight off alien attacks and hunt birds. With 20 different levels of traffic to direct and a number of different difficulty levels, players will find plenty to do and enjoy as a traffic cop.

Traffic Cop is available now for £4.67 (GBP) down from £5.19 for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

Frankenstein: Beyond the Time

“Now everyone can go on a discovery quest taking place in a Victorian mansion, where the task is to solve the greatest mystery of Dr. Frankenstein. The game makes innovative use of Virtual Reality with a well-known hidden object model and crafting simulations combined with the fight against time. Placing these mechanisms in a world inspired by the novels about Dr. Frankenstein provides a unique gameplay in a dynamic world full of adventures. The more we learn about the mad scientist’s experiment, the more frightening and mysterious the story becomes.”

Frankenstein: Beyond the Time is available now for £7.74 (GBP) down from £15.49 for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

Carly and the Reaperman – Escape from the Underworld

Work together with a friend to master platforming, solve puzzles and build your way through the underworld in this unique asymmetrical cooperative game. One player in VR will be able to control the platforms and make changes to the world while another player uses a controller to navigate each level and overcome the challenges. The title even now supports the option to play in single player as well but make sure to try it with a friend to have the full experience.

Carly and the Reaperman – Escape from the Underworld is on sale now for £15.19 (GBP) down from £18.99 for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.

Worlds At War

“Worlds At War thrusts the player into the aftermath of an alien invasion. A small multi-national ragtag group of surviving fighter pilots and crew man a small carrier-group, roaming the oceans and trying to survive against all odds. The game features diverse fully pilotable aircraft, helicopters and boats, and players must learn to master them in order to defend the carrier-group from a relentless onslaught of alien attack-waves in a unique combination of some of mankinds best military equipment facing off with alien space-ships.”

Worlds At War is available now for £8.09 (GBP) down from £13.49 for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.

VRobot: VR Giant Robot Destruction Simulator

Jump into a giant robot and start smashing cities using all sorts of unique weapons. Featuring multiplayer, a lighting hammer, a transformer sword, a tornado gun and even a tractor beam. Players will find plenty to do in this title as you’ll be kicking, punching and smashing your way through the different stages. You’ll even able to destroy a building, pick up that building, and then start smashing buildings with that building. It’s a great stress reliever.

VRobot: VR Giant Robot Destruction Simulator is on sale now for £9.34 (GBP) down from the usual £10.99 for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality.

The Wizards

“Carbon Studio has also ensured there’s some longevity and a keen eye needed to get the most out of the whole experience. There are collectibles to find that’ll upgrade your spells, Fate Cards to locate which will modify the gameplay settings in future play throughs, plus an Arena mode for those interested in continual battles.What Carbon Studio has done is combine its knowledge from debut VR title Alice VR and the months of Early Access development and distilled it into The Wizards. If you want to feel like an all-powerful sorcerer then The Wizards is up there with the best, an entertaining adventure that will make non-VR players jealous.” – Read VRFocus’ Senior Staff Writer Peter Graham’s review of The Wizards.

The Wizards is available now for £6.00 (GBP) down from £14.99 for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

That is all for this week but remember that VRFocus gathers all the best sales and deals every week, so check back next weekend at the same time to discover more.

July 23, 2018

VRobot, Detached and The Persistence all Arriving This Week for PlayStation VR

It may not seem like a bumper week for PlayStation VR owners with just three videogames scheduled to launch, but they do happen to be three titles worth a peek, VRobot, Detached and The Persistence.

The Persistence screenshot

Most PlayStation VR owners should already know about The Persistence, the sci-fi survival horror from Firesprite that’s exclusive to the headset. Players will have to work through a procedurally generated spaceship filled with their mutated crew mates.

Like any good survival horror, there are plenty of monster varieties as well as weaponry to dispatch them. As an added bonus, virtual reality (VR) players can invite their mates to help out via a companion mobile app to lure enemies, open doors, and disable traps. Or those friends can turn the other way and make the videogame even harder for the VR player. The Persistence will be releasing digitally on 24th July as will the companion app, with a disc version arriving on 25th July.

Keeping with the outer space, sci-fi theme but steering away from the horror element is Detached. Originally released for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, with cross-platform compatibility, Detached has both single-player and multiplayer modes, with the main focus being the latter. Designed to offer plenty of movement flexibility in a zero-g environment – especially in the PvP combat mode – Detached looks great but isn’t for those who easily suffer from VR nausea.

VRobot screenshot

Originally Detached was due to launch for PlayStation VR on 6th July, for whatever reason that’s now happening on 24th July.

Finally there’s VRobot, a madcap, over-the-top experience which is all about laying waste to cities as quickly as possible. Another PC VR title making its way over to PlayStation VR, VRobot put you in control of a giant robot, with the only object being to destroy cites as fast as possible using an array of weaponry like the Lightning Hammer, Transformer Sword, Tornado Gun and Tractor Beam, or even just with your own fists.

If any other titles do decide to make an appearance this week for PlayStation VR, VRFocus will let you know.

January 18, 2018

Nintendos Labo is Not an Answer to Virtual Reality, Says Reggie Fils-Aime

Nintendo announced Labo last night, a brand new part-construction project, part videogame. A brand new move in videogame peripherals, Nintendo essentially wants players to assemble their own accessories, Google Cardboard style, and play a small variety of videogame experiences with them that can seem all too reminiscent of the kinds of gameplay we see in virtual reality (VR). Controlling giant robots? Fishing? Yep, we’ve definitely done those in VR before.

But despite the similarities, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime says that this is definitely not Nintendo’s answer to VR. Not a surprise, after Fils-Aime’s fairly bleak and negative outlook on VR gaming only a few months ago.

In interviews since Labo’s announcement, Reggie Fils-Aime has now given a few more opinions and views on how he feels about Labo, and the potential for VR in Nintendo’s future.

In an interview, Fils-Aime has said; “It’s not meant to be some sort of competitive answer [to virtual reality], it’s meant to be something totally unique, totally unexpected.”

It’s easy to draw comparisons between Nintendo Labo and existing VR videogames and experiences. We’ve already seen multiple VR videogames where you can take control of a giant robot, like VRobot, and Nintendo Labo’s Robot Kit which creates a Toy-Con Robot seems built to evoke the same kinds of feelings of “becoming” a character in a videogame, although Labo and VR are two very different ways to achieve similar results.

The same can be said of the Toy-Con Fishing Rod. We’ve seen plenty of VR fishing games, such as Final Fantasy XV: Monster of the Deep, but not having a physical reel can sometimes take you out of the experience. Can a physical, albeit cardboard, replacement make all the difference?

Fils-Aime gave more insight into their business plan with Labo; “Nintendo Labo continues our longstanding mission of making people smile by surprising them with new experiences. It is an exciting evolution of the Nintendo Switch platform – one designed to inspire curiosity, creativity and imagination in people of all ages.”

Nintendo Labo launches in April with two kits, the Variety Kit will be $69.99, while the Robot Kit will be $79.99. It’s interesting, but incredibly expensive stuff. Luckily it’ll be easy enough to make your own. For all of the latest news on Labo and VR experiences, make sure to keep reading VRFocus.

October 28, 2017

Luden.Io Takes Pumpkin Carving To The Extreme In Latest VRobot Update

As you might expect, and certainly as you might already be familiar with if you’ve read VRFocus at length over the last few days videogame developers everywhere are getting into the holiday spirit.

By that I don’t mean by that we’ve had Christmas updates aplenty; Though those are, no doubt, on their way soon enough. We are though experiencing a glut of updates which add a touch of something spooky to the average virtual reality (VR) title. Halloween is approaching rapidly and behind every virtual corner there could be something waiting to leap out at you.

The latest developer to add a touch of things going bump in the night is Cyprus based studio Luden.io, who are never ones to turn down the opportunity to update their city destruction sandbox title VRobot if the option to add in some extra fun presents itself.

VRobot logo
But how do you add some Halloween flavour to a videogame where you destroy things in a giant robot? For Luden.io the answer was obvious. If you can carve lanterns out of pumpkins why can’t you carve an entire city out of them? For a limited time owners of VRobot can take out their frustrations on an entire city built from the orange squash plants and also terrorise its citizens. Who have, thanks to the update, been transmogrified into ‘robopumpkins’.

Luden.io also gave something of a ‘storyline’ explanation for the change to the VRobot world.

“Through studying the history of mankind, robots found an effective way to prevent an annual universal catastrophe. While seeds are inside of their heads instead of microcircuits, you can take an advantage of the situation and hit them in the ‘pumpkins’. When the portal is closed, everything will return to normal.”

The Halloween shennanagins are the latest in a number of updates and stories regarding VRobot that VRFocus has covered in recent months, which have also included the title getting a free demo on Steam, a New York City themed update, two film related updates in the form of content inspired by both Transformers and (most recently) Thor: Ragnarok. Whilst last week also saw a confirmation via the developer’s Trello account that it was working on bringing the currenty PC-based title to the PlayStation VR.

VRFocus will bring you more news on updates to VRobot as they are revealed. For the latest on everything VR related be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.

October 20, 2017

Luden.io Confirm Work To Bring VRobot To PlayStation VR

Would be thunder gods had cause for celebration earlier this month when, in a move made to coincide with the soon to release Thor: Ragnarok, the Odinson’s hammer and lightning wielding powers were announced to be being added to the game. That update should, according to communications from makers Luden.io, now be live. Allowing you to smite anyone below you who may have raised your ire.

Because being a giant robot of destruction isn’t enough, clearly.

Additional updates completed include improved A.I. for citizens, meaning your actions will certainly have more of an effect on your day. Physics and graphical polishing improvements have also been made. However, this isn’t the only thing Luden.io are seemingly working on.

As mentioned in a previous story on the Cyprus-based team set up a Trello account so you can see exactly what the team is working on. The ‘In Progress’ column for this shows that not only are Luden.io working on a new user interface addition, but they are also working to bring VRobot to the PlayStation VR. The task card currently has a ‘due date’ of November 23rd 2017, although it’s not clear whether it will be released on that date or whether or not that is when Luden.io would like it ready for submission.

VRobot is currently available on Steam and supports the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive head mounted displays (HMDs). It is not presently on Oculus Store, however a third In Progress task lists the Oculus Store with a completion date of December 28th 2017.

VRFocus will bring you more news on further developments with VRobot as we get them.

October 14, 2017

Rain Down Destruction Like the god of Thunder in VRobot’s Next Update

Earlier this year Luden.io launched a new title on Steam Early Access that’s all about one thing destruction, leveling cities and wiping little robots off the face of the planet as a massive overseer of doom, and that title’s called VRobot. Since its release the studio has added several updates including a free downloadable demo and now its announced the latest additions due to be added.

In VRobot’s next update – which has yet to be dated – players will be able to wield Nordic God, Thor’s mighty hammer, to squash and smash everything in their path as fast as possible. Obviously this is Thor’s hammer so it has all the properties of this mythical weapon. Charge it up with Lightning and smash it to the ground for a devastating area-of-effect blast, or simply throw it at distant targets bringing them crumbling to the ground then catch the hammer when it returns.

VRobot AI update

To make VRobot more dynamic, Luden.io will be adding a new AI system for the robot citizens. Before they would just amble about as if nothing was wrong as the cities came crashing down around them. This won’t be the case for much longer as they now run around and try to flee – arms waving frantically – so catching and disposing of the little mechanical menaces will be that little bit harder.

Lastly the update will include improved physics, not just for the virtual cites but the robot citizens as well.

Check out the trailer below to see all of this in action, and as Luden.io release further updates – the studio has setup a Trello page to see developments – VRFocus will let you know.

August 24, 2017

Destroy A City For Free with VRobot Demo

For those who have always dreamed of unleashing their destructive impulses by taking control of a giant robot to lay waste to everything in side, developer Luden.io might have just the thing, with the release of a free demo of its stompy robot title VRobot.

In VRobot the player takes control of a huge robot in order to destroy the other robots who have taken over the world and driven humans out of their cities. In the full version of the title, the robot has access to a variety of weaponry to aid in the swath of destruction. The free demo limits you to just your bare metal fists for the most part, though you do have the opportunity to wield a huge unfolding sword inspired by the Transformers franchise.

The demo includes just one city, which has been selected as it is one that doesn’t require any special weaponry in order to wreck it entirely. The developers say they are offering the demo in hopes that it will attract players who are uncertain about purchasing the full version of the title, and have even said that people who try the demo are encouraged to offer feedback to make the experience better.

VRobot is currently in Steam Early Access available for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, needing motion controllers for input, so Oculus Rift users will need the Oculus Touch. The full version of the title is priced at £10.99 (GBP). Further information, and access to the demo, is available through the Steam store page.

VRFocus will bring you further news on VRobot and other Steam VR titles as it becomes available.

June 22, 2017

Smash Up New York With VRobot’s NYC Update

Independent developers Luden.Io have been quite keen on keeping the content updates flowing into smashy giant robot title VRobot. With a small content update that added a giant mechanical sword inspired by the Transformers franchise being added earlier this month, and now a much bigger ‘New York City’ content update.

A brand new city is being added to VRobot for players to gleefully smash to bits. Patterned about the famous New York City, the level, referred to in-game as New RoboYork City, features recognisable famous landmarks of the New York metropolis, including the Empire State building, Statue of Liberty and, in a slightly more controversial move, the ‘Vrump’ Tower.

The content update also includes the aforementioned Transforming sword, the addition of a giant robot rival called the Super Robot 3000 so players can pick on something their own size and the developers have also taken into account feedback received from players and have revamped the scoring system. The timer has been removed and a new coring system has been implemented in an attempt to make things more enjoyable.

VRobot is available on Steam for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift with Touch. In addition, from 23^rd June 2017, Steam users can get 50% off the normal retail price of £10.99 (GBP) as part of the Steam Summer Sale. You can see what VRFocus made of VRobot in the video preview.

The development team are accepting suggestions on other features that can be added, such as new weaponry to be added to the existing arsenal of Transformers sword, Tornado Gun and Tractor beam, or new types of cities to explore (and destroy). Further information can be found on the Steam page.

VRFocus will bring you further updates on VRobot as they become available.

June 17, 2017

VRobot Gets New “Transformers” Update Which Gives You An Awesome Sword

What does every giant robot need? Like, aside from equally giant lasers, rockets, thrusters, etc.? That’s right. A giant sword which folds out and looks really cool. Well Luden.io heard your calls, and their game VRobot has now got a giant sword, and it’s fantastic.

The update is called the Transformers Update – yes, based on that Transformers, the famous one! No, no it’s not official. The Transformers Update is basically just a cool sword that folds out in a way similar to the mechanical monsters of Michael Bay’s movie series.

The Transformer’s Sword is basically the only new feature – but that’s fine, because it looks God damn awesome. The sword flips out and you can use it to cut down your environment or even play a round of “golf,” as you can see below. VRobot is available for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. We’ve played VRobot and enjoyed taking the role of a giant robot. The game is currently in early access, and hopes to hit other major VR platforms later this year.

VRobot is a fun game – exactly the kind of fun we hope to have in VR. For more on VRobot, or any of the other absurd and immersive games to play in VR, make sure to keep reading VRFocus. We’ll leave you with one more gif for the road…

May 16, 2017

Preview: VRobot

In the far future, robots have taken over all of Earth’s cities. In a last-ditch attempt to reclaim their homes, humans have built the biggest, baddest robot yet to take care of the usurping robots and get back their homes. This is the basics of VRobot.

VRFocus correspondent Nina takes a look at the Steam Early Access title, discussing her experience with being a giant-sized robot construct. The objective is pretty simple: Destroy everything in sight. The robot you control has various weapons and abilities to command to make destroying things easier, such as a tractor beam to pull and throw things around, or the powerful tornado gun to unleash a miniature natural disaster upon your surroundings. If all else fails, there is good old punching power. A score is awarded based upon the performance of how well the smashing of the city is performed, with speed and accuracy being rewarded and the smashing of special buildings resulting in bonus points. There is even a special giant enemy robot available to defeat.

VRobot is currently available through Steam Early Access for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift with Touch for £10.99 (GBP). As the experience involves much flailing about with motion controllers, a large clear space is highly recommended for playing this videogame. It has not yet been confirmed when the title will be available for a full release.

You can watch Nina’s verdict in the video below.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on upcoming VR titles.