Luna is an intriguing looking title coming from indie studio Funomena, and backed by some of the minds behind indie PS3 blockbuster Journey (2012). The studio has announced a launch date for October 17th and that the game will be coming to the Rift, Vive, and Windows VR (and PC).
Journey’s executive producer, Robin Hunicke, and engine programmer, Martin Middleton, met at game studio Thatgamecompany (which developed Journey), and afterward came together to found Funomena in 2013 with the underlying idea that “games can have a positive impact on the world.”
When I previewed Luna back in late 2016 I found a game with great audio and visual design, though the experience felt more like… well, and experience than a game:
I enjoyed the visual and sound design, and liked the slightly creative and interactive musical elements in the terrarium at the end, however, I didn’t get a sense of what the broader gameplay might look like once fleshed out into a full game, and for the time being I didn’t feel a strong hook that made me eager to experience more of Luna’s world. I wanted to care about the adorable critters before me, or be enchanted by the gameplay, but at least the brief 10 minutes I spent with the game, I didn’t see hints of where that hook might emerge.
[…]
Luna is much different than most of what else is being created for VR right now, which is a good thing, but as the title continues development it seems like it could benefit from a more firm direction toward the ‘game’ or ‘experience’ categories, as sticking to the middle of the road could leave both camps unsatisfied.
With nearly a year of additional development time under the title’s belt, I’m hoping Luna‘s narrative and gameplay will have evolved to match its superb sound and visuals. The latest snippet from the Luna website gives an idea of what the title will offer:
The silence of a summer evening is disturbed by mysterious, haunting song. A majestic Owl’s call convinces a young Bird to swallow the last piece of the waning Moon, summoning an unexpected storm that blows the Bird far from its home.
Solve celestial puzzles and create miniature musical worlds. Re-awaken the shadowy forest, discover its hidden creatures, and reunite the fragmented Moon so Bird can find its way home.
Place, customize and interact with miniature, living terrariums.
Solve celestial puzzles to unlock their plants and animals.
Play musical flora and fauna to reveal Austin Wintory’s enchanting score.
The free open betaof From Other Suns, the multiplayer shooter from Gunfire Games, has arrived. You’ve got the entire weekend to test this interesting co-op space-faring action-adventure game.
Update (9/29/17): The From Other Suns open beta weekend is here. Have at it!
Oculus quietly announced the news, releasing word of the open beta with no other general release dates. Thegame’s open beta weekend will start September 29th and go until October 1st, coming exclusively to Rift.
We got a chance to play a demo of From Other Suns when it first debuted at this year’s GDC, with Road to VR’s Executive Editor Ben Lang drawing some clear similarities to the much beloved rogue-like FTL: Faster Than Light.
“From Other Suns aims to recreate the same sort of challenges and gameplay found in FTL—multiple crew members, permadeath, procedurally generated events and environments, ship management, and more—in a VR adventure FPS that’s built from the ground up for three-player co-op.”
Lang calls the pacing “a little slower and more deliberate than some VR FPS games out there, but that’s intentional,” saying that it plays “much like a dungeon crawler.”
Here’s what Gunfire had to say about From Other Suns:
Your own ship. A crew. Steady work. Things were going well until the Collapse. Now you and half of humanity are trapped on the far side of the wormhole with ruthless pirates, scheming corporations, and worse—new threats from outside known space. There’s danger at every jump on this side of the wormhole. You and up to two of your friends will tour the sector, upgrading your ship, stockpiling weapons, and fighting for your lives. And when you all die, you’ll discover new challenges in your next playthrough.Fight and try to save humanity, or just joyride through the galaxy until its extinction. Your call.
Today we fly high up in the sky and rule it! Or at least try so... Cas and Chary are two girls passionate about VR (& beyond) sharing their adventures! Subscribe to join the adventure → https://www.youtube.com/c/caschary?sub_confirmation=1 Skyfront VR is an online multiplayer first person shooter that is played high up in the sky in virtual reality! You suit up in a leather suit that defies gravity and are armed with FPS guns to fight in the zero gravity arenas for the title of Guardian – Keeper of the Peace. In this video we team up with RowdyGuy! We played the early access version gameplay on both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in multiplayer. Keep in mind that our opinion might change when this VR game is released. At the moment you can only play on one map and have only 3 game modes and one of them is the zero gravity death math, which we will show in this video. ► Get Skyfront VR on Steam → http://store.steampowered.com/app/640800/Skyfront_VR/ ► RowdyGuy VR → https://www.youtube.com/c/RowdyGuyGame [Steam description] Skyfront VR is a team-based multiplayer FPS where the best warriors team up in zero-gravity battle arenas to determine the Ultimate Champion. More HTC Vive Gameplays and Reviews (Best Vive games) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYl0nceTmYU&list=PL86GNGPnZ0siwDr9AoFLro8NF4CnAqSYx More Oculus Rift + Touch Gameplays and Reviews (Best VR games) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrbAsa9tPU&list=PL86GNGPnZ0sg8QLhWQ9WSnXY4Vyzx-ghA ► Like what we do? → https://www.patreon.com/casandchary ► Twitter → https://twitter.com/CasandChary ► Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/casandchary ► Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/casandchary ► Discord → https://discord.gg/YH52W2k A special thanks to our Patreon SUPERHEROES for their amazing support ❤: - Daniel L. Much love, Cas and Chary VR #Skyfront #Oculus #HTCVive #RowdyGuy #CasandChary
Bigscreen is a social VR app which lets VR users bring their PC desktops into virtual reality, as if sitting at their computer next to friends or co-workers. Users inside of Bigscreen can see each other’s desktops which means they can watch movies, play games together, and plenty more. A new update launched today brings a range of much needed interaction improvements and better avatars.
Players can now choose between seven different body shapes, and hundreds of combinations of shirt types and colors, in addition to existing hair, eye, and skin options. Players can customize their avatar in a new mirror interface which offers easy experimentation.
Bigscreen may offer cool functionality, but using it with motion controllers was, in many ways, unintuitive. Today’s update makes things much easier: screens now have an in-world menu bar for making quick adjustments using direct input from your controllers (rather than needing to open a separate menu and fiddling with sliders). Meanwhile, the handy ‘Tablet’ window, from which you can control all of Bigscreen’s functions, has been updated for touch-input. So instead of using a laser pointer cursor, you can now intuitively poke and prod at the large buttons for more direct and intuitive control.
AMD users who have had issues with Bigscreen may want to take second look; the Avatar Update is said to “greatly [improve] stability and performance” on AMD graphics cards.
As VR gamers on PC look forward to the release of The Gallery – Episode 2: Heart of the Emberstone, launching October 18th, PSVR should be excited too; developer Cloudhead Games is working on a PSVR version of Heart of the Embertsone, and is also considering porting the first episode in the series, Call of the Starseed (2016).
In many ways The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed is a foundational VR title, defining & refining a number of VR game design concepts that we now find in many titles to date. However, initially targeted for room-scale gameplay, the game hasn’t yet found its way to PSVR, thanks in part to the system’s more limited tracking tech.
With the second episode in the series, Heart of the Emberstone, launching on Vive and Rift next month, PSVR players might be feeling a bit left out. Thankfully the studio says that a port of the game is planned for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset, though they’re encouraging players to be vocal in order to gauge demand.
“We’re currently planning a port to PSVR, but if you’d like to see PSVR support sooner rather than later, please let us know in the forums!” reads the Steam FAQ page for the game.
As for the first episode, Call of the Starseed, the studio has a PSVR port under consideration, but doesn’t seem committed just yet.
“Because [Call of the Starseed] was built for roomscale VR, porting the experience to hardware such as PSVR requires a bit more effort and care. But, if you’d like to see PSVR support sooner rather than later, please let us know in the forums!” reads the game’s Steam FAQ page.
Car: 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Please subscribe. Also, check out my Virtual Reality articles and opinions on http://www.ukrifter.com - want to contribute articles? Contact me. Got an opinion? Contact me on Twitter @UKRift, or on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ukrifter -= If you want to help me out I would be hugely grateful if you could share this video with =- -= your friends & family via the usual social media sites: twitter, facebook, reddit, etc. =- **Voice Acting** - I currently offer FREE voice acting for VR projects. @@ Email address: ukrifter (at) gmail (dot) c0m @@ If you want to buy me a Beer / Lamborghini, then paypal to the same email address. == Who the devil are you Sir? == Typically I play with VR on my weekends and schedule video posts through the week. I invest my own money in order to review, compare and contrast. I run this for the love of the technology, I am NEVER paid for my opinion, and as a result my opinions will remain unbiased, however, as I tend to praise in public and feedback negative experiences privately to developers, I rarely review a bad title. Not seen something reviewed here, maybe you have your answer. == Special Thanks == UKRifter Logo by Jo Baker Freelance Design - http://jobaker.co.uk/ == Techno Babble for the Geeks == HMD: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift DK1 / DK2 / CV1 CPU: i7 4790K GPU: Nvidia EVGA 1080 SC edition RAM: 16GB Storage: SSD / Hybid SSD Screen recorder: OBS Wheel: Logitech G27 Joystick: Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X Mouse: RAT 7 == Legal == The thoughts and opinions expressed by UKRifter and other contributors are those of the individual contributors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers, sponsors, family members, pets or voices in their heads. == Audio Credits == UKRifter Jingle by Christopher Gray Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ You can also donate via Streamlabs https://youtube.streamlabs.com/theukrifter#/
Rec Room (2016), the popular social VR app for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, is coming soon to PlayStation VR. Production studio Against Gravity announced Rec Room‘s PSVR release via the PSVR reddit page, saying that the game is slated to arrive by the end of this year.
Rec Room offers a slew of active social games using the respective systems’ motion controllers. With the specific aim to get you up and out of your seat, the app features co-op ‘Quests’ that take you on battles through classic sci-fi and medieval settings, and has a number of group activities like paintball, disc golf, and 3D charades. Whatever it is, Rec Room always seems to give you a reason to come back, and it’s such an excellent experience (when not chocked full of ankle-biters, but hey, who would’ve thought kids like games too) that we put it on our ‘Top 5 Games for HTC Vive’ list.
Against Gravity maintains that PSVR support will include cross-play with Rift and Vive at launch, and just like the PC VR version, will be entirely free. That includes no ads, in-app purchases, subscriptions, paid rooms, or micro-transactions of any kind.
The studio is currently taking applications for its beta, which they say will be on a closed, PSVR-only server during the testing period. Only players connecting from North and South America can apply, something Against Gravity says has to do with the available PSVR regions Sony is currently allowing them to use prior to launch. The studio says regions could be added in the future however, and will push a separate form if Sony allows it.
There’s no firm date yet for the beta’s starting point, but Against Gravity Community Designer Shawn Whiting says it should kick off in “weeks, not months.”
It was a hard decision, but you’ve decided to go with the HTC Vive as your first ‘serious’ VR headset, a room-scale device that released early 2016 as a result of a decisive collaboration with Valve. Here we take a look at our top 5 games for Vive, and a little more information you might need to get you started.
The Vive is a powerful ally in the fight against marketplace fragmentation, as it draws content from Steam, Viveport—and with the help of ReVive, a software hack that lets you play Oculus exclusives, the Oculus Store. Right out of the box, you’ll have a room-scale setup, something that the Rift requires at least one additional sensor to claim. So while these games may play equally well on the Rift with that third or fourth additional sensor, the list below reflects games designed specifically with the Vive’s room-scale capabilities in mind, meaning no corrective UIs telling you to face sensors, and no need for snap-turning (‘VR comfort mode’).
Before we go any further though, you’ll find that you have access to a number of games on our Top 5 Games for Oculus Rift list, so make sure to check out some of the guaranteed fresh Oculus exclusives, and all the games that support Rift and Vive equally well.
5 – Space Pirate Trainer
With the marketplace jam-packed with nearly identical wave shooters, many offering thin premises for you to go and shoot something, I-Illusions’Space Pirate Trainer (2016) remains an oldie but a goodie as it drops all pretense to offer one of the slickest sci-fi shooting experiences this side of the Debogah System. Sure, the main challenge is summed up with a glorified leaderboard, but you’ll have a hard time putting the motion controllers down as you bend and twist around incoming slow-mo lasers whilst firing back like Han Solo.
Valve’s The Lab (2016) is without a doubt among the best games, free or otherwise, so we just had to add it. Initially built by Valve as an exploration of what types of interactions could be possible in room-scale, motion controller-capable VR, this little collection of mini-games blew away almost everything else on Steam with its mere existence. The competition has since improved, but if you’re looking for a well-done taster of all things VR, The Lab is not only a brilliant place to start, but merits at least as many hours of exploration as many adventure games currently for VR.
Social games are a fun way to talk and interact with people in VR, but if you don’t have something fun to actually do while you’re there, the novelty ultimately wears off and it’s a little less likely you’ll return. Against Gravity’s Rec Room (2016) gets you up out of your seat to play surprisingly well-done multiplayer ‘Quests’ that take on a battle through classic sci-fi and medieval settings, and has a number of group activities like paintball, disc golf, and 3D charades.
Rec Room currently sits at a perfect [10/10] score on Steam, maintaining an ‘Overwhelming Positive’ community rating. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s free, but the score more likely comes from the fact that the social platform is an exceedingly solid experience, with intuitive UI, and a fun-focused attitude that doesn’t feel like a business platform with a few toys.
Also topping our ‘Top 5 Oculus Rift Games’ list is Owlchemy Lab’s Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017), from the same studio that brought you the simulator parody Job Simulator (2016). Following the adventures of a Morty clone, the lowest life form on drunken genius Rick Sanchez’s hierarchy of ‘giving a shit’, you play in the shows universe from within the Rick’s garage where you do your genius grandfather’s bidding while hunting the seemingly endless Easter eggs hidden throughout the game. Justin Roiland worked cloesly with Owlchemy to get the lore and feel of the game just right, so don’t be surprised if a feeling of existential dread sweeps over you. After all, nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody’s going to die.
If you’re not a fan of the cartoon, or want to buy something more ‘family friendly’, the game is essentially Job Simulator with more swearing, poop humor and an overarching story, so you can alternatively pick up its silly, but entirely kid-friendly predecessor Job Simulator in substitution. Personally, we like poop humor.
Find out why we gave Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality a [9/10] in our review.
With Survios’ Raw Data (2016)leaving Early Access October 5th, the game has matured greatly since it was initially released on Steam. Now including multiple heroes, a better developed narrative, more refined controls, and 1v1 ‘duel mode’ to go along with its adrenaline-pumping multiplayer arena, this shooter justifiably lands on our charts with little else to say but “wow.” It’s more than just a robot slicer and shooter though, as it features a pretty cool mash-up of tower defense elements that will leave you teleporting frantically to fend off the waves of baddies as they amble ever closer to you.
Google Earth VR: Hours can be spent touring around virtually throughout the entire planet’s-worth of 3D geography and buildings. It’s almost (but not quite) like really being there.
Tilt Brush: It’s more than MS Paint for VR, it’s a real tool hat digital artists are using to plan and execute their 3D creations. Touch
Bigscreen: Big updates are coming to Bigscreen soon, the social VR space that lets you stream whatever is on your monitor to a group of like-minded nincompoops. Use it as a virtual LAN party or simply as a virtual desktop for your own viewing and browsing pleasure.
DiRT Rally: Driving through the forest with a beer in your hand isn’t ok…in reality. But in DiRT Rally you’ll need all the soothing ethanol you can get as you stomach the twists and turns of an exciting car simulator. It’s ultimately a fun and exciting way to burn some time perfecting your Initial D drifting skills. Ok. Better leave out the alcohol anyway. (steering wheel is suggested. drink responsibly)
Croteam’s The Talos Principle (2014) is making its way to headsets soon in a separate VR version, supporting HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The studio now has a Steam page, including an October 17th launch date. And if you already own the PC version of the game? Croteam has decided to sweeten the deal with the promise of a discount to owners of the flat screen version.
After one Steam user mistakenly purchased the PC version of the game, which is separate from the standalone VR title, Croteam responded with the promise of an “appropriate discount” for anyone who already owned the flat version.
It’s uncertain at this time just how much previous owners will save as they make the jump into the VR version.
We got a chance to go head-first into Talos VR at this year’s Gamescom, and I walked away feeling that, although it’s decidedly a slower, more plodding experience in comparison to the flat screen version, that the game played remarkably well in VR, almost as if the game had finally come home to where it belonged.
Finally, a new indie VR game that isn’t a wave shooter!Created by indie developer Deeperbeige Games, Bending the Light is a puzzle game launching exclusively on Oculus Rift today.
Arrive in an ethereal, dreamy world filled with colorful beams of light and ambient music to set the tone. In Bending the Light, players will apply different methods to bend and redirect multiple light beams to charge energy cells to complete each level. Players are encouraged to observe the laws of this virtual world and understand how to use the light-bending tools at their disposal.
The developer promises various challenges associated with each level, such as restrictions on which shades of light that can touch a mirror to increase difficulty. Experimentation is highly encouraged, as is toying with the magnetic orbs which can bend light beams to their will. Developer Chris Underwood describes the game experience as “comfortable and unpressured, yet engaging and involved.”
Sporting a total of 40 levels with secret collectibles to discover and “super-secret puzzles” to be solved within each level, creating a more complex experience for those who seek it out.
Bending the Light works with either the Oculus Touch controllers or a supporting gamepad allowing versatility to players who may not yet own Touch. Launching today, September 28th, the price is set for $15, though early players can grab the game on launch discount for just $10 (30% discount) once it launches the Oculus Store.
Experience IT in VR... SCARY! :( Cas and Chary are two girls passionate about VR (& beyond) sharing their adventures! Subscribe to join the adventure → https://www.youtube.com/c/caschary?sub_confirmation=1 Experience IT like you’ve never imagined before in IT: FLOAT - A Cinematic VR Experience. Meet Pennywise and enter the sewers of Derry and you’ll float too! ► Experience FLOAT: A Cinematic VR Experience: IT here → http://vr.itthemovie.com/ More HTC Vive Gameplays and Reviews (Best Vive games) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYl0nceTmYU&list=PL86GNGPnZ0siwDr9AoFLro8NF4CnAqSYx More Oculus Rift + Touch Gameplays and Reviews (Best VR games) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrbAsa9tPU&list=PL86GNGPnZ0sg8QLhWQ9WSnXY4Vyzx-ghA ► Like what we do? → https://www.patreon.com/casandchary ► Twitter → https://twitter.com/CasandChary ► Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/casandchary ► Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/casandchary ► Discord → https://discord.gg/YH52W2k A special thanks to our Patreon SUPERHEROES for their amazing support ❤: - Daniel L. Much love, Cas and Chary VR #IT #ITVR #IT2017 #HTCVive
It’s been more than a year and a half since I first stepped into Budget Cuts, an instantly promising VR title from indie developer Neat Corporation with a novel and efficient locomotion system that blends perfectly with the game’s throwing-knife stealth action gameplay. Though the studio has been largely silent since then, they’ve assured me that the game is being actively developed (“like, a lot”) and headed toward an early 2018 launch.
If you’ve never played the free Budget Cuts demo, you have no excuse not to fire up your headset and give it a go. I haven’t heard of a single person who has played the demo and come out of it not genuinely impressed and ready for more.
Sadly, the taste of the demo is the last we’ve seen basically since it launched more than a year ago, with the studio offering no new updates into the state of the game’s development, not even so much as a screenshot.
After hearing recently from a few folks in the VR community who were wondering whether the game was still in the works, I reached out to get a pulse on Neat Corporation and make sure the development team hadn’t got lost in VR somewhere along the way. Much to my relief, the studio says they’ve been head down, hard at work on Budget Cuts, and confirmed the game is on track for an early 2018 release.
“We’re spending minimal time on PR in order to focus on development of the game, seeing as we are such a small team. This understandably leads to people wondering about the status. Just rest assured, we are working on the game, like, a lot,” Neat Corporation developer Marko Permanto told me.
SEE ALSO
Hands-on: 'Budget Cuts' Inventive Locomotion is a Lesson for VR Developers
Let’s all breathe a collective sigh of relief in 3… 2… 1…
The SteamVR Home Beta, the platform’s social VR hub system, recently received a significant upgrade, adding several improved customisation options, including ‘Trophies’ and the ability to decorate your space with screenshots or artwork. A new ‘Boxing Ring’ home environment is also available, with a number of interactive challenges.
Detailed in a post on the SteamVR news feed, the beta (available to all who want to opt in via the SteamVR Properties panel) is now offering many more ways to personalise your space. The beta has also been upgraded with Steam Audio, enabling more realistic spatial audio through HRTFs.
‘Trophies’ can be placed anywhere in your space, a physical way of displaying your game achievements which change appearance based on your accomplishments. They can also act as a neat shortcut to launch quickly into a particular title.
The Things menu now contains ‘Screenshots’ and ‘Artwork’ options which can be used to decorate the walls; any uploaded image will work, but it needs to be set to publicly viewable. Any environment can be made into a home space now that the main SteamVR Panels can also be found in the Things menu and placed anywhere, allowing players to build a space with quick access to friends, games, and more.
Valve is encouraging users to create more environments, with the new ‘Boxing Ring’ serving as a compelling example of a new home space, with mini-games included. New tutorials are available for the creatively-minded, explaining the basics of how to construct a custom environment, with more detailed tutorials to come.
Oculus announced its digital marketplace will now include automated refunds for games purchased on both Oculus Rift and Gear VR platforms—effective immediately and across the entire world.
Oculus says they will refund many Rift content purchases made on their store “for any reason if the request is made within fourteen days of the purchase date and you have engaged with the content for less than two hours.”
Gear VR has a decidedly much shorter three-day window for refunds, giving you thirty minutes of interaction time before refunds are no longer viable through the automated system.
The new automated refund system puts the Rift side of the Oculus Store on par with Steam’s refund policy, which also includes a 14 day, 2 hour trial period.
For Rift and Gear VR, its carte blanche refund policy includes games, apps and many experiences. Not included however is movies, bundles, content purchased as part of a bundle, or content downloaded or purchased inside of apps like DLC and in-app purchases.
Oculus says refunds typically take “no more than five days to review, verify, and process refund requests,” although it could admittedly take longer for the cash to hit your original purchase method. Important note also is that returns have to be made through the original device you bough the content on, meaning if you share your password with a Rift/Gear VR-owning friend, they won’t be able to request a refund on your behalf.
Ruffian Games, a Dundee, Scotland-based game studio, recently announced the future existence of what could possible be the raddest social VR game out there, Rad TV. At least that’s the way it looks from the trailer.
Rad TV features 1-8 multiplayer, letting you and a group of friends play any one of its 25 madcap games, which if the trailer tells us anything, are mini-games in the vein of the Mario Party franchise.
Ruffian Games studio head Gary Liddon told us Rad TV has been developed on the Oculus Rift, but will “ideally [target] every major platform.”
According to Ruffian, the game delivers a fast and fun ‘hot seat’ experience including a challenge mode, 25 sets of unlockable player customizations, and even unlockable feet and hands. Brilliant.
There’s also supposedly a premise to all of this, although considering how fast-paced and fun it looks, it’s hard to say if it really needs one. Here’s what the studio has to say:
You and your friends are sucked into a sentient TV – transporting you into a virtual world of weird and wonderful challenges where your mental and physical skills are tested in 25 hugely varied rapid-fire games.
From hurling old records at Zombies to Quick Draws against Cowboys to flying Drones through checkpoints to speed eating burgers – the situation changes as quickly as surfing TV Channels.
There’s no specific launch date yet, although the studio says on their website they’ll be launching “maybe 2017-ish.”
There wasn’t any mention of Samsung getting into the Windows ‘Mixed Reality’ program when it was announced last year, which saw OEMs like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo tapped to create VR headsets around the same reference design. A recent leak however, showing a rendering of a Samsung-built VR headset emblazoned with a “Windows Mixed Reality” symbol, suggests otherwise.
Twitter user WalkingCat, known for diving into patents and leaking information on tech companies, tweeted out the picture today with no other information attached.
If the images can be believed, Samsung will be the first to offer Rift-style integrated audio, a departure from other ‘Mixed Reality’ headset manufacturers as all of them currently offer models (launching holiday season) with AUX-in so you can bring your own audio. Integrated audio is supposedly from AKG, the Austrian microphone and headphone manufacturer owned by Samsung, lending credence to the images.
With as many Windows ‘Mixed Reality’ headsets there are available, the revelation that Samsung is making one too isn’t that far-fetched either. As a display manufacturer and producer of Gear VR, the company has been in the VR game for long enough for something like this to make sense.
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Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV fishing game for PSVR just got a new English language teaser trailer. The Japanese version was teased on stage at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) this past week.
The Final Fantasy VR experience lets you head out on a fishing expedition with Noctis and his crew across a number of picturesque locations in Eos. Comprised of a ‘free fishing’ mode and a story mode that features a showdown with a fishy menace that lurks in the deep.
Releasing 21st November 2017 as a stand-alone downloadable game separate from Final Fantasy XV, the fishing game first took form as a first-person shooter add-on toFFXV. The shooter has since been scrapped and replaced with the fishing simulator, likely due to its poor reception at E3.
ARK Park, the VR multiplayer adventure game based on the world of ARK:Survival Evolved (2017), is officially releasing on PlayStationVR this December.
ARK Park bills itself as an experience promising to be a veritable Jurassic Park (1993), filled with all makes and model of dinosaurs from the ARK universe. We got a hands-on at this year’s GDC with the demo built for HTC Vive, and while you can’t really call it educational—there are a number of fictional creatures mashed in alongside your lumbering Apatosaurus—it certainly delivers sheer wow factor with its well-rendered dinos.
ARK Park focuses on exploration-based ‘Excursions’ through a number of biomes where you collect fragments of dino-DNA. Collecting these fragments can be used to unlock new crafting blueprints and new maps. Production studio Snail Games says collecting them all “will require a combination of puzzle-solving logic, quick reflexes, a trained eye, and careful resource management to bag the genes from the rarest and most prized creatures.” You can also collect and incubate eggs to raise your own virtual dinosaurs pets that you can ride once they reach adulthood.
SEE ALSO
New 'Ark Park' Trailer Reveals a Lot Less "Education" and a Lot More Dino Destruction
The game will be launching with ten freely-explorable maps, including both solo play or online multiplayer.
Although we didn’t get a chance to experience the game’s battle mode during our demo, Snail Games says its offering a mode where you defend your base from rampaging dinosaurs with weapons that you forge yourself during your exploration of the park. Strategically choose your weapons from a selection of melee, ranged, and specialized combat items to conquer each level.
ARK Park will support both controller and PlayStation Move, and supports English, Chinese, and Japanese voiceover and subtitles.
An HTC Vive version of the game is also currently listed on Steam with an unspecified 2017 launch date.
Do you and your friend have what it takes to escape the room in VR? Cas and Chary are two girls passionate about VR (& beyond) sharing their adventures! Subscribe to join the adventure → https://www.youtube.com/c/caschary?sub_confirmation=1 Enter the VR Giveaway here → https://gleam.io/db4Au/eye-in-the-sky-vr-key-giveaway-htc-vive-oculus-touch Eye in the Sky is an escape room game in VR that you can play in asymmetric co-op. Where a VR player and a computer player solve puzzles from different perspectives. You and a gamer friend are two very different robots having to work together by sharing information from each perspective to escape different levels. You cannot play this game in single player. This game is playable on the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The Steam page only shows Vive, but we tested it on our Oculus and it works fine on the Touch controllers as well! ► Get Eye in the Sky on Steam here → http://store.steampowered.com/app/566700/Eye_in_the_Sky/ [Steam Description] Eye in the Sky is an asymmetrical local co-op escape room where a VR player and a Computer player solve puzzles from different perspectives. The goal is to share information from each perspective and overcome the obstacles on a journey to the center of a post-apocalyptic robot planet. More HTC Vive Gameplays and Reviews (Best Vive games) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYl0nceTmYU&list=PL86GNGPnZ0siwDr9AoFLro8NF4CnAqSYx More Oculus Rift + Touch Gameplays and Reviews (Best VR games) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrbAsa9tPU&list=PL86GNGPnZ0sg8QLhWQ9WSnXY4Vyzx-ghA ► Like what we do? → https://www.patreon.com/casandchary ► Twitter → https://twitter.com/CasandChary ► Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/casandchary ► Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/casandchary ► Discord → https://discord.gg/YH52W2k A special thanks to our Patreon SUPERHEROES for their amazing support ❤: - Daniel L. Much love, Cas and Chary VR #EyeInTheSky #EscapeRoomVR #Oculus #HTCVive
So, you’ve decided to buy an Oculus Rift and Touch and now you want to know what to download first (besides the free stuff). In our breakdown of the top 5 games for Oculus Touch and top 5 for the Xbox One gamepad, we take a look at some of the best games currently on the Oculus Store.
Update (09/24/17): The $400 Rift + Touch bundle is now long gone, with the bundle returning to $500 as the ‘permanent’ price. We’ve updated our list of games too to reflect the ongoing changes to the Oculus Store. Check back for our ‘Top 5 Games for HTC Vive’.
Update 07/10/17): Included info about price drop on Oculus Rift + Touch bundle.
Before we start, don’t forget that your Rift also works with compatible games purchased through Steam. Thanks to Valve’s open SteamVR platform and OpenVR APIs, Steam supports HTC Vive, OSVR, and Oculus Rift equally, so you can shop around for even more titles that aren’t published on the Oculus Store provided the developer enabled support. Some Vive/Rift titles however require a third sensor, so we’ve limited our list to include games that work with the stock 1 and 2 sensor setup. And now we present Road to VR‘s top five games for Oculus Touch, and gamepad.
One last thing. HTC Vive owners can play all of these too with the help of ReVive, a software hack that hooks the Vive into Oculus Store exclusives. Alright, on with the show.
Top 5 Oculus Touch Games
5 – Fantastic Contraption
VR isn’t all about shooting and exploding heads (although it’s seriously a lot of fun), because in Northway Games’ VR version of their hit puzzle game Fantastic Contraption (2016)you build crazy machines to reach a singular task: get the ball into the goal. Of course, that’s easier said than done as you build wild flailing devices that amble their way to increasingly difficult terrain.
We haven’t officially reviewed Fantastic Contraption, but it’s sitting somewhere between a 4 and 5 star rating on the Oculus Store, an easy rating to agree with when it comes to the sheer amount of fun it is to build the weird and wild devices the world has to offer.
4 – Robo Recall
People used to think that fast-paced, high-action games would be too disorienting for new virtual reality users, but in Epic Games’ Robo Recall (2017), you can teleport around at full speed as you blast away at the game’s evil (and hilarious) robot army. If being able to tear your enemies literally limb from limb and beat a robot over the head with their own dismembered arm isn’t astounding enough, the level of detail and polish put into this game will make you reassess what’s possible in VR.
Find out why we gave Robo Recall [8.5/10] in our review.
3 – Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
Created by Owlchemy Labs, the studio that brought you the simulator parody Job Simulator (2016),Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017)follows the adventures of a Morty clone, the lowest life form on drunken genius Rick Sanchez’s hierarchy of ‘giving a shit’. Playing in the Rick and Morty universe, you get to explore Rick’s garage lab, do Rick’s bidding, and hunt the seemingly endless Easter eggs hidden throughout the game. There are plenty of laughs to be had, thanks to the comedy stylings and infectious voices of show creator Justin Roiland.
If you’re not a fan of the cartoon, or want to buy something more ‘family friendly’, the game is essentially Job Simulator with more swearing, poop humor and an overarching story, so you can alternatively pick up its silly, but entirely kid-friendly predecessor Job Simulator in substitution. Personally, we like poop humor.
Find out why we gave Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality a [9/10] in our review.
2 – Superhot VR
If you haven’t played the PC or console version of Superhot (2016) before, get ready for a new take on the FPS genre with its strategy-based shooting missions. Designed from the ground-up for VR headsets, Superhot VR (2016) is an entirely new game in the same vein as its flatscreen counterpart. The iconic red baddies (and their bullets) move only when you do, so you can line up your shot, punch a guy in the face, dodge a bullet, and toss a bottle across the room, shattering their red-glass heads in what feels intensely immersive and satisfying—because you’re doing it all with your own two hands. That and you’ll feel like a badass no matter whose basement you live in.
Sharing the top spot are two halves of the same zero-G coin: first-person action-adventure game Lone Echo (2017) and it’s multiplayer counterpart Echo Arena (2017). As impressive feats of engineering in their own rights, both games feature an undoubtedly comfortable zero-G locomotion system that lets you fly through the air without the slightest hint of motion sickness.
Lone Echo is the sort of cinematic sci-fi narrative that engages the player with its excellent voice acting, impressive visuals, and a deep and memorable story. Combined with its innovative locomotion system, it’s truly a gem of a game worth playing—if only to say you’ve been to the edge of the Universe and back. Check out why we gave Lone Echoa solid [9/10] in our review.
Where Lone Echo isplodding and tactful in its storytelling, Echo Arena amps up the speed, throwing you in an online team sport that’s a fun mix of soccer and ultimate Frisbee… in space. The best part? It’s free to own permanently if you download between now and October 20th, as afterwards it’ll be priced at $20. It may not reach the top spot of our list on its own because of the lack of ongoing development currently, but that may change when customers are putting money into the high-flying sport.
When you think of first-person shooters in VR, you tend to think of games that use motion controllers like Touch or the Vive controller. High Voltage’s Damaged Core (2016)is however an entirely adept take on the FPS genre that does so without Touch controls, instead using the gamepad to teleport.
Set in the dingy near-future of a robot uprising, “the Core” is an artificial intelligence recently gone rogue, hellbent on destroying the Earth. As an AI program fighting on behalf of the humans, you must hack your way closer to the Core by jumping from robot to robot as a virus. While it won’t win any innovation awards for its gaze-based shooting scheme, Damaged Core has a half-dozen hours of gameplay that will keep you tactically exploding robots to your heart’s content.
Check out our review to find out why we gave Damaged Core [8/10].
4 – EVE: Valkyrie
CCP Games’ arcade-style dogfighter Eve Valkyrie (2016) isn’t bogged down by the complexity of space sims like Elite Dangerous (2014), and focuses more on dropping you directly into the twisty-turny space battles you popularized in science fiction series like Star Wars. CCP is constantly updating ever since its official release on HTC Vive in 2016, and has really fleshed out in the months thereafter with the addition of Carrier Assault, Wormholes, and a recent planet-based updated called Ground Rush.
Although technically supporting Touch, gamepad is a more natural fit for Valkyrie, and proves to be one of the easiest games to jump into for quick, but intense dogfighting sessions.
Like many online VR games, Targem’s Blaze Rush (2014) has suffered some due to a declining playerbase, but with capable AI and a long set of racing missions, this third-person racer lets you control a Hot Wheels-sized car, firing rockets and leaving traps for the unfortunate few behind you. As one of the best-looking games out there (and for the very reasonable price of $9.99), Blaze Rush is an easy buy for gamepad-bound Rifters, and proves to be one you’ll come back to again and again.
Don’t say we didn’t tell you *not* to button-mash before stepping into Chronos (2016), a third-person adventure by Gunfire Games. Slashing at enemies with the long-trained penchant for beat-em-ups will get you exactly nowhere in this Zelda-inspired, Dark Souls-ish-level of difficulty game where dying in the game physically ages your character. Starting out with either an axe or a sword, you leap through a multi-dimensional transport crystal to hunt down a dragon that has ruined your world. As an interesting mix of high-fantasy and a retro post-apocalyptic world, Chronos gives you plenty to gawk at, and even more to worry about as you hack and slash your way through dimensions.
Sitting at 4.5/5 stars on the Oculus Store, it’s a score we can easily get behind.
1 – Edge of Nowhere
Edge of Nowhere (2016) is a third-person VR survival horror game created by Insomniac Games that strands you in the icy wasteland of Antarctica, leaving you with only a pick-axe, a shotgun, and some rocks to defend yourself against a bloodthirsty ancient species that lurk inside the snowy caverns. The lack of supplies makes for tense gameplay and forces the players to be creative and conserve resources. This creates many tense moments when you’re forced to decide whether you should use that last shotgun shell and blow the head off the horrible beast lurking nearby or just try the more risky route and sneak past.
Find out why we gave Edge of Nowhere one of our highest ratings at [9.5/10] in our review.
Honorable Mentions
Wilson’s Heart: Touch – A gritty first-person thriller that jaunts through gads of sci-fi tropes ripped directly from the silver screen, Wilson’s Heart is one of the most beautiful cinematically, but ultimately falls into some overly-familiar territory story-wise that can feel half-hearted and a little stale. Still a good buy, just not top 5.
Google Earth VR: Touch – Hours can be spent touring around virtually throughout the entire planet’s-worth of 3D geography and buildings. It’s almost (but not quite) like really being there. Free
Tilt Brush: Touch – It’s more than MS Paint for VR, it’s a real tool hat digital artists are using to plan and execute their 3D creations. Touch
The Mage’s Tale: Touch – Crafting elemental magic, exploring foreboding dungeons, battling giants and stealing their treasure. There’s all of this and more in The Mage’s Tale. Althoughstory-wise the game comes too close to campy and played out for its own good, it’s still a solid investment for the enterprising young wizard among you.
Rec Room: Touch/gamepad/keyboard: Social games are a fun way to talk and interact with people in VR, but if you don’t have something fun to actually do while you’re there, the novelty ultimately wears off. Rec Room is a great way to experience simple games like paintball or dodge ball, not to mention their ‘Quests’ which let you battle through a cartoony medieval redressing of a high school. Free
Big Screen: Touch/gamepad – Big updates are coming to Big Screen soon, the social VR space that lets you stream whatever is on your monitor to a group of like-minded nincompoops. Use it as a virtual LAN party or simply as a virtual desktop for your own viewing and browsing pleasure. Free
DiRT Rally: Gamepad/steering wheel – Driving through the forest with a beer in your hand isn’t ok…in reality. But in DiRT Rally you’ll need all the soothing ethanol you can get as you stomach the twists and turns of an exciting car simulator, that while rated ‘intense’ on the Oculus Store, is ultimately a fun and exciting way to burn some time perfecting your Initial D drifting skills. Ok. Better leave out the alcohol anyway.
If the list doesn’t have the game you’ve been eyeing for months, definitely check out our reviews for some more gaming greats on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PSVR.
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