The newest update to military sim VR shooter Onward brings the game up to version 1.7 (still in Early Access) to add custom map support, revamped A.I., and a slew of other updates amidst a 50% discount and concurrent free-play weekend on Steam.
Downpour Interactive announced the update yesterday on Steam and Reddit. Custom map support is a big deal because it’s the biggest bottleneck of new content for shooters like this and was, until now, the main feature that Pavlov (Onward’s main, direct competitor) had that Onward was missing. There is also a Google Doc full of detailed custom content guidelines to follow.
Watch The Onward Update 1.7 Trailer:
Notably, Downpour Interactive even have custom map support on the Oculus Home version of the game, not just Steam. On Reddit the Downpour Interactive Community Manager explained, “This was the hardest part! Since we can’t use Steam workshop, we had to implement a different kind of workshop that would work for both Oculus Home and Steam users. To access the workshop and download user made maps, simply navigate to the workshop tab in the ingame menu. there you can download maps and rate them!”
Perhaps this means custom map support and crossplay is possible on the forthcoming Oculus Quest version too. The developers have even crafted their own custom maps and released key community maps that were created before the update went life that are already available as examples.
The other big piece of this new update is the revamped A.I. which is long overdue. When you play solo or in co-op you can face off against enemies on selected maps, but previously they were quite basic and predictable. This update aims to change that.
Now, enemies have different classes, operate in squads, and are no longer on set patrol paths with the same spawn points. According to the update, “AI will move to cover to react to players, initiate an attack, or to protect themselves from grenades. Rifle squads will patrol between choke points and intersections. Snipers will move to overwatch positions and take cover to wait for players. Assault, CQB, and Light squads will hunt players down.”
Additionally, A.I. sight is now “based on how much of the player can be seen” as well as how far away and how loud they’re being. They can also now use any weapon or attachment that players can.
The full list of updates has tons more included making this one of the biggest and most-exciting updates yet to the over-three year old military sim VR shooter.
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A new Humble Software Bundle is now available offering a bunch of courses and projects that aim to teach you how to develop for VR and AR using Unity.
As with all Humble Bundles, there are a variety of different tiers that unlock more content the more you pay, with the more enticing content usually locked behind the higher tiers. The VR and AR Game Dev bundle includes a bunch of projects that cover developing for VR and AR using Unity, along with a few games to play as examples. The lower tiers, starting at just $1, have projects that deal with basic beginner concepts, whereas the higher tiers, topping out at $20, feature more advanced stuff.
All of the projects are designed by Zenva Academy, a group known for development courses and projects on topics like coding, web development, machine learning and heaps more. Each of the VR and AR Zenva projects included in the bundle usually sell for around $50 – considering the top tier unlocks 24 courses and some additional games for only $20, the savings over the regular pricing appears to be pretty substantial.
You can view all the tiers available, along with the projects and games included, on the bundle page. The top tier even unlocks projects involving some more specific aspects of development, such as using Oculus avatars, making a third-person game and using 360-degree videos and photos.
I know we have quite a few readers on the site who are also developers, so let us know what you think of the bundle in the comments. Do you see the courses being useful, either to you personally or to other aspiring developers? Let us know down below!
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Steel Wool Studios released Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted earlier this year for PC VR headsets and PlayStation VR. VRFocus liked the videogame that much it featured in each headset category for our ‘Best VR Horror Game‘ list. All apart from one, Oculus Quest. Steel Wool Studios has plans to change that, revealing today that work is underway on a port.
The studio made the announcement via Oculus Blog, merely stating the title would be coming to the popular standalone headset. Currently, there’s no release date. “We can’t announce the launch date as there is lots of work to do,” said co-founder Andrew Dayton, “but we can’t wait to share the game with the Oculus Quest community!”
There are no further details about the port at present, but hopefully, the studio will be able to fit the entire Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted experience onto Oculus Quest so owners don’t miss out on all those scares. Theoretically, when Oculus Link arrives in November users could play the Oculus Rift version.
Steel Wool Studios’ version combines a lot of the classic mini-games from the older PC versions with several new ones just for VR. You’ll still need to deal with all those killer animatronics including; Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Springtrap, The Mangle, Funtime Foxy, and Circus Baby.
VRFocus gave Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted a four-star review, saying: Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted has great visual impact, and would definitely make for some funny YouTube videos with people trying it for the first time.” Adding that the title: “is definitely one for series fans or those that enjoy a good scare.”
Also teased is the possibility of further VR titles based on the Five Nights at Freddy’s universe. “I think there are so many possibilities to explore in Scott’s universe, and we love the opportunity to keep being part of it,” comments Dayton.
Arriving in November is Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery a smartphone version built by Illumix. It’ll be Early Access, to begin with, followed by a full launch in December. VRFocus will continue its coverage of the horror franchise, reporting back with the latest updates.
Warning: this list of scariest VR games is not to be taken lightly.
For years, horror fans have enjoyed jumping and screaming at movies and games. VR brings all of that to another level, though. Once you’ve got a headset on, there’s no helping you; you really believe that the horrors in front of you are real, even for a split second.
And thus, we present out list of the scariest VR games. No cushions to hide behind, no shoulders to cry on; you have to be really brave to play these games. Entries are listed alphabetically.
Affected: The Manor isn’t designed to be the kind of horror game you can get lost in for days or spend hours upon hours exploring, but is rather a tightly crafted thrill-ride that delivers a series of jump scares within a deeply atmospheric old house. It works well and is very good at what it sets out to do. To this day it’s still one of my go-to games to demo to new VR users.
This is the VR horror game that just keeps on going. It’s been around in some form or another since the Oculus Rift DK1 days and has since made its way to Steam for PC VR, Oculus Home for Rift and Go, as well as PSVR. A Quest version is coming as well.
This might seem like an odd entry for this list, but even though it isn’t official it’s just too good not to mention. Alien: Isolation is a horror classic and is easily the best game based on the iconic sci-fi horror film franchise. In this game you must evade xenomorphs by any means necessary and the sheer sense of terror it produces as you’re hiding, looking around corners, and trying not to get mauled is fantastic.
The installation process is pretty easy too, so that’s always nice.
One of VR’s oldest games is also one of its scariest. Dreadhalls has you navigating perplexing mazes in search of escape. The only problem is you’re being stalked by horrifying monsters intent on making you poop yourself.
Dreadhalls has endured all these years thanks to its simple premise which lets anyone jump in but only the bravest survive. Even five years only from its original launch on Gear VR it’s worth seeking out. Fortunately, it’s not hard to find it.
The original Exorcist is one of the most influential horror movies of all time. Sadly, many of the sequels and spin-offs its spawned were decidedly less harrowing, failing to understand what made the original so gripping.
That’s not true of The Exorcist: Legion VR. This five-part series, developed by Chair in a Room studio Wolf & Wood, is a deeply disturbing psychological drama.
The Face Your Fears series works so well because it trims the fat. There are no complex game mechanics to learn here, no instant-death stealth sections. Instead you get a selection of scenarios that cut right to the chase, making it the perfect spooky introduction for VR thrill-seekers.
Many of these scenes play on common fears. There’s bound to be something to shock even the most stone-hearted of horror fans here, including a collaboration with Strange Things and more.
No other series is quite so malicious as Five Nights at Freddy’s when it comes to outright jump scares. Frankly, we were dreading the inevitably day on which the series entered VR.
Mixing content both old and new, this is one of the most intense and enjoyable fast-fire VR experiences you can have. And with new DLC now out, there’s plenty of screaming to go around. This is a no brainer if you’re looking for the scariest VR games.
Organ Quarter is a classically-designed VR horror game about a twisted disease infecting a city with grotesque and horrifying imagery, becoming a wasteland of body-horror. The game is designed in the same vein as classic survival horror games from the 90s (think old-school Resident Evil and Silent Hill) with methodical exploration, challenging puzzles, and careful inventory management.
It was funded on Kickstarter back in 2017 and remains one of the best hand-tracked room-scale horror experiences out there.
Paranormal Activity is known for cheap popcorn scares that leave your heart racing. The VR experience is no different; it’s an unashamedly jumpy bit of VR fluff and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sometimes we wish Resident Evil 7 wasn’t a horror game. Because, scares and screams aside, it’s genuinely one of the most polished, high-budget experiences you can have in VR.
Nearly three years on from launch, we’ve still got our fingers crossed that Capcom brings the VR support to other headsets.
How do you translate the narrative-driven terror of Until Dawn to VR? Why, you turn it into a scream-happy roller coaster ride, of course. Thus, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood was born.
This silly spin-off has remained one of PSVR’s most enduring experiences. It’s full of the usual cliches, but VR gives you a fresh pair of eyes to enjoy them with all over again.
Senior Editor David Jagneaux contributed to this article.
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Getting in just in time for Halloween, enjoyable VR horror game, Syren, is finally getting its long-awaited EU PSVR release today.
Both episodes of Hammerhead’s brief tale of terror arrive in one package. The game arrives with some improvements made following its launch in the US region last year.
Syren’s first episode released on PC VR headsets a few years back. In the game, players find themselves in an underwater facility where horrific monsters have been set loose. You need to sneak through rooms without getting caught. The second episode followed on shortly after and was much more action-oriented.
Syren was definitely on the scrappy side when it first released, but there was much to admire about it. It treated VR as an open playing field, giving players the choice between hiding or fighting back, no matter how futile that might be. Visually, it left a little to be desired, but for the time it was an admirable effort.
“Though brief, Syren proves itself to be a worthwhile taster of what VR can really do for horror games,” we said in our review. “While never fully capitalizing on that potential, there are some revelatory moments for the genre here, making you painfully aware of your own self as you hide behind crates and freeze on the spot. That alone helps overlook the short length and handful of bugs and blemishes, and makes Hammerhead VR itself a developer well worth watching.”
Will you be picking up Syren now that it’s out in the EU? Let us know in the comments below!
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ILMxLab’s third episode of Vader Immortal comes to Quest and Rift on Nov. 21.
The release, coming not long after the release of episode II, completes the announced trilogy with a Darth Vader duel.
The first episode launched with Oculus Quest in May while the second episode arrived during the Oculus Connect 6 developer’s conference in September. This third one is described by Disney as a “slightly longer episode” after the second one took some criticism for its length.
According to a Star Wars blog post: “In addition to the ancient lightsaber and Force powers that we’ve acquired in the previous episodes, you are able to grab and use blasters dropped by stormtroopers, fight air-to-air on skiffs, and start a battle in Vader’s castle between The Marching Horde droid army and the Imperial battalion stationed on Mustafar.”
Nov. 21 is a week before Black Friday — one of the biggest shopping days of the year — and the perfect time to release if Facebook wants to use the trilogy to encourage buyers to pick up an Oculus Quest this holiday season. The standalone VR system is priced at $400 typically and Facebook is also planning a November release of an update that should allow a VR PC to treat a Quest like a Rift — bringing over some PC-powered games to the VR headset over a wired connection.
We expect Facebook to be promoting Quest over the next few months ahead of the addition of hand tracking and what might be a Facebook voice assistant service for VR and the launch if its Horizon social networking effort.
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For today’s livestream it’s a Halloween special event! We’re going to play a short list of great VR horror games and try not to pass out. If you’re curious about how we livestream the way we do then look no further than this handy guide for general tips and this guide specific to our Oculus Quest setup.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better genre-format combination than horror and VR. Horror video games are designed to make you feel scared, trapped, and often completely immersed in a terrifying location and experiencing that from inside of a VR headset takes all of your senses to the next level. Some of the best horror games ever work great in VR and some of the best VR games are horror games. They just go together so well.
So to celebrate Halloween this year we’ve decided to do a special stream focused specifically on all of the best VR horror games you can play on the Oculus Rift S. Specifically we plan on streaming: Five Nights at Freddy’s VR, KOBOLD: Chapter 1, Contagion VR: Outbreak, Dreadhalls, and Organ Quarter.
The stream is planned to start today, October 31st, at around 12:00PM PT today and we’ll aim to last for about two hours. We’ll be hitting just YouTube. You can see the full stream embedded via YouTube right here down below once it’s up, or find it here on this page:
Embedded livestream will be added here
You can see lots of our past archived streams over in our YouTube playlist and various other gameplay highlights. There’s lots of good stuff there so make sure and subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up-to-date on gameplay videos, video reviews, interviews, and more original content!
And please let us know which games or discussions you want us to livestream next! We have lots of VR games in the queue that we would love to show off more completely.
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Vader Immortal: Episode II only arrived during September but in November the saga will end. Today, ILMxLAB and Oculus have announced that Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode III will be released by the end of next month for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift/Rift S.
In the third and final episode, you’ll be able to put the lessons learned in the previous two chapters to good use leading an assault into Vader’s castle on Mustafar. As you ascend to the top of the fortress, you’ll come face to face with stormtroopers, a vengeful Imperial officer, and finally Lord Vader himself for an epic lightsaber battle.
There will still be new skills to learn in Vader Immortal: Episode III such as how to use an Imperial Blaster and some deadly thermal detonators.
“From the very beginning, Vader Immortal was conceived of as one overarching story where you were the lead character,” said director Ben Snow in a statement. “From learning the Force from Darth Vader, to uncovering the ancient secrets of Mustafar, everything has been leading up to the culmination of the series. We can’t wait for fans to discover firsthand how their story ends.”
“Vader Immortal lets us do things we, as fans, have always dreamed of,” said producer Alyssa Finley. “Not only can you fight with a lightsaber, now you can use the Force to grab a blaster and takedown stormtroopers, all before confronting Darth Vader face to face. There’s nothing like being at the centre of a proper Star Wars adventure.”
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series is very much part of the Star Wars universe canon, connected to the events of Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The series has been written by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Blade) and features Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids, Big Mouth) as your droid sidekick, ZO-E3, while Scott Lawrence plays Darth Vader.
Supporting both Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift/Rift S, Vader Immortal: Episode III is scheduled to arrive on 21st November 2019 via Oculus Store. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.
Hammerhead VR’s underrated sci-fi horror Syren wasn’t a massive success when it arrived in 2017 for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, offering a stealthy experience under the sea. A few months later Episode 2 arrived mixing up the gameplay with action elements. A PlayStation VR version arrived for North American gamers in November 2018 but it never appeared in the European PlayStation Store. Today that has been rectified, with both episodes now available in one bundle.
Syren was an original IP from the virtual reality (VR) specialist and its first proper videogame, having previously released experiences like ABE. The story takes place beneath the waves on the ocean floor, involving a scientist obsessed with eugenics who builds an underwater research facility named Darwin Station. Studying an ancient lost city, he conducts horrific experiments in an attempt to recreate the lost species of ‘Syrens’. Naturally, he succeeds and what he creates aren’t friendly, so you’re sent down to find out what’s going on.
So the first instalment is pure stealth, as you’re not some badass marines armed to the teeth. While there are moments where you might find a weapon, these are very rare, hiding and sneaking are really your only option. Make a noise or get spotted by a Syren and it’s usually instant death, which may not be to everyone’s liking. Check out VRFocus’ full review of Syren to learn more.
Then there’s Syren: Episode 2 which offers a flip in the gameplay experience. Without trying to ruin too much, in episode 2 you return to the facility because the CIA is less interested in the experiments but more the mysterious ‘Anomaly’ that sits at the heart of the ruins, and this time you’re a hardcore soldier and you have guns lots of guns. Heading back through the lab, there are plenty more Syrens to encounter. There’s no need to run and hide this time, killing them and collecting stuff means you can head to a very well-stocked armoury to upgrade your weapons.
Syren is available today via the EU PlayStation Store supporting PlayStation VR for £11.99 GBP. It’s only compatible with PlayStation Move controllers. For any further updates on Syren from Hammerhead VR, keep reading VRFocus.
There are a couple of exciting virtual reality (VR) titles arriving next week, one of which is Pistol Whip by Cloudhead Games. Due for launch across multiple home head-mounted displays (HMD) on 7th November, the studio has now confirmed that even if you don’t own a headset you’ll still have a chance to play, as Pistol Whip is coming to location-based entertainment (LBE) locations thanks to SpringboardVR.
To help facilitate the arcade launch on 7th November Cloudhead Games is offering free licensing for the first day, with Pistol Whip priced at seven cents per minute thereafter.
The musical first-person shooter (FPS) was designed from day one with both home and LBE gaming in mind, combining light gun titles like Time Crisis and Virtua Cop with the rhythmic flow of videogames like Beat Saber. “We have been analyzing the market for years and have talked to many LBE operators to learn what works and what doesn’t, said Jo Dunlop, Communications & Business Development for Cloudhead Games. “We wanted to develop a game that will work flawlessly in LBE while having extra layers of depth for the home audience.”
First revealed during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2019 in June, Pistol Whip takes place in a highly stylised world where players can shoot and melee enemies to a thumping soundtrack, whilst dodging bullets at the same time. Featuring EDM artists from Kannibalen Records, including Apashe, HVDES, and Black Tiger Sex Machine, players will have access to weapon mods along the way, including dual-wielding. Future updates will include additional songs.
Coming to Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index next Thursday, Pistol Whip adds to the long line of VR rhythm-action titles which are out or coming to headsets. Other titles include Harmonix’s Audica, BoxVR, Synth Riders, Audio Shield and upcoming experience Viro Move.
Making LBE centric attractions is a growing trend amongst VR developers. Most recently Maze Theory revealed a stripped back version of Doctor Who: The Edge of Time would be rolled out, and Japanese team Yomuneco Inc. planned on bringing Swords of Gargantua to locations worldwide. For further updates on Pistol Whip, keep reading VRFocus.
Mantis Games’ story-driven adventure Journey for Elysium has been an intriguing prospect ever since VRFocus first encountered the title at Gamescom 2018. With a striking design aesthetic, a narrative based on Greek mythology and a mixture of gameplay mechanics from rowing to puzzle-solving, there was also an air of mystery about the experience. With that mystery now gone, what’s left is a short, puzzle by numbers videogame.
Journey for Elysium is more of an interactive story akin to Vader Immortal rather than a full-blown virtual reality (VR) experience. The gameplay gently takes you by the hand and leads you through the Underworld, each puzzle fliting between simple to grandiose set pieces. You’ll never get lost and most likely never stuck for any major amount of time.
The design work Mantis Games has put into some of the locations is incredible to look at. Beautiful stone carvings that tower overhead create environments that certainly look fitting for a Greek god, made all the more striking by the black and white palette. It’s not often you see a black and white design in VR – Stifled’s line art comes to mind, or Blind – which is a shame because the look can add so much emotion to the story being told.
Using a B&W palette also forms part of the gameplay experience, with important objects highlighted in gold. The juxtaposition of these two elements looks visually appealing but it does make interactions a little too easy. Quite a few of the puzzle locations are fairly compact, so finding a gold coin, key or another other object takes little to no time at all. It would have been nice to see this dynamic further explored as find and collect challenges where objects are glaring you in the face just don’t cut it.
The puzzles which are the most fun are the ones that get you really involved. Having to climb what look like ancient ruins and statues, lighting torches with flaming arrows or carefully navigating a floor without being skewered, these were some of the best bits. Especially when all of these were combined for the final sequence at the end. The difficulty arc is minimal in Journey for Elysium, even in the later stages, not once did any frustration set in which is unusual for a puzzle-oriented videogame.
Another nice aspect is the rowing system. When VRFocus has previously spoken with Mantis Games the team said one of the main reasons for its addition was to make Journey for Elysium comfortable for all. The rowing works very well, you can even push off walls or rocks should you get too close. The feature is really only there to transition between areas, with a few story elements narrated along the way. Most of the puzzles take place on land, with both smooth locomotion and teleportation options available so most players should find one that works for them.
Because most of the experience is fairly easy and strongly centred around the story Journey for Elysium is very short. Having managed to complete the entire title in just over one hour and thirty minutes, this is why it felt more like an interactive narrative, a decent film you can be part of. Which can make all the difference when choosing what type of experience you’re after. There’s also the matter of the replay factor, with no additional features helping draw you back in.
Journey for Elysium has some wonderful elements and high production values, such as the visual design, movement mechanics and voice acting. But like its protagonist, the title is stuck between two worlds, not quite offering enough gameplay challenge while the story fails to emotionally connect. At the right price Journey for Elysium is worth a quick blast through.
It’s Halloween, time for costumes covered in too much fake blood and sweets that look like body parts. If you’re after a good scare then check out VRFocus’ ‘Best VR Horror Games to Scare Yourself This Halloween‘ list, packed full of ways to frighten yourself and others today. Or if you’re not interested in buying a new virtual reality (VR) title, then how about entering VRFocus’ Friday competition to win Sinister Halloween on Steam.
Created by Celeritas Games, Sinister Halloween is a single-player adventure dedicated to this spooky night. The story takes place in Mountain Peaks, a town which loves to get into the spirit of the occasion, jack-o-lanterns everywhere and every house given a frightening makeover. You play a local resident out doing a bit of trick or treating, unaware that somewhere in the town dark magic was being used, summoning all sorts of horrors in the process.
Released onto Steam Early Access this week, you need to fight all sorts of abominations to stay alive search locations for useful items, weapons to defend yourself and clues to what’s actually happened. The EA version features five levels currently; Forest, Barn, Abandoned House, Cemetery and Exterior Manor, offering around 3 to 4 hours of gameplay.
During Early Access development the studio plans on adding more areas; Haunted Manor Interior Finale, Haunted Luxury Mansion, Slaughter House and Complete Town Map. New enemies such as Reaper, Mummy, Haunted Trees and Ghostly Spirit will be included, plus an axe, Holy Cross to fend off enemies and a shotgun. Alongside the story campaign, a Horde Survival mode is also coming.
Normally VRFocus’ competitions span a week. As this is a Halloween special, the Sinister Halloween giveaway is one day only. VRFocus is giving away 10 codes for Sinister Halloween on Steam. There are multiple ways to enter the giveaway with the standard prize draw entry rules applying: Follow us (or already be following us) on Twitter or alternatively, visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel to get an entry for each. Only one code is available per person, each drawn randomly. The competition will be open until 12pm 1st November.
Sinister Halloween Steam Code Competition
If you’re a fan of energetic virtual reality (VR) titles and want something different to market leader Beat Saber what do you go for? There are a number of options for PC VR users but what about Oculus Quest? Well that’s were Synth Riders comes in, a retro-inspired experience which takes you back to the neon rich 80s, offering synth sounds and some glowing pompoms to boot.
Feeling almost like Dance Central wrapped in spandex, Synth Riders turns your hands into two big balls, one bright blue the other a rather vivid purple. As with any other rhythm action videogame, it’s all about matching said ball with those hurtling towards you in various patterns.
The difficulty for any VR title entering this genre is how to be different and actually stand out. Sure VR is niche so there aren’t hundreds of these videogames but there are enough to warrant healthy competition. Synth Riders manages to just about achieve this in a couple of ways, namely the track selection and the difficulty/intensity options.
First the tunes. These are massively electronic, offering a mixture of Synthwave to Dubstep, fun and bouncy to aggressive and thumping. It’s the former that makes Synth Riders – hence the name – what it is, catchy beats and epic keyboard solos which instantly put you in iconic films like Flashdance, swinging those arms wildly like a dancing maniac. There’s a decent selection all told, with 30+ songs available.
Additionally, Synth Riders also has 7 stages to choose from – a personal favourite is ‘Chasing the Sun’ – so the visuals shouldn’t get too boring. These look they’ve been ripped right out of movies like Tron – which has inspired several other VR videogames – a rich tapestry of bold neon colours that assault the eyes.
And then there’s the gameplay. What’s nice about Synth Riders is the low entry barrier so those new to VR don’t get too overwhelmed. Alongside the standard difficulty levels rising up to Master, Synth Riders has three gameplay modes which help tailor the experience, Normal, Force and Challenge. Normal is casual fun, where all you need to do is match the ball colours. This mode is kind of like VR cheerleading just not quite as athletic. It’s great for those times where you want to dance but not really workout.
Force is where the workout truly comes into play. Same mechanics as before, just this time you need to put some effort in and punch the orbs. A force indicator for your left and right hands show how much effort you actually put in which then effects the final score. Challenge is where you can really mix things up, offering a range of adjustable options like switching obstacles on and off or upping the note speed. These options help to make Synth Riders not only enjoyable but also replayable so that you can have a somewhat different experience every time.
Developer Kluge Interactive isn’t going to break the rhythm action mould with Synth Riders yet that doesn’t mean to say there’s not plenty of entertainment to be found. The Oculus Quest version doesn’t feature the calorie tracker of the PC edition but as long as you’re doing something energetic then who cares. What you need to watch out for is a sudden addiction to Synthwave music and the desire to grow a mullet.
Doctor Who: Edge of Time is due for release across various virtual reality (VR) headsets in less than two weeks. Today, developer Maze Theory has confirmed its been working on a location-based entertainment (LBE) version in tandem, with a plan to release it in VR arcades at the end of November.
Maze Theory, in conjunction with BBC Studios and publisher PlayStack, has partnered with several content distribution platforms; Synthesis VR, SpringboardVR, Ctrl V and Vive Arcade to make Doctor Who: Edge of Time available in more than 100 arcades worldwide, located across the UK, Europe, Asia and North America.
Doctor Who: Edge of Time will be a special customised version of the home videogame, featuring three modified levels for an action-packed 20-minute experience. They’ll be able to explore the iconic TARDIS, come face-to-face with Weeping Angels and pilot a Dalek through a shooting sequence, fighting against drones and other aliens from the franchise.
“As we’ve been making the feature-length game, we have engaged with fans who are desperate to try it out,” said Maze Theory CEO, Ian Hambleton in a statement. “Our aim is to make it possible for anyone, including those that don’t have VR, to step inside the show, collude with the Doctor and experience first-hand what it’s like to pilot the TARDIS and come face-to-face with the show’s terrifying monsters and aliens.
“We firmly believe VR is the future of entertainment as it offers unparalleled opportunities for people to immerse themselves in incredible adventures. It’s truly mind-blowing – if a little terrifying in parts!”
“We’re excited that from 23rd November, Doctor Who Day, fans will be able to enjoy an arcade version of Edge of Time in VR arcades around the world. Whilst the full game will be widely available for those with VR headsets the arcade version will let anyone try the experience,” adds Bradley Crooks, Global Head of Games & Interactive at BBC Studios.
For those who own a VR headset Doctor Who: The Edge of Time will launch on 12th November for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and HTC Vive Cosmos. As VRFocus reported last week, the Oculus Quest version has been delayed until December. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
Hello Games provided a new development update on No Man’s Sky: Beyond today, announcing some new features and bug fixes for the popular space-exploration game.
The development update accompanies Patch 1.25, which releases today, and includes new weekend missions and featured bases, among other minor updates and bug fixes.
Weekend missions are probably the biggest addition in this patch. They feature a new chapter available at the Nexus, once a week from Friday evenings (GMT) until early on Monday morning. These new weekend missions will run for “the foreseeable future” and will change every week in No Man’s Sky, naturally, offering something new for regular players on a recurring basis. Hello Games also gave a description of this first mission, starting this weekend, as follows:
“Nada’s spacetime loom has detected a concerning pattern resonating across the universe, and they need help from their explorer friends to investigate. Readings indicate a disturbance in reality, where an anomalous – and possibly sinister – force has begun to leak through to this universe…”
Besides the weekend missions, the next biggest feature for this No Man’s Sky update is featured bases, which will be accessible via the Space Anomaly Teleporter. Hello Games will keep an eye on some of the coolest bases built by the community and select a few as featured bases, which are easily accessible and available for you to visit.
In general, the team also noted that their player numbers are now at the highest they’ve been since launch, with both VR and non-VR modes remaining popular in No Man’s Sky. Hello Games assured players that they’re also still working on a number of requested features from the community behind the scenes, which are still coming but weren’t announced today.
There are also a variety of smaller changes and bug fixes, which you can view in full here.
Are you still exploring the endless worlds and planets of No Man’s Sky in VR? Let us know how you’re enjoying the game since the Beyond update launch a few months ago. And make sure to read our full review of the PC and PSVR versions, plus check our coverage hub for several guides written about the game.
The post No Man’s Sky: Beyond Patch Adds Weekend Missions, Featured Bases, And Bug Fixes appeared first on UploadVR.
A new application package on the Oculus Quest seems to indicate that the device may receive a feature called the ‘Oculus Assistant’ in a future update.
The application appears in the Quest’s v10 firmware, listed under the ‘Unknown Sources’ tab of the library for those who have enabled Developer Mode on their device. The package is titled ‘Oculus Assistant Service’ (com.oculus.assistant), as pictured below.
At the moment, you can open the package and it will request audio permissions. If you allow the request, it opens up a grey window, similar to the one pictured above, in the Oculus Quest house UI which is totally blank except for a small spinning loading circle. At the top of the window is a heading banner with the title “Assistant Test Service”. The loading wheel seemingly never finishes loading and that’s as far as I got with the app on my Quest while testing.
Presumably this package is for part of a new system feature currently in development for the Quest. The ‘Oculus Assistant’ title is reminiscent of other voice command and assistant services like Google Assistant, and we already know that Facebook are developing an AI assistant for their headsets. Given that the test app package also asks for audio permission upon launch, it seems very likely that the feature will be an assistant for the Quest OS that is operated by voice commands.
We contacted Facebook with some questions seeking clarification on the feature, but a spokesperson responded that they “don’t have any further details to share.”
A voice assistant would go nicely with the Quest’s upcoming finger tracking update – paired together, you would be able to simply put the Quest on and use your fingers and your voice to operate the device, no Touch controllers required.
Would you use voice commands on your Quest? Let us know in the comments below.
The post App Package Hints Towards ‘Oculus Assistant’ On Quest In Future Update appeared first on UploadVR.
After an initial launch in New Zealand and Iceland, Minecraft Earth early access is now available in Australia, Mexico and Sweden. The game is gradually rolling out across a few countries at a time, seemingly in smaller markets first.
Early access is in full swing and rolling out around the world! We’re working around the block to bring everyone into Minecraft Earth. Here are today’s countries:
Australia
Mexico
Sweden
More info on our early access plans↣ https://t.co/tAhiY9NS71 ↢ pic.twitter.com/kbTk5TZFtG
— Minecraft Earth (@minecraftearth) October 29, 2019
While it’s still launching in early access, this gradual launch is not restricted and is available to anyone, provided you’re in one of the supported launch countries. Minecraft Earth previously launched a closed beta for select players only, and early access marks the first time the game is available publicly.
This is Minecraft’s response to Pokemon Go and other map-based mobile games that get you out of the house and exploring the real world, intertwined with AR elements. You can build structures, craft weapons, collect materials by exploring your real-world neighborhood and fight monsters in AR during the “adventure” events scattered across the map.
I downloaded the app today and gave it a try. While it’s still early obviously, there are some really fun elements that hark back to 2011 and give me major Minecraft nostalgia. The game still has a lot to offer that I haven’t checked out yet, but it does also feel somewhat distinguished from other similar AR games like Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
There’s still no concrete word on when the game will launch in some of the larger markets like the US or the UK. The best indicator we have is on the Minecraft Earth site, which just indicates it will launch in more countries “in the coming weeks.”
Be sure to keep an eye out for more Minecraft Earth coverage from us in the next few weeks. If you’re in one of the supported early access countries and you’ve tried the game out, let us know in the comments below.
The post Minecraft Earth Early Access Now Available In Australia, Mexico and Sweden appeared first on UploadVR.
Insomniac Games will be releasing what could quite possibly be its last virtual reality (VR) title for Oculus Rift in a couple of weeks, Stormland, and it looks set to be one of the biggest VR launches of 2019. Last week the studio released the first in a three-part video series showcasing the videogame in more detail. Today, the second part has arrived.
This next trailer takes a much more in-depth look at some of the combat in Stormland whilst two new enemies make an appearance. Some of the content has been shown before like the guns, using containers as cover and pulling the power cells out of enemies to disable them.
Stormland will have a variety of hostiles to deal with, from Sentinels and snipers to flying drones and missile launchers. Those two new ones, well they’re the Blitz Troopers and Goliath Troopers. The latter is so far the biggest unit shown, a big brute of a machine which can form barriers to protect itself and other troops. It’s unclear whether these just need a tremendous amount of firepower to take down or if there are other options available.
That’s one area Stormland seems to have very well covered, options. As previously reported, Insomniac Games wanted to give players the option to free-roam no matter the environment. This meant making every surface climbable rather just in specific areas. In turn, this opens up the strategic possibilities when dealing with multiple hostile forces. There’s also the deadly fauna to consider as well.
Insomniac Games’ Lead VFX Artist Yancy Young shared a few more details on Oculus Blog, commenting: “We have a really cool array of enemy types from short-range Assault Troopers that can close the distance with shotguns, to long-range sniper enemies that blend into the world. The situation when approaching Tempest enemies both in and out of their strongholds is not always what it seems. Players will need to use all of their robotic senses to ensure they’re ready when the bullets start to fly!”
Stormland will be an Oculus Rift/Rift S exclusive when it launches on 14th November. Don’t forget that if you own an Oculus Quest you’ll also be able to play Stormland once Oculus Link has been rolled out. The third video should be arriving next week, when that happens VRFocus will let you know.
Cloudhead is revealing half of Pistol Whip’s levels today and allowing the sharing of gameplay videos.
So today I’m sharing five Pistol Whip gameplay videos captured in my living room using green screens, LIV’s mixed reality app, OBS, and a pre-release version of the game. Pistol Whip debuts Nov. 7 for Quest, Index, Rift and Vive (PSVR is in the works), and earlier this week Cloudhead lifted an embargo allowing me to share my initial impressions of the title and break down its shooter-meets-rhythm game mechanics.
The game features 10 levels at launch, with more planned, that amount to colorful and dreamy maps which seem vaguely inspired by action movie scenes with big gun battles or chases in them. Set to thumping music licensed from Kannibalen Records, there’s an auto-aim system in place for the main game as well as a “Deadeye” mode that takes away the assistance for folks who want that accuracy challenge, to train or prefer that play style. I’ve played it for more than 40 hours at this point — most of it in the main game mode — and put all of that time into the maps captured for this page.
I’m starting to suspect Pistol Whip will be my go-to VR demonstration title in the coming months. You can wish list it at the following links:
The first video below is the more challenging Deadeye modifier turned on for easy and medium difficulties on Black Magic — the level I’m most familiar with from the auto-aim mode. Below it is a video of the “hard” difficulty with auto-aim. I can’t yet beat the same level on “hard” with Deadeye enabled. Cloudhead provided the video featuring a beta version of the Replicants level, but the rest are recorded by me. My favorite map so far is the last one below, called Death.
The post Watch Pistol Whip’s Deadeye Mode And First Five Levels In Mixed Reality Videos appeared first on UploadVR.
A new feature from Polaroid allows you to use their Polaroid Lab device to bring physical photos in AR on your phone.
The Polaroid Lab is a new device that can scan a digital photo off your phone screen and immediately print it onto Polaroid film, allowing you to quickly convert digital photos to physical Polaroids. Using the Polaroid Originals app, you can select a photo for the scanner to read and then develop onto a piece of Polaroid film. You can watch a video on the Polaroid YouTube channel that demonstrates the process from start to finish.
However, there’s also some other cool features built into the app that use AR to bring the physical Polaroids to life. Using the same Polaroid Lab printer and scanner, you can use the Polaroid Originals app on to select a video saved on your device. You then trim the video to the desired section for the animation and select a key frame to use as the physical printed photo. The scanner then scans the video and key frame from your phone, in a similar manner to the normal method, but also affixes a small barcode in the bottom right of the photo.
What you end up with is a physical still Polaroid photo, just like any other, with an AR barcode in the bottom right. When you use your phone’s camera in the Polaroids Original app, the photo will spring to life using AR and play the animation you selected earlier during the development process.
This nifty feature may seem gimmicky, but it could also but super cool – imagine having a wall of Polaroids that already look amazing as still photos, but also all come to life when you use your phone to view the AR animations hidden within them.
Would you use this quirky little AR feature with the Polaroid Lab? Let us know in the comments below.
The post Polaroid Lab Brings Your Physical Photos To Life With AR Animations appeared first on UploadVR.
Episode 4 of UploadVR’s weekly podcast, The VR Download, is LIVE at 10:30 PST (17:30 GMT) today!
Unlike regular video podcasts, The VR Download is broadcast from a virtual reality studio! Our team are together in a virtual space, giving us many of the benefits of a studio even though we live on different continents.
The show is usually on Thursdays, but given that falls on Halloween this week’s episode is today, Wednesday.
Our special guest this week is Mat Kraemer, Animation Director at Polyarc Games, the studio behind 3rd person VR adventure game Moss, which we called “one of PSVR’s most essential games to date” in our review, giving the game 9/10.
You can watch the episode live on YouTube. As always, we’ll also be making it available for audio-only listening on Apple, Google, Spotify, TuneIn/Alexa, Stitcher, and more within a couple of hours of airing.
The show is hosted by our Operations Manager, Kyle Riesenbeck. Kyle was formerly the host of the Rev VR Podcast, a popular VR podcast back in the Oculus development kits era.
[Section 1] The News Discussion: our thoughts on the biggest VR news of the past week, one article at a time. You’ll hear our in depth behind the scenes thoughts on what’s happening in the virtual reality industry.
[Section 2] Release of the Week: the team talks about the VR games they’ve been playing this week and try to come to a consensus as to what is the most significant.
[Section 3] The Hot Topic: an in depth discussion of one big (sometimes controversial) industry trend, topic, or idea per week.
[Section 4] Special Guest Interview: a 1-1 interview with a significant developer, executive, or personality from the VR industry.
The post Today’s Guest On The VR Download Is Moss’s Animation Director appeared first on UploadVR.
Once Halloween is out of the way it’s then time to look forward to Christmas, a time of giving. Or you can go in the complete opposite direction and have some fun practising a little thievery with GameBoom VR’s soon to be released title Thief Simulator VR, now scheduled for a November launch.
The team dropped an announcement trailer at the end of September, showcasing what the final version would look like. A release was initially slated for the end of October but this was then pushed back.
In a statement, the studio said: “Thief Simulator VR has been created for almost the entire last year, and we put all our hearts into this project. We are looking forward to seeing our game in your hands. However, we all understand how business works – a wrong release date could cause other games to steal (pun intended) our visibility in digital stores. The current Steam Halloween Sale would take away our visibility, and we want our game to reach as many players as possible, which will convert into the resources needed for its further development (and Prison Simulator VR). For this reason, we decided with our publisher that Thief Simulator VR will appear on the market on November 12, 2019.”
That puts the videogame a couple of weeks out, arriving on Steam Early Access for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality and Valve Index. Offering free-roaming sandbox neighbourhoods to explore with different houses to stakeout, players will be able to lock pick doors, smash everything in a house, steal cars, jump through windows, and more. Once back at their hideout players can disassemble stolen cars, hack phones and tablets to then sell on. With the cash, they can purchase new tools and gadgets to rob richer more secured homes.
GameBoom VR notes that at launch Thief Simulator VR will have the same amount of content the standard Thief Simulator videogame had when released. During Early Access the studio aims to add another neighbourhood, more items and a New Game+ mode.
As Thief Simulator VR nears its release, VRFocus will keep you updated on the latest announcements.
The Halloween season doesn’t need to be about scaring yourself half to death in virtual reality (VR), monsters jumping out of every darkened corner. It can still be ghoulish and amusing at the same time which is what titles like Borrowed Light Studios’ Spectro and Virtual Uppercut Studios’ Monster Reapers VR are all about. Having just hit Steam Early Access, Monster Reapers VR aims to offer some good old fashioned haunted house ghost hunting, it’s just a shame about the movement mechanics.
Monster Reapers VR is a rogue-lite shooter where you find yourself inside a haunted mansion which needs clearing out. In a similar fashion to In Death, the title is about repetition, venturing inside and seeing how far you can get before you’re killed, returning to the lobby to try again. During each run through you are able to collect coins which can then either be used upon death to upgrade abilities, weapons and so forth.
On first inspection Monster Reapers VR is an enjoyable ghost hunting experience. In one hand you start with a crossbow to kill these wayward spirits – later upgrades include guns – while the other hand casts magic. In the beginning, all you have is Light and Vortex, the former illuminating hidden ghosts which float overhead while the latter can suck up damaged ghosts, dropped coins, and rustle furniture to uncover more ghosts and coins. As you progress you can access further magical abilities
And that’s the general premise, running around these rooms rattling furniture and clearing them out. As the levels are procedurally generated the layout is different every time plus there are extras to find like chest rooms with additional buffs. To get the really good equipment you need to ascend the various floors, vanquishing a big boss in the process. Virtual Uppercut Studios has managed to nail a really good looking visual style and the weapon handling works fine, so what happened with the locomotion?
This has to be VRFocus’ biggest gripe with Monster Reapers VR in its current form. The title uses smooth locomotion in combination with either snap or smooth rotation. On paper that sounds fine but the implementation not so much. So to explain. As any VR player knows, when shooting any enemy in a 360-degree environment you’re going to physically turn, it’s natural. However, in Monster Reapers VR this will set the movement controls askew.
When starting, forward is forward and so on, on the Oculus Touch sticks. Yet if you physically turn, say a full 180°, then those controls will be reversed. Obviously, this is even worse if you turn 45°. Which makes running around shooting spooky spectres a little awkward. Using snap turn slightly alleviates the issue but comes undone with multiple enemies. The only solution is smooth turning and keeping your feet planted. Great if you’re a hardcore VR player who can handle fully dual-stick locomotion, not so much for everyone else. And as far as VRFocus could see, there were no other locomotion options apart from increasing/decreasing the vignette intensity.
Which quite honestly removes a lot of the enjoyment of Monster Reapers VR. If you like snap rotation then playing Monster Reapers VR is a constant battle, removing that immersive sensation of freedom VR can offer. Virtual Uppercut Studios has detailed lots of new content it plans on adding during Early Access such as locations, enemies and weapons. But that will all be for nought if Monster Reapers VR is frustrating to play.
FundamentalVR has been evolving its virtual reality (VR) platform providing surgical training solutions for a number of years, combining simulations through Fundamental Surgery with cutting-edge haptics via HapticVR. Today, the company has announced the closing of a £4.3 million GBP ($5.67m USD) Series A round, bringing total funding to £7.2 million.
The round was led by Downing Ventures with previous investor Tern Plc participating as well as Epic Private Equity and Brighteye Ventures. Also involved were leading medical institutions including Mayo Clinic in the US and Sana Kliniken, the third-largest hospital organization in Germany.
FundamentalVR will use the funding to further invest in its Fundamental Surgery platform which currently supports procedures including Spinal Pedicle Screw, Total Hip Arthroplasty (Posterior), Total Hip Arthroplasty (Anterior) and Total Knee Arthroplasty.
“We are very pleased to close our Series A round, especially as it includes strategic investment and validation from world-renowned medical institutions, Mayo Clinic and Sana Kliniken, where our platform is currently deployed,” commented Richard Vincent, CEO and co-founder of FundamentalVR in a statement “The investment will allow us to continue to expand the global deployment of the current platform and develop additional capabilities and technologies, including extension of the platform into multimodal education encompassing new standalone headsets such as the Oculus Quest and Vive Focus Plus, covering new surgical disciplines such as general surgical procedures and future capabilities such as patient-specific modeling and emerging interfaces for robotic surgery.”
Tern Plc invested £1.9 million in FundamentalVR in May and October 2018. Commenting on its continued support, Tern CEO, Al Sisto, said: “We identified early on that FundamentalVR’s team was developing a platform that was very special. A training and data analysis offering which could revolutionise the skills development of surgical practice, while at the same time creating a database of significant importance to the industry. We are delighted that the value and relevance of this exciting business and its entire staff has been recognised by this outstanding syndicate of new investors we helped solidify.”
As the healthcare industry continues to embrace VR technology and its educational abilities, VRFocus will keep you updated on the latest advancements.
