News

Waltz of the Wizard’s Natural Magic Update Confirmed for July

June 13, 2021 by GenVR

Virtual reality (VR) developer Aldin has been teasing its next big update for Waltz of the Wizard since 2020. Called “Natural Magic” its set to feature new locations as well a reworked spell casting system to make it feel, well…more natural. Today, as part of a slew of VR announcements to kick off the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2021 this week the studio has confirmed the update will arrive next month.

Previous updates like the “Telepath” movement system added incremental improvements, whereas Natural Magic will be Aldin’s largest expansion to date. Starting off in a peaceful courtyard sandbox where players can practice and play with the new magic system, they’ll find intuitive controls to pick up distant objects or unleash devastating attacks. This is useful as the other area is the Fortress, a sprawling location home to the Observers, interdimensional beings that harness magic to control time and space.

These “Observers” are the bad guys, of course, and to get to them players will encounter a variety of enemies to wield their magic against. The Fortress also houses hidden artefacts which might be useful. It’s also the first location the developer has built that is procedurally generated, so each run-through will be slightly different.

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic will have plenty of other interesting features for hours of entertainment, including mic input which turns a players voice into magical soundwaves to attack foes, enemies with detachable bodyparts and believable defensive reactions, and user health shown by their fingers turning skeletal.

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic is set to launch on 6th July 2021 as a free update for existing owners of the videogame. There is a slight caveat in the fact that the update will be for SteamVR and Oculus headsets but not for PlayStation VR. Aldin’s CEO Hrafn Thorisson previously said in November 2020 that future updates for the headset were on hold due to the lack of info regarding a PlayStation VR 2 (at the time).

For further updates on Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic, keep reading VRFocus.

Competitive VR NERF Game Coming To Oculus Quest In 2022

June 12, 2021 by GenVR

Go head-to-head with other players armed with NERF dart guns in a futuristic colosseum surrounded by cheering fans.

The NERF company changed the way we played when they introduced the “world’s first indoor ball” back in 1969, selling millions within the first year. What followed was a series of hit toy releases, from the NERFoop in 1972 to the Power Drencher (the original name for the SUPER SOAKER) in 1989. Things really changed for NERF when the company was purchased by Hasbro in 1991. That following year NERF introduced the very first NERF dart gun called the Sharpshooter and the game of tag was forever changed.

Since those days, the NERF dart gun has gone through many iterations. Not only have there been hundreds of versions made, but they’ve also gotten more powerful, and now NERF is heading into VR with the announcement of a global competitive multiplayer game being called the NERF Ultimate Championship.

Announced today during the Upload VR Showcase as part of IGN’s Summer of Gaming event, the NERF Ultimate Championship is scheduled to arrive in 2022 on the Oculus Quest. This epic-sized VR game will have you and other players going head-to-head in massive team-based arena-style NERF battles that promise tons of action.

Developed by Secret Location (a company that was recently purchased by Hasbro and even won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for their work on The Sleepy Hollow: VR Experience) along with additional funding from the Canada Media Fund and Ontario Creates, NERF Ultimate Championship looks to bring all of the realism of a classic NERF battle to life in VR, only instead of battling your friends throughout your house or local neighborhood, you’re fighting players from around the world in a futuristic colosseum filled with fans cheering both for and against you.

The NERF Ultimate Championship features quick matches full of vibrant Tron-like colors designed to keep you visually engaged at all times. There will also be lots of intense physical activity as you dodge darts and jump behind walls for safety during matches. Of course, it’s not a NERF battle without their famous dart guns. Each match will feature a wide range of NERF blasters, each of which featuring its own pros and cons depending on the battle. You’ll also have a suite of tools that you can use to customize your avatar and blaster.

In an official press release, Kathryn Rawson, VP of Content at Secret Location said, “NERF Ultimate Championship marks an important milestone for us as the first collaboration with our new parent company Hasbro,” adding, “Everyone on the team is excited to bring those epic NERF battles from our childhood into the immersive world of VR and to the growing Oculus Quest audience when the game launches next year.”

To help build up some NERFhype (not that it needs any) prior to the game’s launch in 2022, NERF has launched nerfvr.com. There you access some sneak peeks of some Oculus Quest gameplay as well as some behind the scene content that the company plans on uploading over the next few months. You’ll also get a chance to take part in exclusive test sessions later in the year. So keep checking back!

“This is a dream project for the team,” said Luke Van Osch, Supervising Producer at Secret Location. “We’ve had Blasters next to our desks for years, and it’s a thrill to bring all the fun and excitement of NERF to VR. We’re looking forward to connecting with other VR and NERF fans, and gathering their input as we continue to bring the game to life.”

In addition to their website, you can also get updates by joining the NERF community via its official Twitter, @nerfvr. They also plan on offering more online platforms such as Discord in the near future.

Feature Image Credit: Hasbro

NERF Battles are Coming to Oculus Quest in 2022

June 12, 2021 by GenVR

It’s been a couple of years since Secret Location’s last virtual reality (VR) title Transpose but the studio is probably better known for its bullet hell shooter Blasters of the Universe. For the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2021 today, Secret Location has begun teasing its next project, NERF Ultimate Championship.

Collaborating with NERF to bring those classic battles all kids know and love into VR, NERF Ultimate Championship is about digitally recreating that excitement pitting players against each other in team-based wars. Players will be able to select from a range of NERF blasters before heading into an arena to leap around and dodge darts in an effort to win the quick, physical matches.

“NERF Ultimate Championship marks an important milestone for us as the first collaboration with our new parent company Hasbro,” said, Kathryn Rawson, VP Content, Secret Location in a statement. “Everyone on the team is excited to bring those epic Nerf battles from our childhood into the immersive world of VR and to the growing Oculus Quest audience when the game launches next year.”

Outside of the arena players will be able to customise their avatars and blasters with plenty of vibrant designs the brand is known for. NERF fans will get a chance to go hands-on with the videogame later this year as Secret Location will be hosting exclusive playtest sessions.

“We are thrilled to partner with Secret Location to take our legacy brand NERF to new heights through the immersion of virtual reality,” stated Scott Ozarski, Brand Manager, Global Brand Marketing for NERF. “It translates the imaginative play, high physicality and fun competition that characterizes the property to an all-new and exciting medium for our fans.”

NERF Ultimate Championship is going to be an Oculus Quest by the looks of it, due to arrive for the standalone headset at some point in 2022. Check out the teaser trailer below although there’s no gameplay footage at the moment. As and when further details for NERF Ultimate Championship are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.

I Expect You to Die 2 Features Wil Wheaton, Launches This Summer

June 12, 2021 by GenVR

It’s E3 2021 week so there are plenty of videogame announcements fly around including a few virtual reality (VR) ones. Today, Schell Games has announced that its escape room sequel I Expect You to Die 2: The Spy and the Liar will be launching this summer and its got some star talent on board.

The studio has revealed that I Expect You to Die 2: The Spy and the Liar will feature six globe-trotting missions to foil Zoraxis’ plans for world domination. These new missions will still feature ingenious puzzles and cunning villains just like before, the first revealed being to protect the prime minister, who happens to be attending a theatre production by world-famous actor and celebrity John Juniper.

Schell Games managed to get Wil Wheaton (Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: Next Generation) to voice Juniper while the theme song is performed by world-renowned singer and songwriter Puddles Pity Party.

“I Expect You To Die 2 builds upon everything our community loved about the first game, and we’re excited to take players on another adventure filled with espionage,” said Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games in a statement. “Wil and Puddles have been amazing to work with, and their enthusiasm has helped us expand the I Expect You To Die universe in compelling new ways. With Wil Wheaton bringing life to John Juniper, and Puddles’s dynamic performance of the new theme song, we’re confident players will feel immersed in this rich, story-driven evolution of the original game.”

If you enjoyed the first title and you have a PC VR headset then check out the Steam Next Fest this week because there will be a free demo of I Expect You to Die 2: The Spy and the Liar from 16th June.

I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy and the Liar is now slated to launch this summer on Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, SteamVR and PlayStation VR headsets. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

MMO-like ‘A Township Tale’ Coming to Oculus Quest on July 15th

June 12, 2021 by GenVR

Multiplayer RPG A Township Tale is coming to Oculus Quest on July 15th. The quietly developed MMO-like has been available in early access on PC since 2018 as developer Alta has honed a deep profession and crafting system.

A Township Tale is a cooperative VR RPG that’s been in open development by Australia based developer Alta. With multiplayer at its core, the game will allow up to eight simultaneous players on Quest to experience a persistent world designed for adventure, discovery, crafting, and a sense of community participation.

“From the moment the Quest was announced, the requests from fans started to roll in
for a dedicated version of our game, even though the thought of delivering a world as
expansive as A Township Tale to a standalone device seemed crazy,” said Boramy
Unn, game director at Alta. “We began the process last year, and now on July 15 we’ll be
launching A Township Tale on Oculus Quest, bringing to life a fantasy we’ve had since
we were children: To truly embody the RPG characters we play in a fantastical world.”

Beyond having a hand-made world to discover, A Township Tale leans deeply into its crafting, allowing players to intuitively take on roles like blacksmiths, woodcutters, and miners, simply by taking the time to experiment and learn the process of each trade. Blacksmiths, for instance, must heat molded metal before being able to hammer it to shape to make a sharpened blade that can be affixed it to a hilt to make a sword or axe.

A Township Tale is set to launch on Quest on July 15th, priced at $10. The price will also include 1,000 Talems (the in-game currency) which players can use to purchase premium cosmetic items.

The game is available free-to-play on PC. Developer Alta says that the Quest version of A Township Tale will include most of, but not all, of the PC version features at launch, with plans to reach feature-parity in the future. The studio also notes that cross-play between Quest and PC is unfortunately not supported yet, but plans to support one-way cross-play in the future by allowing PC players to connect to Quest servers.

First Footage Released of Pistol Whip’s New Style System

June 12, 2021 by GenVR

Cloudhead Games’ Pistol Whip became an instant hit when it first arrived back in 2019, providing visceral rhythm action gameplay found nowhere else. Content has been regularly added including a five-stage campaign but this summer the videogame is going to get a whole new lease of life. Previously teased as “The Concierge” update, that name has now been dropped as Cloudhead Games reveals the new Pistol Whip Style System.

If you’re well-acquainted with Pistol Whip then you’ll know it has a unique visual and gameplay, shooting enemies to some thumping tunes. If you wanted to mix things up there were the modifiers activating dual wielding guns, the removal of aim assist and much more. The new Pistol Whip Style System will allow you to remix scenes in a multitude of ways.

Essentially, a “Style” is a preset which contains three variables, Weapon Type (determines weapon behaviour), 5 x Modifiers (alter gameplay mechanics) and then the Intensity rating. After selecting a scene you’ll see the Style menu to the left where you browse various styles across four categories Basics, Featured, Trending and Favourites. These styles have been curated by the developers as well as the community. The Featured section for example will recommend two new styles every week if you just want to start playing right away.

Or for those that want to create their own you have the customise mode. Here you can modify a preexisting style or build a brand new one. Cloudhead Games will also introduce a new mod called Bullet Hell where enemies unleash massive volleys of projectiles to really keep you ducking for cover. Additionally, all the campaign scenes can be played with any style.

So when does the new Style System arrive? As Cloudhead Games revealed back in April as part of its Pistol Whip: Smoke & Thunder announcement, both the new campaign and feature set land together this summer. So not only do you get new ways to experience Pistol Whip but there will be a whole new Wild West campaign to enjoy.

Take a look at the announcement video below to see the Pistol Whip Style System in action. As further updates are revealed, VRFocus will let you know.

‘I Expect You to Die 2’ Coming to All Major VR Headsets This Summer, Featuring Wil Wheaton

June 12, 2021 by GenVR

Schell Games today announced that I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy and the Liar, the upcoming sequel to the breakout VR spy adventure game, will launch at some point this summer on SteamVR headsets, Oculus Quest, Rift, and PSVR. The studio also revealed that Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) is also set to lend his voice talent to the game.

Picking up where the first game left off, I Expect You To Die 2 is said to offer six new missions where you try to foil Zoraxis’ evil plans of world domination. Like the original, Schell Games says each mission features “ingenious puzzles, cunning villains, dangerous locales,” and promises both a cohesive story and “explosive” ending.

Schell Games also published a new trailer, which you can check out below:

A playable demo supporting SteamVR headsets is coming to Steam Next Fest on June 16th, and will feature a tutorial, a new intro credits music experience, and a brief taste of the first mission. While protecting the prime minister at a theater production, you’ll get a chance to meet world famous actor John Juniper, who is voiced by Wil Wheaton.

The patently James Bond-style opening credit scene also features the musical stylings of Puddles Pity Party, aka “the sad clown with a golden voice.”

Like the first in the series, I Expect You To Die 2 is focused on keeping the player seated, which is thanks to clever level design and the use of telekinesis to reach far-away puzzle elements.

For now, the only store listing available is on Steam. You can wishlist the game here.

This Hilarious Snapchat Lens Turns You Into A Pixar Character

June 11, 2021 by GenVR

Live your dream of becoming a Disney cartoon with the new ‘Cartoon 3D Style’ Lens.

Ever catch yourself wishing you were a Disney Pixar character? To those who said yes, you’ll definitely want to check out the new Cartoon 3D Style Lens from Snapchat.

Available now via the Snapchat app (iOS, Android), this amazing/terrifying filter uses augmented reality (AR) technology to transform you into an original cartoon character that looks like it was taken straight out of a Disney Pixar film. After downloading and activating the Lens, you can tap on the screen to jump back and forth between two different facial styles.

Despite having just released on the multimedia messaging app, users are already having a field day with this one-of-a-kind Lens, and the results so far have been impressive, to say the least.

One creative user used the filter to recreate a scene from the popular animated film Frozen, playing both the roles of Anna and Hans simultaneously. Another user used the Lens while lipsynching the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from the classic Pixar film Toy Story.

Apparently, the Cartoon 3D Style Lens also works on 2D images, including famous works of art such as the Mona Lisa, a self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, and Girl with a Pearl Earring, as well as inanimate objects, like this Vin Diesel action figure (WARNING: NSFW). There’s even a hilarious Disney-fied version of former US president Barrack Obama.

The Cartoon 3D Style Lens can be accessed via Snapchat’s Lens Carousel or by scanning the image above.

Snapchat made waves last month during its annual Snap Partner Summit with the reveal of its new AR-enabled Snap Spectacles as well as updates to its Scan and Camera tools.

Feature Image Credit: VRScout

‘The Climb 2’ Gets 6 More Free Levels in Second Expansion Pack

June 11, 2021 by GenVR

The Climb 2 (2021), the Oculus Quest climbing game from Crytek, just got its second Freestyle Expansion Pack which brings six new levels featuring some of the sequel’s most interesting mechanics.

Coming on the heels of the game’s first Freestyle Expansion Pack which launched in late April, the fresh DLC drop brings six checkpoint-free levels in both casual and professional modes.

Crytek says in an Oculus blogpost that if players complete each level step-by-step, they’ll be able to nab a new glove model as a completion reward. The studio says chalk-less climbers will be able to “rack up some bonus points.”

Here’s the list of new maps coming in Freestyle Expansion Pack Part 2, all of which seem to focus on one specific mechanic:

Press Me! – Find buttons, press them, and spawn new grips to allow you to continue climbing, with some platforms featuring more than one button for new pathways.
Wheel’n’Jump – Have fun on a hamster wheel, which will rotate using the weight of your body. Once you’ve got the right spinning speed, you’ll need to climb onto the construction and jump off just in the nick of time to complete the level!
Obstacle Course – Here you’ll need to conquer monkey bars and two types of blocking walls as well as get your timing just right to jump across.
Rotating Blocks – Multiple blocks will orbit around the center. You’ll need to jump onto moving blocks, and as soon as you do, their movement will stop. Watch out as the blocks feature normal and crumbling grips!
Slides – No climbing needed—here you’ll need to slide and jump your way through the course. The challenge is to jump from one slide to the other in time. Keep an eye out for two grips where you can take a break to chalk up.
Crumbling Madness – Here there are three walls, each separated from one another and only a few crumbling grips to grab. As soon as the first wall grip is grabbed, you’ll move towards the second wall and so on until you get to the end platform. The challenge is to time it right. Stay to a wall as long as possible and jump off at the right time—otherwise you’ll drop to your peril. Once you get to the third wall, it’s smooth sailing with slides taking you to the end platform.

Crytek mentioned earlier this year that the Freestyle Climbing Pack would be split into two halves, each of which would bring six new levels to the game. The studio hasn’t mentioned future plans to release more levels, although this year’s post-launch DLC has nearly doubled the amount of levels on offer, bringing it now to a total of 27 levels.

We gave The Climb 2 a very respectable [8.5/10] in our review, lauding the game’s refined climbing mechanics, fun challenges, and diverse set of awe-inspiring locales.

‘The Climb 2’ Freestyle Update Adds Hamster Wheels & Slides

June 10, 2021 by GenVR

Part 2 of the free update turns Crytek’s VR rock climbing simulator introduces six outrageous levels.

Germany-based developer Crytek (The Climb, Robinson: The Journey) today released Part 2 of its Freestyle Expansion Pack for The Climb 2, introducing a handful of new levels complete with a variety of ridiculous obstacles designed to test your skills as a virtual rock climber.

Part 2 introduces six new levels in total (Crumbling Madness, Obstacle Course, Press Me!, Rotating Blocks, Slides, and Wheel’n’Jump), each of which featuring its own unique obstacles to overcome. Wheel’n’Jump, for example, adds enormous human-sized hamster balls to scale, whereas Crumbling Madness has you navigating a perilous course composed almost entirely of broken grips that crumble in your hands.

Similar to Part 1, which introduced “rhythm-based climbing” to the game, each of these new courses can be played in both casual and professional mode with zero checkpoints. Experienced climbers can rack up additional points by completing each level without chalking their hands. Finish every course back-to-back, and you’ll unlock exclusive gloves as a reward.

“Once again we’re delighted to bring yet another expansion pack to The Climb 2, which means more menacing levels to be taken on for players,” said Andreas Liebeskind, Principal Gamer Designer, in an official release. “Players have told us how much they love the game and the updates we’re continuously bringing to it and this is all part of our post-launch support for the game. The levels were designed for players to have fun but also challenge them in new ways and we hope they’ll enjoy what’s in store for them.”

Whereas the game’s original maps focused on providing a realistic climbing experience by replicating popular real-world locations, the Freestyle Expansion Pack features colorful, artificial environments, resulting in more of an arcade-style experience.

Part 2 takes this concept to the extreme, introducing a wide range of impossible obstacles that drastically change the way you approach each level. While the core gameplay remains the same, new hurdles like the giant hamster ball and button-activated grips add a whole new dimension to the game.

Despite having completed the game start-to-finish, Crytek’s free updates have successfully kept me coming back for more. Part 2 of the Freestyle Expansion Pack is easily my favorite addition to the game thus far, offering a plethora of over-the-top courses that would impossible—or at least incredibly expensive—to replicate in real life.

The Climb 2 is available now on Oculus Quest headsets for $29.99. Parts 1 & 2 of the Freestyle Expansion Pack are available now to all existing owners 100% free of charge.

Feature Image Credit: Crytek