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‘Racket: Nx’ Update Brings New Level Editor, Now Live on Quest & PC VR

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Racket: Nx (2018), the VR sports game from One Hamsa, just got an update that includes the long-awaited addition of a level editor.

The Israel-based studio has been teasing the update since late May, although fans have been asking for a level editor since it was released in Early Access on PC VR headsets back in 2017.

Now, live as a free update to the game on all supported platforms, editing is done in-game, allowing you to choose from a range of powerups, obstacles, and gadgets to get your ball zooming around the spherical playing field.

If you’ve never played Racket: Nx, it’s a bit like racquetball-meets-Breakout: hit the ball against the wall, try to break the correct hexagonal blocks, and avoid the wrong ones. That’s the basics, but in practice it becomes much more complicated as you go for chain combos and encounter increasingly difficult levels in a race against the clock.

It’s a full-featured game—and quite a workout too. Online play allows you to either play in co-op or PvP, and single player mode lets you go against a lengthy campaign or swat away at an endless survival mode. Just make sure to clear the area, and stay far away from TVs and monitors.

You’ll find Racket: Nx on Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and SteamVR headsets. Check out our full review to find out why we gave it a resounding [8.8/10].

Flight Sim’s Nordics World Update Tackles Iceland And The Lego House

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It’s time for another stunning update to Asobo’s brilliant Microsoft Flight Simulator, this time tackling Nordic regions.

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are all getting a makeover in this update to the VR compatible game. Check out the trailer below for several iconic locations brought beautifully into the game’s photorealistic depiction of the planet. As with the rest of the game, you’ll be able to see all of this in VR (if you have a computer up to the task, that is).

Flight Sim Nordics World Update Trailer

Highlights include Denmark’s Men at Sea, authentic creations of Copenhagen and Helsinki as well as, of course, The Lego House. Normally the World Update trailers for the game are pretty impressive but capturing the Nordic landscape in these clips brings it to another level entirely. The update will be free for anyone that owns the game.

This week we learned that Flight Sim is on its way to Xbox soon, and will also be getting a brand new controller from Turtle Beach. More relevant to PC VR players, though, is that an official Top Gun tie-in update is due to launch later in the year, though there’s still a lot to learn about it.

Will you be checking out Flight Simulator’s new update? Let us know in the comments below!

‘Tetris Effect’ Multiplayer Mode is Coming to All Platforms With Cross-play & New Features

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Tetris Effect (2018), the VR-compatible reinvention of the iconic ’80s stacker puzzle, is getting a host of fresh features soon that will bring some new online multiplayer modes, and cross-play to all supported platforms.

The so-called ‘Connected Summer 2021’ expansion is said to hit PSVR, SteamVR headsets and Oculus Quest sometime in late July. A free beta of the expansion is releasing June 23rd to July 5th for players on PlayStation and Epic Games. Oculus Quest and Steam access is by invite only.

The new cross-play function will allow you to create private rooms with a four-digit alphanumeric code so you can directly connect with friends across all supported platforms. Private matches will also include a spectator mode, which allows four to six spectators to watch and emote in real time. Provided you don’t opt out, ranked matches will also include all players of the game.

Here’s a rundown of each new multiplayer mode coming to Tetris Effect:

  • Connected – Form a three-player team to try and defeat A.I.-controlled Bosses (or player-controlled Bosses, during the Full Moon 24-hour event every weekend)—connect your Matrices as you all enter the Zone and clear Lines together to deal massive damage.
  • Zone Battle – A one-on-one competition played with standard Tetris Effect settings, with the key to victory being adept use of the time-stopping Zone mechanic. This mode is a great way to test out the skills you’ve built up in single-player.
  • Score Attack – Another one-on-one competition played with standard Tetris Effect settings, only here no Line Attacks are exchanged. If your score is higher than your opponent’s when both games end, you win. Think of it as “single-player competitive Tetris.”
  • Classic Score Attack – A one-on-one score attack competition played using old-school Tetris settings, so no Hard Drops, no ability to Hold a Tetrimino, only one Tetrimino shown in the Next Queue, Tetriminos spin a bit differently—they Lock Down immediately when they touch a surface, etc. This unforgiving version of Tetris is what’s used for pro competitions such as the annual Classic Tetris World Championship.

Some other new features include ‘PAL Speed’, which recreates the game’s 8-bit European version, and ‘Slow Speed’, which basically ups the difficulty by making Tetrimino movements slower.

Catch the full explainer video from developers Enhance Experience below:

Republique Is Getting A PSVR Release Soon

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Mobile-turned-VR stealth game Republique is soon to drop on PSVR.

Developer Camouflaj recently announced Republique: Anniversary Edition, which will be dropping soon on Switch and PS4, with VR support for the latter platform. No other details have been confirmed just yet, save for the fact Limited Run Games will be doing a physical edition of the title too.

Republique was Camouflaj’s first game, and first released as an episodic series of stealth titles on mobile platforms. In 2018, Camouflaj brought the game to Oculus Go and Gear VR and then, a year later, it landed on Oculus Quest and PC VR too. This version of the game featured all the same content, retooled for VR.

Expect the PSVR edition to be a similar story, though it’s not confirmed if there will be any new content just yet. Camouflaj of course went to to develop Iron Man VR as a PSVR exclusive, and we’re hopeful to see more new games from the studio in the future, too.

Back when it launched in 2018, we said Republique VR offered fun, if simple VR sneaking. “Though VR doesn’t do too much to augment the experience, République remains the same engaging stealth adventure with the same highs and lows it’s always had,” we said. “This is simple, brain-teasing sneaking that encourages the player to experiment and take risks, though rarely takes its own advice on board to create something truly memorable.”

Will you be picking up Republique: Anniversary Edition? Let us know in the comments below.

Livestream Interview And Q&A: Cubism Developer Thomas Van Bouwel

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Cubism is one of the best puzzle games available on Quest, with excellent native VR design and an excellent showcase of hand tracking capabilities on Oculus Quest. We’re sitting down with Cubism’s developer, Thomas Van Bouwel, to talk about developing the game, plans for DLC and more.

The interview is set to take place later today, Wednesday the 16th of June at 2:00pm PST, on our YouTube channel. It will be broadcast live from our virtual studio in VR, where we also host our podcast, The VR Download.

If you manage to join us for the interview livestream, please leave your questions in the chat and we’ll try to get to as many as possible. If you miss it live, you can still check out the recorded broadcast at the same link below.

Cubism launched just under a year ago, but has consistently rolled out a series of impressive updates and new features for Quest since then. Its implementation of hand tracking is absolutely sublime and one of the best showcases of the technology on the system. You can also pair hand tracking with the recently added 120Hz support as well, which rounds Cubism out as one of the best titles to showcase most of the Quest’s cutting edge features all at once.

Last month, Van Bouwel announced that a series of DLC levels were in the works for Cubism and signs-ups were open for those who wanted to help playtest new levels. I was able to join the playtesting group and gave some of the new puzzles a try over the past six weeks. I’ll be discussing the approach taken in designing these DLC levels and the original campaign with Van Bouwel in our interview today, going over the process from start to finish and how the upcoming levels might differ to the existing campaign.

Let us know if you’re looking forward to Cubism DLC and be sure to leave your questions in the chat during the live broadcast.

Hands-On: Against Is A Brutal And Bloody Good Take On Beat Saber

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As a sideline appreciator if not regular player of Beat Saber and Pistol Whip, Against gave me a glimpse of what I was missing out on.

Turns out all I needed was a pair of brass knuckles, buckets of blood, and the ability to chop enemies in two. Who knew?

Against is another instantly arresting idea from Stride developer Joy Way, a studio that seems to have a penchant for building fast-fire, wholly engaging prototypes. It’s Beat Saber by way of Sin City – a gritty neo-noir art style sees you relieving enemies of their limbs and painting the town the wrong sort of red.

While the ultra-violence might be what catches your eye, it’s Against’s curious mix of gameplay styles — mixed with a pretty killer demo track — that gives it legs. When stationary, bad guys either charge towards their inevitable slaughter or attack from afar with dodgeable throwing axes and bullets that need to be sliced. But, just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the game sets its sights on Pistol Whip, launching the player forward and alternating between melee attacks with knuckles and timed shots with pistols. Again, an obvious imitation, but Joy Way then borrows from itself with Stride’s wall-running and jumping thrown into the mix.

Not especially innovative, no, but the Steam Next Fest demo is still a lethally good time when you get into the flow and the riffs kick in. Against feels frenetic and effortless at the same time, oozing style and knowing exactly when to push you a little further than you’ve already been.

Perhaps its best moment, though, is the end level boss with a giant spider – the animation for which is incredibly impressive. It suggests that Joy Way is working towards something more targetted and personalized than just a set of new tracks; a rhythm-based action game in which each level introduces its own unique set of challenges.

Not a bad set of first impressions, then, but I wonder just how much capacity Joy Way has to sustain it. The developer is still working on the Early Access and Quest versions of Stride and is also working on another prototype for Steam Next Fest called Outlier. While it’s impressive to see the team rapidly iterate like this, I’d prefer that Stride was seen through to completion and then Against given the team’s full attention.

For now, Against is due to release later this year on Steam. You can try out the demo for yourself right here.

Hands-On: Into The Darkness Roughly Scratches The Boneworks Itch On PC VR

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Truth be told, I’d hoped we’d see more VR apps try to swipe Boneworks’ crown by now. After the dizzying three-hit combo it delivered alongside Alyx and Saints & Sinners a year ago, VR seemed ready to embrace a new wave of physics-driven action games.

That hasn’t quite happened. At least not yet. Fortunately for Vietnam-based Cosmos Games, that makes Into The Darkness a welcome refresher no matter how familiar — and scrappy — it may feel.

And, make no mistake about it, this is very familiar. Into The Darkness is, pure and simple, a Boneworks clone, right down to the simplistic enemy AI that mindlessly marches towards you. The Steam Next Fest demo also isn’t quite as polished in this early stage, but it’s still a pretty good replication of what Stress Level Zero originally achieved; guns must be realistically reloaded, blades have to be thrust with force, and the expected appearance of a crowbar is as much a tool as it as a weapon, letting you snag the edge of higher platforms and climb up it.

All of this we’ve seen before, and the bits of Into The Darkness that aren’t borrowed from Boneworks are lifted from elsewhere, including Gravity Gloves and even a tutorial that mirrors The Walking Dead. But, crucially, all of this is still a lot of fun. Handguns and assault rifles are fine and all, but the real joy of Into The Darkness comes from fighting its robotic forces with melee weapons – hooking one around the neck with a crowbar to keep it out of reach and then poking a katana between its eyes, or holding its head in place while you line up your knife. All of that’s here and it’s just as fun as it’s ever been.

But it also needs plenty of work. The SteamVR demo features a lot of narration and there are a lot of mistakes in the game’s English that need to be cleaned up before release. Some interactions also need a touch more work; climbing a ladder feels spongey and strange, like your arms are elasticated, for example.

Even if those issues are addressed, though, what I’m not expecting Into The Darkness to really do, though, is push any of this further forward than we’ve already seen. All of its ideas, from physical platforming to puzzles that play by the real world’s rules, are taken directly from other sources without anything new to add to them. Granted this is just a small slice of the game, but nothing I’ve seen some other trailers and videos suggests it has aspirations any higher than imitation.

Into The Darkness VR Screenshot

Right now, though? That might be enough. I’ve really missed VR experiences that strive to bring your whole body into their world, and Into The Darkness certainly does that. I’ll gladly hack and clamber my way through its PC VR campaign when it launches later this year, even if I doubt I’ll shake that distinct feeling of deja vu.

Into The Darkness releases on SteamVR later in 2021. What do you think about the game? Let us know in the comments below!

‘Pistol Whip’ is Getting a Modifier System & ‘Smoke & Thunder’ Campaign This Summer

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Pistol Whip (2020), the action rhythm-shooter from Cloudhead Games, is getting a update this summer that will bring both a so-called ‘Styles System’, which aims to remix gameplay by letting you choose from a number of new modifiers, and the game’s next Western-themed campaign.

The studio, which announced the news during UploadVR’s recent game showcase, says the Styles System will let you both choose from preset gameplay modes and customize them for new a different gameplay styles: e.g. big-headed enemies, bullet hell-style enemy fire, and a selection of different weapons seen throughout the game’s multiple campaigns.

This will allow you to modify gameplay practically any way you want and ‘remix’ any campaign level, Cloudhead says.

The new Styles System (seen in action above) is slated to arrive alongside the game’s next campaign, which is called ‘Smoke & Thunder’.

Smoke & Thunder was first teased back in April, and takes on a distinctively Western flavor as it spins the story of a Wild West gunslinger in search of her missing sister. We’re expecting a healthy dose of dual six guns and spaghetti western tropes aplenty.

Both are said to come at some point this summer, launching on all supported platforms including Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, SteamVR headsets, and PSVR.

PSVR Shooter ‘Fracked’ Gameplay Trailer Reveals More Explosive Action, Coming Summer 2021

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Fracked, an upcoming single-player shooter, just got a brand-new gameplay trailer that shows off more of its high-energy action.

Developed by nDreams—the same team behind Oculus exclusive Phantom: Covert Ops (2020)—Fracked is heading exclusively to PSVR sometime this summer. The updated gameplay trailer was revealed at both IGN’s ‘Summer of Gaming’ event and UploadVR’s game showcase.

In it, we get a look at some new action as you take on enemies skiing down a mountain, and have to fight through a horde of different baddies at a funicular station—that’s fancy talk for a train that can go up steep inclines.

If you’re wondering what the hell is going on, here’s what nDreams says about Fracked.

The corporation dug too deep unleashing the ‘Fracked’ from the depths. Across one day, take on an interdimensional army that combines hive mind mentality and gun-wielding supremacy – the perfect targets to unload round upon round into. Fracked is in-your-face action with a cutting commentary on corporate greed and the climate change emergency. Save the day, to save the world.

The studio says Fracked features a unique cover system as well as multiple first-person free movement methods. You’ll be able to lean into your skis as you traverse the game’s many mountains, physically climb to safety when, say, the funicular’s tracks have been destroyed, and make dangerous base jumps when you need a quick getaway.

There’s no clear release date yet, as nDreams is still quoting a Summer 2021 launch. We’ll have our eyes peeled for any news to pop up, so check back soon.

Cloudhead CEO Talks Funding VR’s Next Big Games

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Denny Unger, CEO of Pistol Whip developer Cloudhead Games, touched on the difficulties of funding large-scale VR games in a recent series of tweets.

On Monday Unger, who helped found Cloudhead nearly a decade ago, noted that he’d seen a lot of people asking where the next ‘big’ VR game was. More specifically, people have been asking where is the next Half-Life: Alyx-caliber game.

“It’s important to recognize that many studios like ours have “those games” sitting in limbo,” he wrote. “BIG ideas require BIG budgets & we’re maxing out what works to financially power up BIG ideas later.”

By “what works”, Unger is almost certainly referring to the success of Pistol Whip, Cloudhead’s third main VR game that launched in late 2019. The game’s one of a number of titles that’s performed well on the Oculus Quest platform among other headsets and is still supported with new DLC and updates to this day – we just showcased the new Style System at the Upload VR Showcase last week.

“Cloudhead Games is 29 people at industry standard rates (and growing), the bulk of those are producing Pistol Whip content, which some might consider a “small game” comparatively, Unger continued. “Now think about something like Alyx and the people power/budget required there.”

Last year, a member of Cloudhead wrote on Reddit that the studio would love to return to its original VR series, The Gallery, but it would need the market to be bigger before it could really justify the third entry.

Bigger game publishers, meanwhile, remain reluctant to fund large-scale VR titles while the install base remains comparatively small to traditional consoles. That’s why Facebook is making deals directly with companies like Ubisoft to get new versions of Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell into VR, rather than Ubisoft funding these titles on its own steam.

There are larger titles on the way to look forward to, though. Stress Level Zero’s next game is likely to be revealed this summer and may fit the tone Unger is touching upon after the success of Boneworks. Capcom is developing a VR port of Resident Evil 4 for Oculus Quest 2, too, and we’re yet to see what Sony is lining up for its next VR headset for the PS5.

What do you hope to see out of VR’s next big game? Let us know in the comments below!