No Man Sky is a massive open-world survival game released in 2016 and has VR support in 2019. The world is so big that it boasts to have 18 quadrillion planets for players to explore. Every planet has its own ecosystem with its own unique flora, fauna, and weather conditions. There are various alien species that may engage players in combat or trade within the planetary systems. Players get to operate spaceships and freighters to travel between planets or bases. Players have to defend their spaceships and bases from pirates in the game. If defending from pirates is too mainstream, players get to become pirates themself and launch attacks on the trading posts. The games center around exploration, survival, combat, trading, and base-building mechanics.
Why is it engaging?
The amount of immersion that No Man Sky VR offers is massive. The VR gives players the illusion that they are in the game world. Most of the interaction with the game objects is done using hands and fingers which simulates realistic interaction in the virtual world. The VR allows players to experience things that are not possible in the real world with today’s technology such as operating and traveling in a spaceship. It gives a fresh experience that players are able to go on an adventure to the wildlife and build their own secret hideout. The fact that players are able to play No Man Sky using VR makes it engaging because of the level of immersion that the players get to experience. The experience that players will never get with regular gameplay using a keyboard and mouse while staring at monitor screens.
What features can be improved
Another feature that can be improved is the HUD display of the game menu. It covers almost the whole screen. No Man Sky should offer the option to reduce the HUD display to mobile size. Although it is not a big issue as most people would not be playing the game while interacting with the game menu.
The performance of No Man Sky VR can be improved. Due to the limitation of the hardware, No Man Sky VR suffers a performance penalty in terms of graphics and frame rate. A quick fix would be to optimize the game as much as possible. The performance may be drastically improved at the upcoming launch of PlayStation VR2.
References
[MrWhitty2000]. (2022, August 21). No Man’s Sky VR Is More Immersive Than You Probably Realize [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPaiML7PNCA&ab_channel=MrWhitty2000
Kuchera, B. (2019, August 15). No Man’s Sky in VR is the best and worst of modern VR. Polygon. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/15/20806094/no-mans-sky-beyond-pc-vr-impressions-rift-s-index-psvr
[PlayStation]. (2023, June 3). No Man’s Sky – State of Play June 2022 Announce Trailer | PS VR2 Games [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zd61kKEAMA&ab_channel=PlayStation
[Cas and Chary VR]. (2019, August 20). No Man’s Sky VR – 20 Tips and Tricks For Beginner VR Players [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zd61kKEAMA&ab_channel=PlayStation
MondlyVR is a Virtual Reality application in education for language learning. It is available on Steam and the Oculus Store and compatible with Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest headsets. Undoubtedly, the best way to learn a language is to integrate it into a specific locale. However, the teaching conditions may not guarantee that every class has foreign teachers, and not every student has the chance to communicate with native speakers most of the time. MondlyVR provides an immersive and innovative language learning experience with advanced chatbot and speech recognition technology.
Engaging Design
Gamified learning process
Learning a new language can be tedious and frustrating at times. MondlyVR considers this, and instead of taking the traditional approach of learning a new language through books and courses, it tries to make learning a new language fun through a gamified learning experience to increase engagement. It is well-designed and uses graphics and animation to create a game-like dynamic. After completing lessons and exercises, users earn points to track their winning streak and compare their performance with friends and other users on the MondlyVR leaderboard. It creates a fun, game-like environment and helps maintain momentum and engagement. In most core lessons, visual representations of the words taught help to enhance learning and retention.
Simulated but realistic conversation situations
This virtual immersion tool will place users in a simulated environment. Users are immersed in various situations requiring them to converse with locals, including simulating grocery shopping, booking a flight, checking-in in front of the hotel reception desk, or ordering food at a restaurant. In other words, the app’s goal is to simulate real-life situations of native speakers through VR and let users stay at home but have an immersive experience. In that case, users are more engaged because of the simulated but realistic surroundings.
Well-done Features
Multi-player mode
There is a multi-player mode for users to connect with people worldwide, bringing people together. Users will be automatically assigned to a VR room with up to 11 other participants. Users can socialize and practice the language they want to learn “face-to-face” as if they were in the same room, vastly improving user participation and interactivity. With speech recognition, intelligent suggestions, and real-time translation, MondlyVR will ensure that users don’t get stuck on words they don’t remember and keep their conversations flowing smoothly.
Effective curriculum design
MondlyVR supports various languages and different levels of courses. It offers the option to switch between transliteration and script, which is very useful for learning a new language. Generally, it schedules short (around 10-15 minutes each) but frequent lessons. MondlyVR is designed to be dipped in and out of, and all the progress will be saved for users to come back to. The platform provides users with daily lessons that include sentences and new vocabulary so that users can learn coherently. It gives users their learning feedback immediately. At the end of each class, users can jot down everything they’ve learned. There are also weekly quizzes for users to test their learning outcomes and track their learning progress.
Diversifyed products under Mondly
Besides MondlyVR, Mondly offers other products to provide users with multiple options. The products include Mondly Languages, MondlyAR, Mondly Kids, etc. Mondly Languages is a primary language learning app that integrates chatbot and speech recognition technologies to help users learn any of the 33 languages it offers. MondlyAR takes a scan of the room and will have an avatar “teacher” who brings virtual objects, like animals, musical instruments, planets, etc.—into the study room as teaching tools. It is similar to a classroom lecture, but users can interact with the animations, tapping them on devices or even getting up to walk around and obtain a 360-degree view. Mondly Kids is similar to the main app but designed for toddlers and kids. Mondly Languages and MondlyAR could not provide a learning journey as immersive as MondlyVR. Still, users can apply them on mobile phones or pads when they are not equipped with a VR headset at their sides or do not have a decent space for a VR experience. For example, users can easily use their fragmented time to study during their commuter routine by using their mobile phones. These various products and tools are user-friendly and humanized for users to choose based on their time, location, equipment, and preference.
Mondly Languages
MondlyAR
Areas of Improvement
Not applicable for advanced learners
Mondly is a fascinating and helpful application for users to start learning a language. It provides an interactive interface, lively animation, immersive world to give beginners an impressive experience of learning a new language. While it’s easy to dive into the technicalities of the Mondly application, one limitation is it needs to be more diverse in its language lessons. Advanced users (B2 to C2 level) may need suitable grammar topics, appropriate lessons, and vocabulary. Therefore, users who want to find advanced daily lessons must look for other resources to supplement these missing vital factors. The direction for Mondly to improve could be to add more intermediate or advanced courses and content, trying to expand the range of target users.
Same format across all languages
Unlike a platform designed for one specific language, whose functionality is built around particular features of that language, the Mondly system is a template across all languages. It is not a fundamental shortcoming because this standard design is the best way to deliver an effective learning outcome. However, users might get tired of the single format after a while if they learn more than one language simultaneously. In that case, Mondly may consider upgrading the design for different languages to ensure users can have a novel experience even though they are using this application to learn multiple languages simultaneously.
Conclusion
MondlyVR is user-friendly and exciting. I like it and want to recommend it to people who intend to learn a new language for whatever purpose. It’s straightforward to get started. Users will learn words and phrases quickly with the help of well-designed sessions. Besides, it provides an immersive world to bring users into simulated but realistic situations to practice languages. Users can also easily find native speakers to communicate with voice translation. The above solves the environmental limitations of language learning in a significant context and encourages users to concentrate on learning. I am confident that users as language beginners would be able to choose a best-fit product under Mondly company. But if you are an advanced learner, let’s look forward to Mondly’s further progress in the future.
Mondly VR: Language learning immersion. Mondly. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.mondly.com/vr
*, N., F, K., & TheThailandLife. (2021, July 8). My personal mondly review – learning thai on premium (2021). The Thailand Life | Award-Winning Thai Blog. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.thethailandlife.com/mondly-review
Advincula, C. J. (2022, November 21). Mondly review: 7 bona fide features with digital advantages – Ling App. ling. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://ling-app.com/tips/mondly-review/
Among Us VR is a virtual reality (VR) remake of the classic social game Among Us, which is an online multiplayer strategy game of survival. Among Us launched in 2018 by Innersloth and became extremely popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a semblance of normalcy and social engagement during the global lockdowns. It took a while for this game to finally be released in VR, but it seems to have been worth the wait.
The game has 4–10 players aboard an alien spaceship called the Skeld. Each player is assigned a private role as either a “crewmate” or an “impostor.” Crewmates must run around the ship completing a set of tasks while keeping an eye on the others to find and avoid being killed by one or more impostors. Players can be voted off the ship when a crewmate’s body is found, or an emergency meeting is called.
Winning for the crewmates entails successfully identifying and voting off all the impostors or completing all the tasks. As for the impostors, they must kill enough crewmates to equal the number of impostors to the number of crewmates, while convincing everyone that they too are a crewmate.
A personal favorite
As someone who has played the original 2D version a little too much, the VR remake adds to the tension and dramatizes the game even more. It is more than just any other social game as it involves reading personalities and strategizing to win.
Furthermore, each aspect of the VR remake is faithfully reconstructed from the original flat game. It not only preserves the exciting elements of the original game but elevates the experience in this game of survival, teamwork, and betrayal.
Why is it engaging?
The first-person VR perspective adds several dimensions to the game along with a greater sense of presence. Walking around a 3D rendition of the Skeld spaceship map with motion controls, performing tasks like fueling engines with a manual pump or setting the course holding the steering, is far more intuitive than doing all of this on the flat version of the game.
Furthermore, it makes the user feel like they really are aboard the spaceship. The flickering of lights before they completely go out or the sudden locking of doors when the user is in a room on one side of the ship causes a palpable panic and physically startles the users, making the experience even more realistic.
From performing the tasks, which are like mini-games, to slowly glancing over your shoulder, the VR rendition brings a new level of suspense to the game. This provides a fresh and familiar feel while simultaneously accentuating the best features of the original game.
Standout features
The game mechanics were translated extremely well from the 2D game to the VR remake. Completing tasks, running around when the lights get sabotaged, etc. are very fun in VR and extremely immersive.
The hand gestures for performing tasks and maneuvering about the spaceship are extremely intuitive, making it more lifelike.
Additionally, the soundscape adds to the overall immersive experience. Proximity chat is perhaps one of the most stand-out features of the game. Allowing nearby crewmates to communicate with each other, being able to hear the footsteps and voices from the direction they are coming in, as well as the sound of fellow crewmates being killed nearby makes it even more immersive and really tense for the crewmates, fostering dramatic tension and outright fear.
The ability to talk with the other players and emote with hand gestures made this party game feel like an actual party.
The game also accommodates motion sickness and prevents potential nausea risks by providing optional blinders for the camera.
Possible improvements
Low precision controls: While the hand gestures are definitely a great feature, the controls are slightly chunky. This takes a while to get used to while completing tasks aboard the spaceship. A daintier set of hands could help with this, and providing greater precision while performing tasks and reducing the dependence on the user’s depth perception.
Narrow viewing area: Performing tasks narrows the viewable area, and coupled with the chunky control, it becomes tough to maneuver and still be vigilant at the same time, especially when there are multiple crewmates performing the same task.
Creative Design: The design of the Skeld spaceship itself was intended to be cartoonish and pristine but deters from the reality that one may expect aboard a spaceship. This borders more on the creative side to have a greater sense of detail in the rooms and make them more plentiful. Perhaps adding some posters to the walls, filth on the spaceship, or food in the cafeteria could add to the detail.
A single map: There is only a single map available in the game right now, making the experience limited. The addition of other maps, as there are in the original game, would encourage a larger number of users to return to the game.
Lack of customization: The original game had several options like choosing the number of impostors, altering the kill cooldown time, and several other such settings to alter the gameplay. These alterations could either increase or decrease the difficulty of the game, but currently, no such customization is possible in the VR game.
Conclusion
Among Us is a game that was perfectly designed to be played in a VR environment. The VR version received immense praise for the exceptional immersive experience it provides with its game mechanics, soundscape, and interactivity.
During the pandemic, when the original game was wildly popular, I remember playing it with all of my friends daily and enjoying it so much. The fact that this game is now in VR makes it even more engaging.
It is social, interactive, devious, and now it is immersive!
The Great Ocean from Actrio Studio is a unique VR experience that allows one to embark on a stimulating underwater mission while learning more about the fascinating intricacies of our ocean. The game was released on September 17, which is also World Clean Up day, further delineating the motive behind it.
Featuring several real-world ocean locations to explore, including the Galapagos, the Caribbean island, Cozumel, and the Arctic Ocean, the Great Ocean VR allows users to operate a high-tech ROV on a journey through the ocean. Along with encountering various forms of underwater life, the experience also enables users to perform tasks involving cleaning of the ocean floor with the ROV, fixing leakages in oil containers, and several other tasks highlighting the importance of protecting our oceans.
Why do I like it?
Living on an incredible yet unfamiliar blue planet, exploration becomes the key to understanding the world around us. What’s more, is understanding the beauty of the life it nurtures and how it must be preserved. This VR application not only educates users about underwater life but sheds light on how the oceans can and must be protected.
Why is it engaging?
The game provides an immersive all-around experience. More than just reading or watching videos about creatures in the ocean, being able to experience it and swim with them is much more exciting. It leaves the users curious to learn more about the ocean and how to preserve it. Navigating through the ocean is quite intuitive. The gameplay mechanics including driving and managing robotic arms, switching animations are smooth and visually stimulating.
Additionally, there are various dive modes to choose from. One can choose to perform cleanup tasks, repair work, or just exploration depending on the user’s preferences. Additional levels and content as the game move towards a full release.
Standout features
Good pace: It can be daunting to move at a high pace in this immersive underwater environment, but this game does not put too much pressure on the user.
Clean user interface (UI): The user interface is not obtrusive and clearly provides users with the necessary information needed at different points through the journey. Displaying plenty of navigational information, and ease of switching between task/progress and exploration screens, the design is intuitive to use.
Sound: The calming tunes enhance the experience, allowing the user to simultaneously feel like serenity and vast expanse of the ocean. Missions: The submersible has three arms – a grabber, a welder, and a scanner – that one can use to complete different tasks. Additionally, the scanner can be used to record points of interest and marine life. These points of interest are tracked and available to rediscover on the HUD. Each scannable object has a short educational snippet explaining its role in the biome.
Possible Improvements
Characters and Animation: The sea creatures do not look realistic which could be improved by more detailed 3D models. The knowledge base as well is limited and adding more sea creatures to the set of visible creatures would enhance the user experience. Additionally, the movement of the sea creatures appears staggered and could be made more life-like.
Limited interactivity: All the tasks have the same controls, hence they do not feel varied. In the real world, the various missions would have different ways to rectify the problem and that could be implemented in the game. Missions could also be made more interesting by adding additional tasks.
Control: Turning causes the ROV to roll which could be rectified with better calibration of the controller.
Detailed landscape: Having a more detailed landscape of the coral reefs and all objects in the scene would further immerse the user in the experience.
Conclusion
The Great Ocean VR experience faithfully serves its goal which was to educate people about the vast expanse of the ocean and lay emphasis on its protection. However, the Great Ocean VR has a long way ahead to make the experience more realistic while simultaneously expanding its knowledge and location base.
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars Series is a three-part VR experience developed by ILMxLAB and published by Disney Interactive Studios. The game was a finalist for an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media in 2019. It was also awarded the 2020 Game Developers Choice Award for Best VR/AR Game and the 2020 Producers Guild of America Award for Innovation.
Why is it engaging?
Vader Immortal is an immersive experience for any Star Wars fan and anyone wanting to try a VR experience for the first time that makes your Jedi fantasies come true. You will be put into a story where you get to take control of the action during the key moments of the story such as engaging in lightsaber duels and using the power of the Force against the stormtroopers and even facing off against Darth Vader himself.
Features well done
Graphics
Star Wars games rarely fail to impress us visually and this is especially true with Vader Immortal Series. This AAA narrative based adventure VR experience makes good use of the VR strengths while avoiding its shortcomings. For example, the environments are more conservative in size which allows the developers to focus on the resources they have in higher detailed textures, character animations and more sophisticated lighting which results in game worlds that are true to the Star Wars universe.
Sound
Like the visuals, there is not a Star Wars game that sounded bad and with access to the Lucasfilm sound vault, Vader Immortal sound effects are no exception. From the scream of a TIE Fighter overhead or the hum of a lightsaber, all the sounds in this experience is in 3D audio. This ensures players feel fully immersed into the experience in the Star Wars universe.
Gameplay
The gameplay’s goal is accessibility and mainstream appeal by keeping the game mechanics straightforward, competent and intuitive. Combat wise, Vader Immortal teaches the player a few abilities across the three-episode story arc with lightsaber combat being introduced in episode 1, force grabbing and throwing in episode 2 and adding in some blaster gunplay in episode 3. Towards the climax of the series, players can use a combination of the abilities learnt throughout the experience to duel with Vader himself. The best part about the combat is that players have the ultimate control to the lightsaber such as when to utilise it and turning it on and off at will. These combat mechanics brings about more options as to how players take on waves of stormtroopers and other random minions. While the gameplay may often feel simple, the game does succeeds in making you feel like a powerful Jedi towards the end of the series.
Areas for improvement
There are some texture pop-ins and jagged edges in large 3D models which could be due to technological limitations and optimisation concerns. Despite the shortcoming, the environment still does look impressive. The main problem could be that the paint-by-numbers and simplistic gameplay offers little replay value. This only end-game content that players have are the three training dojos at the end of each episode with various degrees of difficulty. However, completing them only offers some cosmetic unlocks such as different lightsaber designs seen in the Star Wars cinematic universe. Since Vader Immortal is marketed to be more of a VR experience then being an actual game, I think it is justified that there is not much replayability and that the three training dojos are a bonus for players who bought the game to continue to satisfy their Jedi fantasy at the end of the series.
Vader Immortal’s Training Dojo Gameplay
Conclusion
Despite being a short experience, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars Series provides the most immersive and authentic Jedi experience that every Star Wars fan would love to experience due to its impressive visuals and immersive gameplay. Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series is an excellent example of what current VR technology can offer and a proof of concept that current-generation hardware is capable of producing amazing VR visuals with enough resources.
Superhot VR is an independent first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed and published by Superhot Team. The game originated as an entry in the 2013 7 Day FPS Challenge, which Superhot Team expanded into a browser-based demonstration that September. In August 2019, A rebuilt version of the game to better support virtual reality, Superhot VR, was released for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR headset devices.
SUPERHOT VR Launch Teaser
Why this game is engaging:
SUPERHOT is a first-person view shooting game that breaks the line between careful strategy and daring fighting. The concept of the game is very engaging. In the game, time only continues when the player moves, and this clever concept of time manipulation gives the player the superhuman reflexes of a slow-motion hero. At the same time, at the end of each level, players can also enjoy and save the movement with the regular timeline.
The level design of SUPERHOT-VR is also engaging. Each level is only the size of the player’s movable range in the real world, allowing the player to move freely in the VR world without causing the player to feel VR motion sickness. Furthermore, each level was divided into several trim levels. Carefully observe each trim level to find the previous level’s route, making the game feel linear even though there are many levels.
At the same time, the art style of SUPERHOT-VR is also very engaging. All items and enemies are displayed in the form of polyhedrons. Every time the player kills an enemy, the enemy will be broken into smaller pieces. This art style can not only give players the pleasure of smashing glass but also reduce the requirements for the host and allow more players to play this game.
What Can Be Improved:
One of the shortcomings is that the game production team needed to add more save points. The production team hopes to let players experience each primary level’s linear flow and story. But players will have a strong sense of frustration when they die because once they die, they will need to start all over again. I often get killed by the last enemy and replay the same level again when I play.
Another point that can be optimized is that there are only few weapons in the game, only individual melee weapons (katana, fist, etc), throwing weapons (wine bottles, wine glasses, etc.), and some firearms (pistols, shotguns, etc). It’s also missing random events to change each level at different times. The game only support story and endless mode. These make the process of each game similar, and players will inevitably feel bored in repeated games.
Conclusion:
Superhot VR’s ingenious concept of time manipulation allows players unparalleled reflexes. Smashing wave after wave of glassy enemies while deftly dodging threats with body movement is an exciting and worthwhile challenge in both stories and endless modes.
Citation:
Stapleton, D. (2017, August 4). Superhot VR Review. IGN. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/08/04/superhot-vr-review
Superhot VR on steam. SUPERHOT VR on Steam. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://store.steampowered.com/app/617830/SUPERHOT_VR/
YouTube. (2016, December 5). Superhot VR release trailer. YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzG7Wc6mbwE
YouTube. (2019, May 21). Superhot VR Quest launch teaser. YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9qNP5EPFEE
Tentacular is a VR game released by Devolver Digital where you are a giant tentacle kaiju monster. Raised alongside the humans the story begins on your 16th birthday. You become an official citizen of the island of La Kalma and have to do adult things like getting applying for jobs. Hopefully, you will be to prove to yourself that you can be an outstanding adult.
Why is Tentacular engaging?
First of all the premise and aesthetics is quite silly, childish, and playful which is something look for when I am taking a break from studying. This is what initially hooked me into the game.
The game’s main loop is puzzles/minigames are heavily physics-based. Mini-games include things like projectile motion and angry birds style that happen when buildings and ships get thrown around. This is fun for me to watch because of the randomness that happens when two physical objects interact. While fun to watch, physics also makes you feel more immersed in this world. It feels like objects have a sense of weight when you can interact with them. Additionally, the tentacles wiggle which makes you feel like a tentacle monster.
In this game, there is some freedom to do what you want. Unlike what it seems at first glance, you are supposed to be the gentle giant in the town, but you as a player have a choice to wreak havoc and destroy things you aren’t supposed to. The game doesn’t feel too restrictive and at the end, you have this sandbox mode where you can do what you want.
Specific features I liked / What can be improved?
This game has a fair bit of dialogue. I liked how we initiate interactions with characters by tapping the top of their head with our tentacle. It makes it feels more immersive despite the cartoonish graphics because we feel like we are getting a direct response to our actions (vs pointing in their general direction and then tapping a button. This was also possible because the tentacles extend from your controller past your actual hands, there was no need to “teleport” the object towards your in-game hands/tentacles.
I also like how a speech bubble appears that seems to be attached to the person talking. The sentences are also purposefully made extremely short with big clear text, usually under 6-8 words at any given time to ensure readability. Additionally, you can tap them again to speed up/ mute their text in case you get bored like me.
One downside to this system was that you have to be looking at the bubble to understand what the NPC is saying since there was no true voice acting. The “voice acting” was random gibberish sounds like the Wii characters. There are parts of the game where someone is talking to you while you have to look somewhere else to complete the current timed task. This can be frustrating if you are someone who doesn’t want to miss dialogues.
One interesting thing I got when reading an interview with the developer was that having giant monsters’ main characters were tricky [1] . If the monster was too big, it would translate to you as the monster mostly looking down at the floor which will be annoying for your neck muscles. They had chosen the tentacle monster because the partial submerging into the water made it more comfortable to play as the city is at chest level. This height is also adjustable in the settings.
What is Wanderer VR?
Wanderer is a time-traveling puzzle Adventure in a post-apocalyptic world you find yourself at your grandfather’s apartment. You find a talking time-traveling watch that will guide you throughout history to prevent the collapse of society. The game mostly features escape room-like puzzles with the occasional action sequences sprinkled in. To progress, you would have to transport items between periods to solve many puzzles
Why is Wanderer VR engaging?
Initially clicked on this game because it looked realistic from the youtube thumbnail. The background in some scenes in the post-apocalyptic settings is relatively high fidelity which adds to the immersion. As someone who hasn’t owned VR yet, it looks like it would be very immersive.
As this is a puzzle game, I liked that most reviews say that the challenge level is appropriate. The puzzles themselves look interesting because you have a limited inventory. There are more items than you can hold onto in every location, so when you time travel between periods, you have to plan for what to take with you. In addition, you have to make mental notes of what you could use for future problems. This is an upgrade from the real-life escape rooms that I have experienced.
The game is also heavily physicalized. You can move all the items that you can put in your inventory. And also they are random items around the game that you can grab and throw. If you throw books at windows they will shatter and break. This helps with the immersion of us feeling like we are really in that world vs in most flat-screen games that I play, where I have the general assumption that most things in the environment can be grabbed unless they are outlined green/overlayed with yellow/ has a [Press E to interact] message.
There is no HUD in this game, all the UI is found glued onto your smart time traveling watch. This helps to make a more immersive experience by minimizing distractions.
This game also has a great sound design. The spatial design of sound helps to add to the immersion because you can hear the directions most sounds come from and leaning over to NPCs can make the voice lines louder.
One feature I liked is that it has a menu for “comfort settings” where you can adjust things that would make you motion sick in VR. For example, Smooth-turn off and teleport moving. There is also distance grabbing which means you don’t have to touch an object to grab it, making it a more convenient experience even though it is not 100% realistic.
What can be improved?
When distance grabbing is turned on, players sometimes accidentally grab random faraway objects when the hands close around the index controller. This could be improved by maybe having needed to press the trigger button to initiate a grab.
The character/NPC animations could also be improved. Given the fidelity of the environment design, it betrayed expectations when the quality of the NPCs did not match.
References
[1]I. SESSION, “Interview with Firepunchd: Info on Tentacular for PSVR2!!,” YouTube. Jan. 13, 2023. Accessed: Jan. 19, 2023. [YouTube Video]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLilqqCEx5g
When I was first exposed to VR games, my friend told me that Beat Saber was absolutely the first choice for experiencing VR games. So my first VR experience was the Beat Saber game based on the Huawei VR Glass 6DoF device. This immersive VR game experience brought me a very memorable and unique experience. After that I also conducted a more in-depth investigation and understanding of VR games and equipment, the following will talk about my feelings and thoughts about the VR game itself and the VR wearable device.
Beat Saber – A Go-to for Introducing Anyone to Virtual Reality Games
Introduction
Beat Saber is a virtual reality music game developed by Beat Games, a Czech independent game developer, in 2018. The game takes place in a surreal neon environment where players use a pair of contrasting colored sabers to cut through squares representing musical beats. It become the highest-rated game on Steam less than a week after its early access release and was awarded Best VR/AR Game in The Game Awards 2019.
Why I like the VR
Unlike the usual games I’ve played, Beat Saber illustrates the appeal of VR technology to the fullest. Using a pair of red and blue lightsabers that appear in my hands, I can cut through oncoming red and blue squares with precision, along with a dynamic rhythm. The process of constantly honing my skills and turning a haphazard action into a precise strike not only gave me a sense of accomplishment, but also gave my body a workout. In this game to have a game of pleasure in the sense of pleasure naturally speaks for itself. When I stepped on the dynamic beat, holding a red and blue lightsaber to precisely turn the square in front of me into two, this is the closest experience I’ve ever felt to Jedi Knight.
Why it is Engaging
First of all, Beat Saber has a very attractive soundtrack. The game’s soundtrack is carefully selected by the production team, and all of the music has a strong sense of motion and rhythm, including snare drum, bass, hip-hop, rock and other styles of music. Players can’t help but shake their bodies when they hear the music and want to carry on to the next song after playing one. Another engaging feature of this game is the tactile feedback. When hitting the block with the lightsaber simulated by the handle, the handle will then send out a subtle sense of vibration, and each player’s action can get the corresponding feedback. This sense of achievement with feedback can bring a great mood of pleasure.
What features are well done
The theme painting style and color tone of the game
Beat Saber is dominated by two main colors, red and blue, and the main scene is in the form of a dark field with deep lines spreading out in front of the player, bringing a sense of space. The entire game has very science fiction elements of cyberpunk painting style, as well as the gorgeous flow of light effects, the entire game screen looks very dynamic. This form of a dark field will allow players to feel a sense of mystery, and the most important thing is not to take up too much rendering space.
A sense of immersion experience
The immersive experience is the most essential and magical part of VR games, and Beat Saber brings players a direct immersive experience through exquisite scene modeling and rhythm pattern changes, along with scene changes such as dodging walls and bombs. The player’s every movement can get the corresponding feedback, and the fixed-point game to avoid players produce motion sickness. For example, if an oncoming obstacle – the wall, you have to avoid direct impact by crouching or dodging, otherwise it will be game over.
How some features can be improved
A single fixed script lacks the uniqueness of the main character
Beat Saber is oriented more toward a leisure and fitness mini-game, so it lacks the completeness and complexity of the screenplay. And as the main character of the game, we can not decide the development of the screenplay based on behavior. Perhaps the future of VR games is to achieve the game of each complete script completed by the player’s personal participation, the game designer just designed a virtual environment and defines some events. How the specific plot development, each player may not be quite the same. Just like in Westworld, it will be up to the players to complete their own stories in the future, and the designers will just create an environment for the players to happen.
Gameplay is relatively simple
In Beat Saber, each time you cut the block there will be laser splashes, bringing very realistic feedback. But in fact, this game is fundamentally a game of cutting blocks, and its gameplay is very single. Players only need to wave their arms and cut the cubes, and did not highlight the uniqueness of VR to the game. It is believed that as VR technology continues to mature, as well as facial recognition, gesture recognition, full-body motion recognition and other technology support, VR games will have a more natural interaction process. The game experience will also move in the direction of more immersive, which are not available before the traditional game. This is also the direction that VR game developers need to work on, and is what players are looking forward to.
Conclusion
Beat Saber as an entry-level VR game, with exquisite game scenes, and high-definition picture quality, combined with innovative red and blue lightsaber chopping cube gameplay. But behind the success of this game is a certain degree of neglect of the uniqueness of VR games. VR games should more focus on unprecedented immersion and natural interaction with reality, which are different from traditional 2D and 3D platform games.
Huawei VR Glass 6DoF
Introduction
Huawei VR glasses 6DoF is Huawei’s product based on the previous 3DoF glasses released in 2021. In addition to the 3 rotation angles, 6DoF VR glasses can also be displaced back and forth, left and right, up and down, so you can really integrate into the virtual world and interact with all kinds of things, as Huawei said at the launch, “more than just watching movies”.
Why I like the VR
This is the first VR glasses I’ve come across, and it’s also the preferred device for HarmonyOS mobile users to experience VR, and it gives me a very unique immersive experience. I can freely explore the universe, immerse myself in the beauty of the world, integrate my body into the virtual world to interact with it, and experience games that I have not experienced before.
Why it is Engaging
Most of the VR devices we have seen are helmet-shaped, while Huawei VR Glass has taken a different approach by separating the battery and computing chip from the headset, thus being able to make the product so thin and light that it looks like a very stylish pair of premium sunglasses.
What features are well done
Lightweight and convenient to bring
The biggest advantage of Huawei VR glasses is that they are lightweight. The phone can be held in your hand or put in your pocket, so there is no cord tied to it. Because the glasses are very light, even if you wear them for a long time, your nose will not hurt (but if you wear them incorrectly for a long time, you will feel pressure on your head, simply adjust them a little).
Good viewing experience
The resolution of Huawei VR glasses is relatively high, although the crystal lattice is perceptible in the process of use, and there is a sense of limited perspective, the 3D film and Huawei VR glasses are very high adaptability. Wearing VR glasses, users can experience the 3D big screen in their own beds. In addition, because of the ability to mobile projection (VR as a cell phone screen), other non-VR video software content, can also be projected into the giant screen mode, and the viewing effect is very good.
How some features can be improved
Resolution of the VR Glass
Huawei VR Glass is more oriented to the market positioning of movie watching and is not as good as the VR all-in-one machine in the VR game experience. Huawei VR Glass with folding characteristics is more suitable for travel or business trips for a long time in a car. In terms of home utility, its game or viewing technology and resolution are lower since the resolution of VR devices should reach 4K or higher to ensure high-definition degrees.
Dizziness during long-time use
The dizziness that can occur during long-time wear and intense gaming is a problem common to most VR glasses currently available. The essence of this problem is that humans are very sensitive to the mismatch between the vestibular and oscular systems. The vestibule corresponds to the IMU in VR devices (sensing acceleration, directional changes, and ensuring our body balance without falling), while the oscular system corresponds to the camera on the device. However, at this moment, VR devices are unable to simulate the human brain to perceive motion such as acceleration and deceleration. Currently, I can think of a solution to sit on my computer chair to play, because the chair is 360 degrees or 720 degrees to turn up very conveniently and smoothly, so that can significantly alleviate the problem of dizziness. But this method does not apply to games like Beat Saber, which must be operated by standing up.
Conclusion
Huawei VR glasses 6DoF, as Huawei’s continued exploration in the VR market, is a significant upgrade from the previous generation of VR glasses. There is a great improvement in the freedom of VR glasses and the experience of the game, but its resolution and the dizziness generated when wearing them still need to be improved and solved.
References:
Cureton, D. (2021) Huawei launches VR Glass 6DOF headset, XR Today. Available at: https://www.xrtoday.com/virtual-reality/huawei-launches-vr-glass-6dof-headset/ (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Hunt, C. and Sutrich, N. (2020) Beat saber: Everything you need to know about the VR rhythm game, Windows Central. Windows Central. Available at: https://www.windowscentral.com/beat-saber-everything-we-know-about-vr-rhythm-game (Accessed: January 19, 2023).
Jagneaux, D. (2020) Beat saber PSVR review – the most addictive VR game to date, UploadVR. Available at: https://uploadvr.com/beat-saber-psvr-review-the-most-addictive-vr-game-to-date/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).
Mishra, Y. (2022) Huawei launched Smart Vision VR Glass that could connect to smartphone, Huawei Central. Available at: https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-launched-smart-vision-vr-glass-that-could-connect-to-smartphone/ (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Staff, G.R. (2019) Here’s every winner from this year’s Golden Joystick Awards, including the Ultimate Game of the Year, gamesradar. GamesRadar+. Available at: https://www.gamesradar.com/Golden-Joystick-awards-2019-winners/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).
Kovee is a VR theme park in Indonesia. My family and I had the chance to try the various VR simulations and games, one of notable ones being a multiplayer arrow shooting tower defense game.
Multiplayer arrow shooting VR
About the VR
Core gameplay
The objective is to protect the castle from losing all of its health. Players need to clear waves of enemy intruders by shooting them down with their bows and arrows. Enemies can throw knives at players, which players can then dodge by ducking/crouching down to the ground. There is a variety of maps to choose from, which allows for fresh strategies and avoids repetitiveness.
Player movement
The equipment used are the standard headset and 2 controllers. Players shoot arrows by stretching out one arm to hold the “bow”, and pull back the other arm while holding the button on the controller — in a motion similar to bowing an arrow — and then releasing the button to release the arrow. Certain shots do more damage, such as headshots or long distance shots. Players are stationed on towers most of the time, and they can teleport to their desired spot by shooting an arrow at the location.
Why I like the VR
The experience is very immersive — after finishing the session and removing the headset, it did not feel like I had been playing a game. Instead, it felt like I just traveled back from a different place. I appreciated how beginner-friendly it was, especially considering the target audience of such VR theme parks being families, friends or couples — people who are not necessarily familiar with using VR interfaces. Theme park rides, such as roller coasters which usually have height restrictions or are advised against people who have health conditions, felt more accessible and safe. All these factors made for a good bonding experience with loved ones. To sum up my family’s experience at the theme park, here are some quotes from my 8-year-old brother and my 11-year-old cousin while they were on the VR roller coaster — “This is FUN!” and “WE’RE GOING TO DIEEE!”.
Why it is engaging
The simulation engages almost the whole body and senses, even though the players are standing in place and not walking around. Players’ arms are actively engaged in shooting arrows, and their legs are also involved when crouching down to dodge enemy knife attacks. We were quite physically tired after each session, which ironically added to immersiveness. The simulation also had many audio cues such as the sound of the knives flying through the air also engaging players’ hearing. In addition, enemies come from multiple directions, which urges players to keep looking around the 360-degree environment instead of just facing one single direction the whole time.
What features are well done
The simulation generally has good VR user interfaces (UI).
Virtual world reference frame
Some UI is placed on the objects in the environment. For example, the castle health is shown as text on the castle itself, so players simply need to turn their heads and look back at their castle. This makes it intuitive and easy to look at. Another example is how the arrow damage numbers and type (e.g. headshot) are shown directly above the enemy. Even the players’ waiting room is represented as what looks like a literal knight’s preparation room, and the UI for selecting the map and other settings are shown on the room’s walls.
Interact directly with objects & use physical actions
Some commands are done using the players’ actions, so there is no UI. For example, in order for players to teleport, they simply need to shoot an arrow to the spot they want to teleport to. The action of bowing an arrow also mimics real-life, minus the skills needed because players do not need to know how to use actual bow equipment.
Art style
The art style is slightly realistic but still stylised, and this helps to set the correct player expectations on the game physics and visual effects. The hand models in the VR world are also wearing gloves, which makes it feel more immersive by avoiding realism and feeling almost as if those are the players’ own hands.
Beginner-friendly
The simulation eases players into it. The waves of enemies start slowly, and gradually become more intense with more enemies. This gives beginners time to adjust at the beginning.
How some features can be improved
Player model
The players do not have a character model in the VR world — when we see other players, we only see their bow and arrow. This makes the experience less immersive. Perhaps allowing players to choose a character model would improve the experience, and since players are mostly standing in the same spot, the model animations required will mostly be the arrow shooting animation and the crouching animation. If we want to make it even more immersive, we could add the omnidirectional treadmill to allow players to walk around.
Indication of teleportation spots
Other than that, teleporting to desired positions is sometimes difficult, because some spots are not easy to shoot at or the hit box is not very obvious, which adds some unnecessary difficulty. This can be improved by making sure that every teleport spot has a direct arrow path with not too many obstacles, and a clearer visual indication of the hit box compared to the current vague blue edges as shown in the picture.
Conclusion
Overall, the VR is immersive in its art style and sound design, is engaging for the players’ whole body, and is beginner-friendly, which makes it a great option for bonding sessions with loved ones.
XR For Retail: Perfect Corp AR Diagnostics & Try-ons
Introduction
Perfect Corp is a company that specializes in AR for diagnostics and product try-ons for various consumer products on hands, the face and on the head. They have AR demos for a lot of applications, such as makeup try-ons, accessory try-ons for watches, earrings, rings, eyewear and even dermatological skin issue diagnostics. Their demo store is available here (and this link will bring you to a specific demo on earrings try-ons but there’s a lot more in their demo store).
Why do I like them?
Having worked in the consumer goods industry for the past few years, I like Perfect Corp’s focus on trying to bring about a very accessible alternative to users who may not find it convenient to physically go down to stores to try on the products they are interested in. This is also an interesting solution to business owners finding it difficult to stretch their resources across many locations to serve their entire consumer base across multiple geographies. By tailoring these technologies to create AR experiences for multiple brands, Perfect Corp’s AR try-ons also provide great value to both businesses and their consumers in how the technologies will be used to create coherent and strong brand experiences. Perfect Corp’s AR try-ons and diagnostics serve a big need which conventional product pack shots and even newer 3D product previews are unable to provide.
Top features which make it engaging
Real-time realistic movements and interactions
In the earring demo, you can really see how the earrings swing around when you move your head and it helps to really improve the realness of the experience. These are experiences which you simply cannot recreate with images or even having only the 3D model of the product. They require certain physics models in how the product will interact with human motion and these all help to elevate the consumer experience in the comfort of the consumers’ own location of choice.
In-depth and well-represented information reflecting the real world inputs
In the skin analysis demo , you can easily find out about your technical skin age, and have a report on the skin issues you’re facing. The application pinpoints exactly the visual features which it’s using to generate the scores, and they present all these visual features in a way which users can easily digest. They also prove that the information they retrieve from the images are highly correlated with actual dermatological assessments (Cook et al., 2022) which further prove that AR can not only be used for generating pleasant consumer experiences in try-out but also very effective communication for actual medical information about ourselves.
Smooth, intuitive controls
Perfect Corp has done a lot of groundwork in creating a seamless switch between what is real and what is virtual. If you look into their shade finder AR application, they automatically find the correct shade of makeup based on your facial skin shade and apply it to the face. The controls to slide between reality and the virtual face with makeup on are very intuitive to users and allows them to really see and compare what they can expect before and after applying makeup. This is a very powerful use of AR for try-ons which cannot easily be matched in the real world without spending a lot of time applying and removing the makeup.
What features can be improved and how?
Lighting
I find the textures and lighting of the try-on products a bit off from what is considered as realistic to consumers. It looks similar but you can easily tell that the objects are fake, not because of the geometry or the physics but mainly because of the lighting on the materials. I think with better lighting mechanisms this product can really be elevated to a whole new level. Especially if you try the nail AR, you’ll find that the coloured mask over the nails hardly changes even when you change the ambient lighting and direction of the light source. If we can incorporate lighting effects properly, the try-ons will definitely become even more engaging and believable.
Perception of objects
Although many of the try-ons are quick accurate and responsive, there are still times whereby the detections will flicker and disappear, such as in their nail AR. By not only implementing instance segmentation on each frame, but by also adding on object tracking algorithms (Apicharttrisorn et al., 2019) across the past x number of frames, it could be that we could have a better hold on keeping stable AR experiences which will allow for more realistic interactions.
Conclusion
I believe that AR for retail is going to be a huge field for further exploration, and Perfect Corp’s implementation is a frontrunner in this space. With improvements in real-time perception and lighting, I believe AR for retail will become a huge force for businesses and consumers that enables impressive and immersive brand experiences, through meaningful product interactions and discovery all in the comfort of the consumers’ location of choice.
References
Wang, Y., Ko, E., & Wang, H. (2021). Augmented reality (AR) app use in the beauty product industry and consumer purchase intention. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.
Cook, M. K., Kaszycki, M. A., Richardson, I., Taylor, S. L., & Feldman, S. R. (2022). Initial validation of a new device for facial skin analysis. Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 33(8), 3150-3153.
Apicharttrisorn, K., Ran, X., Chen, J., Krishnamurthy, S. V., & Roy-Chowdhury, A. K. (2019, November). Frugal following: Power thrifty object detection and tracking for mobile augmented reality. In Proceedings of the 17th conference on embedded networked sensor systems (pp. 96-109).
XR for Rehabilitation: Neuro Rehab VR
Introduction
Neuro Rehab VR is a company using tailored VR experiences to facilitate patient-specific rehabilitation exercises. They provide rehabilitation across multiple functional areas, such as over the upper body, lower body, cervical function, for pain management, and cognitive functions.
They have certification from the American Physical Therapy Association for using VR as a therapeutic intervention, and is also an FDA-registered therapy system covered by insurance in the US. Videos on the use of this system can be found at their official website.
Why do I like them?
I think Neuro Rehab VR presents a new paradigm to rehabilitation. It’s no longer about repetitive movements and performing various exercises to build up our bodily functions. Rehabilitation is a very important and tailored process in which we have experts guiding us on how we can attain or regain certain key functions with our bodies. In the past, I’ve gone for pain management sessions for the lower back and the therapist would often prescribe me with certain exercises for me to perform regularly. However, these sessions were quite dry and it didn’t feel like something I would enjoy. Eventually, I stopped going for them. By creating experiences which achieve rehabilitation through games and activities, I like how Neuro Rehab VR turns things around to allow people to focus on spending more time on having fun and enjoying new experiences instead of focusing on what we would normally consider as therapy time.
Top features which make it engaging
Reduced monotony with targeted experiences using various equipment and scenarios
I think it is great that Neuro Rehab VR is able to create new scenes and activities which are tailored to different rehabilitation aims, which can help to motivate and energize users into putting in more effort into the rehabilitation, as well as maintain interest in regularly working the particular bodily function they are training for. They often also use additional things on top of the headset in order to create the right environment for rehabilitation, such as upper body harnesses, or elastic bands held by the therapist. Since they can easily adjust the difficulty or change the settings of the game, they are also able to tweak the experience for different users to maximize the results for them. From the videos, we are also able to see that the users are a lot more motivated and enthusiastic about putting in a lot more effort into achieving the game objectives. Patient video testimonials (such as this one) also stressed on how they were able to get a good workout as compared to the past sessions which may have been more mundane.
Safe environment
In some of their VR settings, they help users with common tasks like getting items from grocery shelves and these are safe environments for the users to practise and regain confidence in daily activities. Instead of going into a real physical environment where there may be fall risks and confidence issues, the VR setup together with safety harnesses provides a new environment where users can refamiliarize themselves with everyday tasks.
What features can be improved and how?
Realism of objects
Many of the games showed in the demos were largely based on 3D models which were very cartoonish and polygons with the same color shading across the entire object. If we are able to render more realistic scenarios that may help to increase the engagement of the users even more.
More varied sceneries
One of the key benefits of being in a virtual world is that you can create beautiful sceneries which are out of this world. Some users undergoing rehabilitation may have physical constraints which prevent them from visiting places with beautiful sceneries or being tourists in foreign lands. If we can create sceneries which are beautiful to these users, it could increase the level of immersion and possibly enhance the effectiveness of the experience on the goals. They could benefit from having better rendering for natural foliage or for indoor materials in order to achieve this.
Conclusion
VR-based rehabilitation is a very good use of VR for motivating users to achieve functional and important objectives. By improving further on the graphics and toolkits for creating great environments, this should be a very ripe space for widespread adoption and providing a great experience to users requiring rehabilitation.
References
Cameirão, M. S., Oller, E. D., & Verschure, P. F. (2010). Neurorehabilitation using the virtual reality based Rehabilitation Gaming System: methodology, design, psychometrics, usability and validation. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 7(1), 1-14.
Burdea, G. C. (2003). Virtual rehabilitation–benefits and challenges. Methods of information in medicine, 42(05), 519-523.
Schultheis, M. T., & Rizzo, A. A. (2001). The application of virtual reality technology in rehabilitation. Rehabilitation psychology, 46(3), 296.
The best free game is a heavy title for any title (pun intended) on the Oculus, given the thousands of game titles in the Oculus Quest Store. For Harry Potter Fans, Echo Arena stands out as a Quidditch style game, where the players fly through the game arena and toss discs at their goals to gain points, while fighting off their opponents with melee combat. The thrill of E-Sports, experienced from the comfort of our room, is truly a unique VR experience which can open your eyes to the rule breaking physics that can only be achieved in VR (or in space).
The Weightless Experience
One of the best things that Echo Arena has to offer you is the experience of weightlessness. This is by no means an easy feat, especially because the user is not truly weightless while playing the game. While playing it, you are still physically standing on the floor, rather than suspended midair. As you can imagine, the game has to do quite a bit to convince your brain that you are flying, not walking. However, it also has to ensure that you do not feel motion sickness, so that you can fully enjoy and engage in its thrilling and combative gameplay.
Gameplay: Player scores by throwing a disc into the goalpost
Ru Weerasuriya, president and creative director of the game’s developer, Ready At Dawn Studios, in an interview that the team studied what makes you sick and realized that it’s all about sending the right signals to the brain. If you grab at something and you can actually clench something in the game, that doesn’t make you sick because it is a one-to-one interaction where your hands in VR do exactly what your brain wants them to do. [1] Thus, the mechanic of grabbing and pushing off objects in the arena was added to Echo Arena to support player movement, a crucial aspect to allow players to fully engage with weightlessness.
Through these design tricks and seamless motion tracking, Echo Arena unlocks weightlessness for the player like no other game can.
Presence and immersion
Outside of weightlessness, the game also achieves total immersion and a delightful sense of presence through the use of spatial audio and reduced motion blur. Immersion is fundamentally about tricking one’s body that they are in a different space, based on the visual, audio and all other senses.
Spatial audio was also incorporated to make the arena feel real and allow users to communicate or locate their teammates freely via team chat. The subtle angles of the audio direction allows users to truly feel as though they are physically co-located with their teammates and even swivel their head to accurately find the location of their teammates.
In other VR titles like Rec-Room, when the player moves, one’s vision narrows, to allow users to feel less motion sickness as the brain and eyes are only exposed to what is directly in front of them. This approach, however, exposes and break the sense of immersion that the player has. Instead of doing that, Echo Arena limits the movement speed to 5 meters per second for the players, so there is no need for narrowing the vision and motion blur. Hence, the user can actually feel like it is a more natural environment, contributing to the sense of immersion and real life.
Suggestions for improvements
The only problem I see with Echo Arena is its unintuitive throwing mechanic. I am unsure if the mechanic was intentionally made to be different than throwing a frisbee in real life, but I often found myself wondering about the physics of the discs, whenever I attempt to toss it with the principles that I learnt for frisbee in real life. I would suggest the developers to incorporate more throwing training and guidance into the game, especially for users who are unable to hit their goals accurately and easily during the first few tries in the tutorial stage.
Conclusion
Echo Arena is an incredibly fun and interesting game, coupled with multiplayer combat and easy to understand game mechanics. I highly recommend any beginners getting started with VR to try this game out, and experience for themselves the unique possibilities only afforded to VR players. Since it came out in 2019, it has been a major hit on the Oculus platform and I can only imagine more players loving this title as VR adoption continues to ripple across the world.
