During PlayStation State of Play, Vertigo Games, in collaboration with Eidos-Montréal and Maze Theory, proudly unveiled Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow, a fully immersive stealth experience set to launch later this year.

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow brings back the iconic Thief franchise and reintroduces players to The City, where danger lurks around every corner and secrets are hidden in plain sight.

Experience the world of Thief for the first time in VR, blending classic stealth gameplay with next-gen immersion. Use your body to sneak past guards and your hands to pickpocket, pry open hidden compartments, and bypass locks through tactile interactions. Wield an array of arrows and tools to distract, disable, or eliminate threats with immersive VR archery as you climb rooftops, sneak through back alleys, and uncover secrets in a dark, steampunk-inspired world. Every heist offers multiple paths and playstyles, whether you sneak past guards unseen or take them down from the shadows.

The City is a place of shadows, ruled by the tyrant Baron Ulysses Northcrest. You are Magpie, a cunning thief orphaned by Northcrest’s brutality and shaped by the streets, who steals as the only means to survive. That is, until you uncover something greater: a legendary artifact holding a legacy from the past. Use immersive VR mechanics to steal, evade, and outsmart the forces controlling The City. Unravel its darkest secrets and expose a sinister conspiracy that looms over its very foundation.

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow is brought to you by Vertigo Games, the award-winning creators of Metro Awakening and Arizona Sunshine, in close collaboration with Eidos-Montréal, and is currently in development by Maze Theory.

Richard Stitselaar, CEO of Vertigo Games: “We set out to create a VR experience where players don’t just play a thief; they become one. It’s a privilege to work alongside Eidos-Montréal and Maze Theory on such an iconic franchise and bring it to life in a way that’s never been done before. This is the kind of immersive storytelling and interactivity we believe defines the future of the medium.”

Steven Gallagher, Creative Director at Eidos-Montréal: “Thief has always been about mastering the shadows, using a mix of tools and wit to navigate its dark and dangerous world. Whether you’re sneaking through or taking a more direct approach with arrows and blackjack, it’s a place full of intrigue. Seeing it reimagined in VR is incredibly exciting, bringing a whole new depth to Thief’s atmospheric world, and we can’t wait for both longtime fans and new players to experience it in virtual reality.”

Phil White, CEO of Maze Theory: “It’s been tough keeping this one in the shadows—literally. We’ve been in full stealth mode, but now it’s time to step into the light and finally unveil Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow. The team has worked tirelessly to stay true to the spirit of the series, delivering a level of immersion unlike anything you’ve seen. This is what stealth feels like when you are the thief.”

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow is now available to wishlist on PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest, and Steam VR.

The post THE THIEF FRANCHISE RETURNS IN VR! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

With Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, Ubisoft’s flagship series crosses over into virtual reality, exclusively on Meta’s untethered Quest VR headsets.

Assassin’s Creed probably deserves to make the jump to virtual reality more than any other game franchise out there. The series’ very premise is essentially about virtual reality. The protagonists plug themselves into an Animus device, which is effectively a fancy VR system, to experience the memories of historical assassins that have been encoded into their descendant’s DNA.

After a bit of faff trying to log into my Ubisoft account to link in with my Meta account, the game wasted no time sucking me into the Assassin’s Creed mythos. My living room was filled with the light blue glow of the Assassin’s Creed menu utilising the Meta Quest 3’s mixed reality passthrough camera.

The Assassin’s Creed chronology, which the series has fleshed out over the last fifteen years, is esoteric and multi-layered. Ubisoft has tied itself into such narrative knots that the games have had to be reinvented a couple of times.

Casually picking up Assassin’s Creed Nexus, with its complex background, could be a bit overwhelming for newcomers. Thankfully, the game explains everything that you need to know on how to play and enjoy the game. The tutorial takes you through the basic mechanics of sneaking, fighting, assassinating, jumping, and climbing almost straight away. As more features unlock so do the tutorials.

The game can be played standing or seated; you just need enough space to flail your arms about a bit. There are the usual comfort settings allowing teleport locomotion, snap rotations, and movement vignetting. If you don’t suffer from VR sickness, I recommend smooth movement and turns. If you are new to this sort of open-word movement, it takes a bit of getting used to, but actually works really well.

Playing as just another triple-A VR game, players unfamiliar with Assassin’s Creed will have no trouble getting into the nuts and bolts of Nexus. If, however, you have been following Assassin’s Creed game for a while, you are in for a real treat.

The intro hints at the experience being something special. That mixed reality sequence that has you in your home, your room around you, making your Meta Quest 3 experience part of the game, really is “meta”.  The game positions the player as a hacker working undercover as an Abstergo Industries operative whilst on the payroll of the modern-day Assassins.

For those not in the know, here’s a brief rundown on the basis for the Assassin’s Creed games. There are two factions at play: the Templars, a group that wishes to shape human progress and the Assassins who believe that humans should forge their own path.  Both of these groups and their predecessors have been in conflict for over a thousand years. To achieve their goals, the Templars seek to employ ancient and powerful artifacts via their modern-day front company, Abstergo Industries.

Those artifacts, Pieces of Eden, were created by a precursor race, the Isu, who were worshipped as gods in prehistory, their existences forming legends and myths. These objects have been discovered and lost throughout history. Using a device called the Animus, the Templars use DNA memories to recreate the past and find the location of these artifacts. The Assassins are in a race to get to these objects before the Templars.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus allows players to revisit characters from across the franchise. The game’s first stop is with Eizo Auditore da Firenze, the Italian nobleman and Assassin from Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood and Revelations.

The tutorial sequence has players performing short quests, such as Eizo Auditore da Firenze, retrieving his sword in 1509 Venice.  retrieving his sword in 1509 Venice. As with the main games, stealth is key. You can physically crouch or press a button. This is the point when the game’s sense of immersion really hit me. I was in a room, hiding behind some casks avoiding the guard. I watched their gaze as I sneaked past. I ACTUALLY sneaked past. Rather than just control the assassin with a gamepad, I WAS the assassin. The next room had a guard on the door, I threw a cup. The guard, distracted, left his post and I scurried past.

Next. it was time to use the game’s iconic hidden blade, by pressing the trigger and twisting my wrist to release the blade. My first attempt had me stumble, alerting the guard- you really have to jab the blade in. It feels a lot more real, and a bit disturbing when you have to physically stab your opponent. The next area was a courtyard and it was up to me to either dispatch or sneak past the guards. One hapless guard fell to my hidden blade, the others lived to tell the tale.

Climbing is a big part of the Assassin’s Creed games. In Nexus, the game has you physically climbing by reaching for ledges and pulling yourself up. After a bit of climbing and jumping, I reached my sword. The game then branched off showing how to attack and parry.

Before long I was in the Italian moonlight with fireworks in the background. In front of the fireworks the text “Ubisoft Presents” appeared and then the Assassin’s Creed Nexus logo. It gave me goosebumps and it was cemented that, yes, this is a real Assassin’s Creed game.

As with the main Assassin’s Creed series, the game has players trying to locate magical Isu artifacts, in this first of the three parts of the game, Ezio once again teams up with Leonardo da Vinci to locate the Staff of Hermes.

Being a Meta Quest exclusive, the game is tailored for the performance of the equipment. The compromise of untethered, standalone VR (and MR) means that the visuals may not be as good as those of a high-end PC or even the PlayStation VR2. But they are still very good and what would have been considered high-end PC VR graphics only a few years ago.

The game then took me back to the setting of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey as the mercenary Kassandra in 405 BC Greece. Once again, the player is charged with obtaining an artifact and must confront a Templar agent.

Ancient Greece is even more impressive than Renaissance Italy. For this second sequence, the game opens up, allowing players to traverse the map with a bit more freedom.

The final character that you revisit is Conner Kenway from Assassin’s Creed 3. Caught up in a prison break in colonial-era Boston the game has players running across rooftops and dispatching enemies with arrows and Conner’s signature tomahawk.

The play areas for each character, whilst quite large, are more constrained and curated than in the main Assassin’s Creed games. There’s also a bird’s eye view of the map that can be used to plan your approaches.

The game is a lot more physical than the main Assassin’s Creed games. Swinging your sword, parrying, climbing, and swinging all require a bit of effort rather than just pressing buttons. It’s the same with dodging, using your hidden blade, throwing knives and bow. The result, though, is a more immersive experience than any other Assassin’s Creed game.

The Meta Quest 3, being such a comfortable and lightweight device, allowed me to play extended sessions in the game. This is handy as Assassin’s Creed Nexus is no simple VR “Experience” it’s a full-length game that provides gamers with 15-25 hours of gameplay. It’s not a game that I’d recommend that you put down as the VR controls, whilst easy to pick up, are also easily forgotten, requiring another look at the tutorials, which can be a chore.

The game visuals are pretty good for a standalone VR game. There are some compromises, but the game’s immersion and the details in the environments mean that you are likely to not be scrutinising the level of ambient occlusion or counting light sources.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR is a “must-have” Meta Quest 3 game. I feel for Assassin’s Creed fans who don’t have access to a Quest headset, as this is a very special Assassin’s Creed game, one that allows players to actually be the assassin for the first time.

The post Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR (Meta Quest 3) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ubisoft has released a new Gameplay Overview sharing how the development team took the fifteen-year-old Assassin’s Creed franchise to a new level of immersion with Assassin’s Creed Nexus in Virtual Reality, exclusively on Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro.

For the first time in the franchise, players will be able to embody three different assassins in first person across three different time periods, and physically perform Iconic Assassin’s Creed actions like wielding the Hidden Blade, exploring cities from above with parkour, engaging in combat and mastering stealth. In Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, the player is an elite hacker operating undercover for the Brotherhood at Abstergo. They will delve into the memories of iconic assassins Ezio, Connor and Kassandra, who have each crossed paths with the artifacts Abstergo seeks.

The development team gave extraordinary attention to detail in parkour mechanics, crafting large, open urban environments, called open-maps, that truly come to life in VR. Players will be able to traverse them intuitively with a sense of freedom and realism like never before.

Stealth is at the center of the Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR experience, allowing players to physically sneak around or use social stealth to blend in and tail a target without being detected. The interactive environment presents endless opportunities to create unique infiltration scenarios. To distract guards, players can make use of the whistling feature, or use throwable objects to manipulate their surroundings and outmaneuver their enemies with finesse by performing intuitive physical actions with the Meta Quest controllers.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR also introduces innovative physical gestures for blocking, parrying, and executing takedowns, providing an engaging and empowering combat system, with specific sets of weaponry for each Assassin’s arsenal. Whether you prefer to throw Connor’s tomahawk at enemies, draw Kassandra’s bow mid-air, or perform thrilling air assassinations with Ezio’s hidden blades, the options are yours to explore.

Years of development have led to Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR featuring a comprehensive suite of comfort features to accommodate players of all types with VR sensitivity. Players can remove partially or completely locomotion through space, use the Fear of Heights feature to reduce vertigo, and many more options that are fully customisable to meet the player’s needs.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR is the first AAA VR title of the franchise that allows players to embody three master assassins and physically perform their iconic actions in first person. The game will release on November 16, 2023 on the Meta Quest Platform, which includes the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro for AU$59.95.

With development led by Ubisoft Red Storm*, Assassin’s Creed Nexus will let players choose how to achieve their objectives as they make their way through open maps and use their hands to block, parry, counterattack, and duel a variety of enemies. Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR is a full-length Assassin’s Creed game that features all the iconic gameplay from the series, including parkour, combat, stealth and the dazzling leap of faith, all with an entirely new story, only available in VR.

Players can add Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR to their Wishlist on the Meta Quest Store page now.

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The fiery dark depths of hell as it is meant to be experienced.

Hellsweeper VR places you in to the unforgiving landscape of fire and brimstone with varying demonic entities all around, all having their sights set on you.

Developer, Mixed Realms has admittedly done an outstanding job of creating a hellish atmosphere, but gameplay needs some work.

From boss fights through to forging your way through the waves of enemies that you will come at you, you’ll get up to speed real quick utilising differing weapons… and trying to survive.

Weapons are summoned via gestures and you can upgrade them too, however, it is these gestures that can cause problems.

More often than not I’d find myself summoning a weapon I needed only for the game to think I was conjuring up a differing one, not recognising the gestures accurately.

In moments of do or die, having an overly large enemy in my face, literally, and needing something beefy and deadly for a good melee smashing I’d have to cycle through gestures to try and equip the weapon I needed while the demonic entity pummelled me. Nine out of ten times, I’d get the exact opposite weapon required.

This was super frustrating to say the least and at times, for me, near-to game breaking.

Your arsenal is a mix of melee, projectile and magic.

Movement is excellent however. The game proceeds at a fast pace and usually there’s a lot going on. You don’t get the time to see the sights in Hell, which is a bit of a shame due to the level of detail in your environment.

Wall run, back-flip and more as you defy gravity and take down evil.

Still, persevering on, in Hell, you can have pets.

Your Hell Hound is your silent best friend. You can use him to help you in battles and while he doesn’t say a lot, in a tight spot he truly is your best ally.

Hellsweeper VR has varying modes of play to. Co-op, multiplayer and a rogue mode.

Hellsweeper VR was a game I had been looking forward to. A lot.

It most definitely appealed to my dark soul, and in some levels it did not disappoint. More work on the accuracy of gesture recognition needs to be done, if this gets sorted, Hellsweeper VR will be one of the ultimate VR titles this year.

The post Hellsweeper VR (Meta Quest II) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

During the PlayStation State of Play, Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) and award-winning VR developer nDreams revealed a launch date for Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, and confirmed crossplay support between PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 2, and Meta Quest 3 headsets.

Players were given a first look at PlayStation VR2 gameplay and features in a brand new trailer.

Gear up with the latest Ghostbustin’ gadgets from remote turrets to ghost decoys. Take on a variety of missions, like collecting dark PKE or closing interdimensional portals. Players must work together to solve puzzles, trap ghosts, and stop the March of the Malevolent. There’s nothing like bustin’ in four-player coop, but even solo, players can take on the Ghost Lord with the help of a ghostly companion.

“It’s almost time to team up with friends in a new city, with a new crew, in the next big Ghostbusters adventure. We are thrilled to offer players a way to immerse themselves in the world of Ghostbusters like never before, only possible through virtual reality,” says Jake Zim, Senior Vice President, Virtual Reality, Sony Pictures Entertainment. “We’ve still got more surprising news to share, and we can’t wait to get the game in players’ hands October 26, just in time for Halloween!”

The PlayStation VR2’s capabilities bring the Ghostbusters universe to life. Step into the role of a Ghostbuster like never before with PlayStation VR2 Sense Technology.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord will release on the 26th of October 2023.

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At the Future Games Show, publisher Vertigo Games and the creators of Sairento VR debuted a brand-new trailer for Hellsweeper VR.

The trailer shows the intense new co-op action. Starting from the game’s launch on September 22, 2023, two players can join forces and descend into hell to slay twisted souls, teaming up for explosive VR combat. Execute shared combos and devise unique strategies alongside your fellow warrior to destroy your enemies.

The co-op trailer for Hellsweeper VR provides an exciting glimpse into the game’s forsaken world, where players team up to fight against the forces of darkness:

The co-op mode offers a full roguelike experience, with a good mix of strategy and RNG. Each player receives unique blessings, boons, and weapons. This mix enhances gameplay by offering a wide range of combat strategies.

Fight rounds with various objectives, to end on a final boss fight. Get rewarded with loot and progress, upgrade your character, weapons or Hellhound

And thanks to the cross play support it’s as easy as ever to play with your friends. No matter which VR platform they are using.

As well, hell’s gates have creaked open even wider, inviting you to PRE-ORDER Hellsweeper VR now on Steam VR, PS VR 2 and Meta Quest. Early adopters will be rewarded with the exclusive ‘Hound’ and ‘Shadow’ masks.

Step forth into the abyss and answer the call of the damned. The gates to hell will open on the when Hellsweeper VR will be available for Meta Quest 2, PlayStation VR 2, and PC VR.

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Earlier today Vertigo Games showcased amongst industry icons, the story trailer for the highly anticipated virtual reality re-imagining, The 7th Guest VR.

The release date has also been unmasked.

Players also got a glimpse of the breathtaking graphics and intriguing puzzles that await them in The 7th Guest VR, each carefully crafted and redesigned from the ground-up to take the utmost advantage of the VR experience. We also saw more of the ground-breaking volumetric scenes, where the players witness the ghostly apparitions of the ill-fated guests, in their full 3D glory, and begin uncovering the mystery of the guests’ visit to Stauf Mansion.

“With The 7th Guest VR, we aim to push the boundaries of what is possible in virtual reality, just like the original game did with the CD-rom,” said Paul van der Meer, Game Director of The 7th Guest VR. “The story trailer shows the real achievements of volumetric capture at this level, giving players a taste of the intense atmosphere as they observe the characters exploring the strange happenings of the mansion, and the sinister reasons they’ve been brought there”.

Ready yourself to enter the mysterious mansion on October 20th, 2023, as The 7th Guest VR is releasing on Meta Quest 2, PlayStation VR 2 and PC VR.

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People Can Fly and Incuvo have today revealed that Bulletstorm VR is coming to PSVR2, Meta Quest 2 and Steam VR.

To see more of Bulletstorm VR in action, People Can Fly just released an all new trailer as part of gamescom 2023.

Bulletstorm VR puts players in the ass-kicking boots of former Dead Echo Squad Leader Grayson Hunt, as he battles his way across the abandoned resort planet of Stygia in glorious VR! Embark on a comically ultraviolent journey as Grayson and his crew try to survive and exact revenge on the corrupt General Sarrano.

Utilize everything from your Flailgun to Bulletstorm’s iconic energy leash to perform creative acts of carnage on your enemies. Effortlessly switch between melee and ranged combat – which now includes dual-wielding guns – to perform an array of unique Skillshots on your adversaries to earn additional experience and boost your abilities. These range from kicking an enemy into a cactus, to impaling them on rebar, to shooting them in the groin. In Bulletstorm VR everything is a weapon, and you’re encouraged to get as creative as possible when racking up your kill count!

“Bulletstorm is one of our most treasured properties and it’s continued to delight people over a dozen years since its initial release,” said Bartosz Kmita, Chief Creative Director of People Can Fly. “Bulletstorm VR offers the definitive way to experience the game with fully immersive presentation and motion-controls to make you feel like the ultimate badass space pirate!”

“We are big fans of Bulletstorm, and have long dreamt of how great leashing Skulls and shooting Creeps would feel in VR, so this is a perfect match for our VR expertise,” said Radomir Kucharski, Vice-President of the Management Board responsible for Products at Incuvo.

Bulletstorm VR is coming to PSVR2, Meta Quest 2 and Steam VR on December 14th 2023.

The post Bulletstorm is coming to VR appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

People Can Fly and Incuvo have today revealed Bulletstorm VR is coming later this year. Bulletstorm VR offers an all new way of experiencing  the Bulletstorm universe that’s more immersive than ever.

Bulletstorm VR puts players in the ass-kicking boots of former Dead Echo Squad Leader Grayson Hunt, as he battles his way across the abandoned resort planet of Stygia in glorious VR.

Embark on a comically ultraviolent journey as Grayson and his crew try to survive and exact revenge on the corrupt General Sarrano.

Utilize everything from your Flailgun to Bulletstorm’s iconic energy leash to perform creative acts of carnage on your enemies.

Effortlessly switch between melee and ranged combat to perform an array of unique Skillshots on your adversaries to earn additional experience and boost your abilities. These range from kicking an enemy into a cactus, to impaling them on rebar, to shooting them in the groin. In Bulletstorm VR everything is a weapon, and you’re encouraged to get as creative as possible when racking up your kill count.

“Bulletstorm VR retains everything players loved about the original Bulletstorm – the world, the characters, and the clever Skillshot system that encourages creativity and experimentation – and makes it feel more immersive and intuitive than ever,” said Bartosz Kmita, Creative Director of People Can Fly. “We’ll have more to show later this year as we approach Bulletstorm VR’s release!”

“As a studio that specializes in VR gaming, Bulletstorm VR is a dream project for us,” said Andrzej Wychowaniec, CEO of Incuvo. “Gunplay is a natural fit for VR and Bulletstorm has that in spades, yet it also has a cool-as-hell electric leash, which is just a joy to use with motion controls in VR. Add in endearing characters and an extravagant, colorful world, and Bulletstorm VR is the full package!”

Bulletstorm VR will release on Meta Quest, PCVR and PlayStation VR2.

The post Bulletstorm VR – 2023 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

UNIVRS has just released a new trailer for its upcoming VR hunting action game Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable. Players can put on their Omni-Directional Mobility (ODM) Gear and fight against man-eating Titans to defend and protect humanity. This VR experience will be available on Meta Quest 2 / Meta Quest Pro this winter.

Prepare yourself to take on unique missions as a member of the Scout Regiment in Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable. Play solo or co-op, and devise a strategy to cut down the Titan population. There will be a wide range of weapons, along with ODM Gear, at your disposal. Just be prepared to think on your feet and always be one step ahead of the Titans. Only the strongest will survive, as the battle difficulty will increase as you progress through the game.

Players can expect an exhilarating flying experience with their ODM Gear in the game, thanks to UNIVRS’ anti-motion sickness technology. This feature will also help bring the thrilling cross-range combat against killer Titans to life.

Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable is set to welcome new players to join the Scout Regiment this winter. The game boasts an exciting combination of single-player mode and a two-player co-op mode, providing an immersive gameplay experience.

AoT fans will be pleased to know that the game will be in both Japanese and English with dubbed and subbed versions.

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