Game Connection Europe 2014 Impressions: Virtual Reality

As some of you may know, Game Connection Europe was held over the weekend, and yours truly was invited to attend the event.

was held over the weekend, and yours truly was invited to attend the event. I got some hands on time with a lot of interesting indie titles in the works, so I’ll be posting an impressions series all week long. But before getting into the software side of things, I wanted to first tackle the latest iteration of the Oculus technology, both in the form of the Oculus Rift, currently using development kit 2.0, and the Samsung Gear. The Oculus has been getting a lot of support from the indie space, with a number of experimental titles currently in development. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the latest virtual reality has to offer. Long story short, things are shaping up better than I had anticipated. Here’s a breakdown of what I saw:

Oculus Rift (DK 2.0)

The main draw of the latest iteration in Rift technology is that the device can now track you in 6DoF (degrees of freedom). That basically means, thanks to a handy camera and tracking sensors now placed all around the device (images below, click to enlarge.), users can experience a full 360 degrees of virtual reality. The tech demo on displayed was called Crescent Bay, and showcased not only the ability to move about a scenario while looking in all 360 degrees, but also the power of Unreal Engine 4. Standing on a mat as a reference point – to keep from walking into walls – I passively observed several non-interactive scenes, while occasionally being able to sidestep incoming obstacles. One scenario was of an Alien on a desolate planet that tracked my movements with his eyes, turning his head as I moved from side to side. As far as the visuals go, I will say that the combination of graphical fidelity with UE4 combined with the motion tracking DK 2.0 offers was enough to make me legitimately feel a sense of vertigo in one metropolis scene, as I stood at the top of a high building and peered over the edge. The power behind this tech could lead to some really amazing gaming applications.

Vanguard Valkyrie

Onto the gaming portion of my Oculus Rift impressions, I did get a chance to play Vanguard Valkyrie running on DK 2.0, and the end result was a really smooth gameplay experience. You know, it’s funny. As hardcore gamers, we’re used to playing games with our eyes fixed on the screen, never having to look down at our controllers. We’re masters of the quick time event, never needing to glance down to know exactly where all the buttons on our controllers are with rapid reflex taps. But the second I put on the Rift headset and had to be handed a controller to play Vanguard V , I felt a moment of unease, like I was lost in the forest. It took an extra moment to feel secure in my button presses while playing, simply because I no longer had the luxury of looking down and seeing my controller. Lucky for me, Vanguard V is pretty simplistic in its gameplay approach, while remaining quite a bit of fun. It’s a flight shooter where players must look at oncoming enemies to lock-on to them, with the controller really only needed to pause the experience. It’s set in space, and has you dodging meteor and ship debris while avoiding incoming enemy fire as well. It’s a great demonstration of how well the eye-tracking works.

Samsung Gear

The Samsung Gearis an optional VR peripheral currently compatible with the Galaxy Note 4. Oculus partnered with Samsung on the project, allowing them to use their VR technology to help bring the Gear up to par with any other potential competitors in the mobile VR market. All you have to do to set it up is gently snap the Note 4 into place at the front of the device, as the phone’s screen serves as the VR display. While there are non-gaming applications for the Gear as well – such as a trailer for the Penguins of Madagascar movie that you can watch while sitting with the penguins, who stare at you when you turn your head to look at them instead of the trailer – there is also a wireless controller that can be synced, to allow for some quality mobile gaming.

VR Quest

On the subject of Gear gaming, VR Quest is a Zelda-esque action game currently in development. (Sorry, I don’t have any pictures for you on this one. But you can take my word that it plays like the 2D Zelda adventures we all remember fondly.) This one was less reliant on eye tracking, and far more heavily leaned on using the controller to play the game as a traditional action game. In this case, the VR serves to give the player a better sense of depth, allowing our head to serve as a second analog stick of sorts, physically looking around to adjust the camera and survey each room. The game began with a tutorial of the controls, showing a virtual controller on-screen to help players learn where the buttons on the controller were without looking at their actual hands. After that, there’s some basic combat, and a bit of exploration, as the player searches for a key to get past a previously encountered locked door, leading to some mild backtracking. It’s nothing groundbreaking in terms of mechanics, but it does prove that familiar experiences can potentially be enhanced thanks to the use of VR technology.

I went into Game Connection Europe 2014thinking that VR tech probably wouldn’t hold my interest much. I’m much more of a traditional gamer; heck, I still don’t even want to use the Wii U gamepad, I’d rather just play with the Pro controller. But Oculus Rift’s DK 2.0 and the Samsung Gear have some promising applications in the pipeline, and prove that VR isn’t just some gimmick. It’s a whole new way to experience entertainment.