Damaged Core: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:46, 16 June 2016

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Preview

First Person Shooters seem like an ideal fit for Virtual Reality, but when one really thinks about some of the challenges involved, especially with Sitting VR, things become a lot more complicated. Does Damaged Core manage to overcome the inherent issues of FPS in VR?

Damaged Core is one of the newest titles in High Voltage’s^[1] Conduit series. The series originally found its home on the Wii and mobile devices, so High Voltage certainly has experience with building First Person Shooters with unusual control methods. With Damaged Core, they are trying their hand at a VR FPS.

Damaged Core is an Oculus Rift exclusive and is presented with several design challenges. How do you make a fast paced shooter in VR without causing nausea and disorientation? Could you imagine playing the new Doom (or even the old one!) in VR? It wouldn’t work – the amount of movement and on the dime turns you make would be very uncomfortable for a first person view.

Therefore, in Damaged Core, you do not walk or run, rather, you teleport between a variety of stationary enemies, each with their own unique sets of abilities. While this might sound static and simplistic, the movement turns out to work quite well. Instead of fumbling with aiming, the enemies are stationary – but the decision making shifts to when you abandon bodies. Some of the more exciting moments come from fleeing to a new body moments before the destruction of your previous one. Therefore, you juggle between bodies as enemies spawn all around you, having to keep in mind what abilities each enemy has, who the most effective next target is, and how much damage you can do before having to eject. You might not be rocket jumping building up speed ala Quake Live, but there is still a lot to keep in mind here. However, Damaged Core is not finished yet. High Voltage has stated that a number of other mechanics will be introduced, such as a missile lobbing enemy that you can hijack and aim its ordnance by tilting your head, whether such additions are merely gimmicks or turn out to be interesting core gameplay features remains to be seen.

All that said, what is truly exciting is that there is no ‘blueprint’ for High Voltage to follow. They are not revisiting old, tired formulas that are “safe” and “guaranteed” to succeed. This is uncharted territory, and while there are plenty of good arguments to be made for iteration, we should always encourage innovation as well.

Could these innovations fall flat on their face? They could, but the old rules of FPS simply do not apply and if we want the genre to properly transition into the VR medium, risks will have to be taken and experiments will have to be made. As it stands, Damaged Core is an intriguing experiment, and may very well be one of the paths the FPS genre takes in VR.

High Voltage has slated Damaged Core for a Spring 2016 release as an Oculus Shop exclusive, it will set you back $39.99.

References

↑ http://www.high-voltage.com/

[1] ttp://www.high-voltage.com/

[1]

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 {{stub}}
-==Review==
+==Preview==
-There have been a lot of complaints from certain gamers in the last few years about so called ‘walking simulations’. Games with minimalistic or sometimes virtually no gameplay mechanics at all have drawn a lot of criticism and their status as a “real game” is hotly debated. While Crytek’s The Climb<ref>http://www.theclimbgame.com/</ref>, with its impressive vistas and lovingly crafted canyons and forests may look like one such game at first glance, the mechanics behind the actual climbing are actually surprisingly deep – that said, personal experience with these mechanics will differ significantly, for some, this big-budget release could be absolutely worth it, while others may only experience frustration and neck pain.
+First Person Shooters seem like an ideal fit for Virtual Reality, but when one really thinks about some of the challenges involved, especially with Sitting VR, things become a lot more complicated. Does Damaged Core manage to overcome the inherent issues of FPS in VR?
-If nothing else, Crytek is known for some really good looking games, chief among them being the original Crysis, which back in 2006 was basically developed for a hypothetical space computer rather than the rigs in your average person’s home. A lot of games are pretty though, but Crysis and the original Far Cry also had some really good level design that elevated them above your bog standard shooter. Crysis also introduced a number of mechanics through its nanosuit that brought a lot of color to what, at the time, was a genre stuck at rehearsing the Normandy landings and Stalingrad sieges over and over again.
+Damaged Core is one of the newest titles in High Voltage’s<ref>http://www.high-voltage.com/</ref> Conduit series. The series originally found its home on the Wii and mobile devices, so High Voltage certainly has experience with building First Person Shooters with unusual control methods. With Damaged Core, they are trying their hand at a VR FPS.
-All this brings us to The Climb, just like its predecessors, The Climb is awfully pretty and it boasts some rather unique mechanics as well. While in most first person games activities such as climbing and jumping across chasms are relegated to QTEs, The Climb took a different path – it had to, after all, climbing is the central mechanic and there isn’t anyone around for you to murder.
-This is not, however, without its flaws – the lack of Oculus Touch certainly has an effect on the otherwise excellent immersion. Oculus will be releasing its Touch devices later this year, and The Climb will be supporting them. Until then, players control their avatar’s two disembodied hands with a mixture of Xbox Controller and the Rift’s head tracking. Rather than reaching out physically, you look at the place you want to climb to and use the controller to pull yourself up. All of this is controlled by a fatigue system that limits how long you can hang from only one hand. You can increase your grip by periodically rubbing your hands with chalk – which is also done with a controller button.
+Damaged Core is an Oculus Rift exclusive and is presented with several design challenges. How do you make a fast paced shooter in VR without causing nausea and disorientation? Could you imagine playing the new Doom (or even the old one!) in VR? It wouldn’t work – the amount of movement and on the dime turns you make would be very uncomfortable for a first person view.
-All in all, without the motion controls, The Climb and other games like it are a rather bizarre experience as you combine two rather unintuitive control methods. That is not to say that motion controls do not have their own issues, especially as far as the endurance and mobility of each particular player.
+Therefore, in Damaged Core, you do not walk or run, rather, you teleport between a variety of stationary enemies, each with their own unique sets of abilities. While this might sound static and simplistic, the movement turns out to work quite well. Instead of fumbling with aiming, the enemies are stationary – but the decision making shifts to when you abandon bodies. Some of the more exciting moments come from fleeing to a new body moments before the destruction of your previous one.  Therefore, you juggle between bodies as enemies spawn all around you, having to keep in mind what abilities each enemy has, who the most effective next target is, and how much damage you can do before having to eject. You might not be rocket jumping building up speed ala Quake Live, but there is still a lot to keep in mind here.
+However, Damaged Core is not finished yet. High Voltage has stated that a number of other mechanics will be introduced, such as a missile lobbing enemy that you can hijack and aim its ordnance by tilting your head, whether such additions are merely gimmicks or turn out to be interesting core gameplay features remains to be seen.
-Finally, there is the matter of price. The Climb’s campaign is certainly not very long, clocking in at about four hours. While there is an impressive list of challenges ranging from speed runs to the removal of save points. The game actually only has 3 levels – that said, each of its 3 difficulties takes you along a different route, so there is some replay value.
+All that said, what is truly exciting is that there is no ‘blueprint’ for High Voltage to follow. They are not revisiting old, tired formulas that are “safe” and “guaranteed” to succeed. This is uncharted territory, and while there are plenty of good arguments to be made for iteration, we should always encourage innovation as well.
-For some, the AAA price tag of $49.99 might be a tad too high for a relatively short experience, but The Climb remains, as we’ve come to expect from CryTek, a very good looking game, and even, for better or worse, an innovative one.
-''The Climb is out now on the Oculus Store.''
+Could these innovations fall flat on their face? They could, but the old rules of FPS simply do not apply and if we want the genre to properly transition into the VR medium, risks will have to be taken and experiments will have to be made. As it stands, Damaged Core is an intriguing experiment, and may very well be one of the paths the FPS genre takes in VR.
+''High Voltage has slated Damaged Core for a Spring 2016 release as an Oculus Shop exclusive, it will set you back $39.99.''
 ==References==