Stormland
| Stormland | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Developer | Insomniac Games |
| Publisher | Oculus Studios |
| Platform | Oculus Rift |
| Device | Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Action-adventure, Open world, First-person shooter |
| Input Device | Oculus Touch |
| Play Area | Standing, Room-scale, seated |
| Game Mode | Single-player, Two-player co-op |
| Release Date | November 14, 2019 |
| Price | US $39.99 |
| App Store | Oculus Home |
| Website | https://www.meta.com/experiences/pcvr/stormland/1360938750683878/ |
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Stormland is a 2019 virtual reality action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Oculus Studios for the Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S headsets.[1][2] The player controls Vesper, an android gardener stranded on an alien planet, exploring an open world of floating islands while fighting a hostile robotic force called the Tempest. It was released on November 14, 2019 at US $39.99.[3]
Stormland was Insomniac's most ambitious of four virtual reality titles it built for Oculus, following Edge of Nowhere, Feral Rites, and The Unspoken.[4] It was the studio's final VR game and its last Oculus Rift exclusive: Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Insomniac in 2019.[5] The game was delisted from the Oculus and Meta stores and, as of 2026, can no longer be purchased on any platform.[5]
Gameplay
Stormland is played from a first-person perspective. The player is Vesper, a damaged android gardener who must repair himself and traverse a continent of floating islands suspended in the clouds of an alien sky.[6] Movement combines stick-based artificial locomotion with climbing and gliding, and a fast-travel mechanic called slipstreaming that carries the player at high speed through clouds between islands.[1] Vesper can scoop up a liquid resource and pour it into his arms to refill his fluid reserves, which power abilities and let him repair damage.[3]
Combat uses futuristic firearms such as SMGs and shotguns, handled physically with the Oculus Touch controllers; there is no manual reload, and players can dismantle weapons by ripping them apart to harvest scrap for crafting and upgrades.[3][1] The design encourages 360-degree combat, with players grabbing, throwing, and firing in any direction.[3] Enemies are part of the Tempest, an invasive sentry force backed by larger guardian units.[7]
The game can be played solo or in two-player online co-op, which lets two players roam the same continuous world together. Co-op requires an internet connection.[2][1] After the campaign ends, Stormland enters a "Cycling World" endgame in which the regions, layouts, and missions are reset roughly once a week through procedural generation, remixing islands and raising difficulty so players keep discovering new content.[1][3]
Development
Stormland was developed by Insomniac Games, and the studio described it as its most ambitious VR production to date.[4] The game runs on Insomniac's proprietary engine, the same technology used for its console titles such as Marvel's Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank.[8] Lead Designer Mike Daly and Principal Designer Duncan Moore led the design.[4] Insomniac drew its open-world exploration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and modeled its combat feel on its own Ratchet & Clank and Sunset Overdrive franchises.[6]
The game was first revealed in early June 2018 through a partnership between Insomniac and Oculus, timed to E3 week though it was not playable at the show, and was slated for a 2019 release.[7] The "Cycling World" concept came from a question Daly posed about replayability: "What if we had a game that could capture that feeling over and over again, every week?" In the fiction, the Tempest is a storm front that ravages the land every week or two of real-world time, causing the world to shift and change.[7] A new trailer was released ahead of the game's appearance at PAX West 2019, in the run-up to launch.[9]
Release
Stormland launched on November 14, 2019 for Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S through Oculus Home at US $39.99.[3][2] It was never released on Meta Quest, PlayStation VR, or PlayStation VR2.[5] The title was later delisted; an article in October 2023 reported it was no longer for sale on any platform, and that launching it showed an "out of compliance" warning with "limited functionality."[5] Earlier, around late 2021 and into 2022, Stormland and The Unspoken had briefly disappeared from the Oculus Rift store pending a Data Protection Assessment; existing owners could still download them, and both titles were later restored for sale.[10]
| Platform | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oculus Rift / Oculus Rift S | November 14, 2019 | PC VR exclusive via Oculus Home, US $39.99[2] |
| All platforms (delisting) | Reported October 2023 | Removed from sale; out-of-compliance warning on launch[5] |
Reception
Stormland received generally favorable reviews. The aggregator Metacritic lists a score of 81 out of 100 based on 17 critic reviews.[11]
Road to VR gave the game 9 out of 10, calling it "the new bar for VR open-world adventure" and praising its smart VR design, spatial inventory and interface, and the satisfying act of dismantling weapons; it criticized an overused scanner heads-up display for adding visual noise. The reviewer found the game generally comfortable despite heavy artificial movement, but cautioned that very sensitive players should be careful.[1] UploadVR rated it 4 out of 5 ("Really Good"), highlighting its 360-degree combat, intuitive weapon handling with no reload, and the slipstream traversal, while faulting inconsistent enemy AI, control hiccups that triggered unintended climbing or weapon dismantling, and the risk of simulation sickness from intense locomotion. The review concluded that "the seas of VR shooter development are still stormy, but Stormland sails them with aplomb."[3]
IGN scored it 7.8 out of 10, with reviewer Gabriel Moss praising the movement mechanics and world design.[6] PC Gamer gave it 76 out of 100 and the French site Jeuxvideo.com rated it 16 out of 20.[6] Stormland was nominated for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement at the 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Stormland Review - The New Bar for VR Open-world Adventure". November 13, 2019. https://www.roadtovr.com/stormland-review-oculus-rift/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Stormland on Oculus Rift". https://www.meta.com/experiences/pcvr/stormland/1360938750683878/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Stormland Review: VR's Slickest Shooter Yet (But Not Without Issue)". November 13, 2019. https://www.uploadvr.com/stormland-review/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Stormland - Behind-the-scenes with Insomniac Games". November 2019. https://www.roadtovr.com/stormland-behind-the-scenes-insomniac-games/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "An Insomniac Classic And My Favorite VR Game Can No Longer Be Purchased". October 17, 2023. https://www.thegamer.com/stormland-vr-delisted-oculus-store-insomniac-quest-psvr2/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Stormland (video game)". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormland_(video_game).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Stormland Is A New Co-Op FPS From Insomniac That Constantly Evolves". June 15, 2018. https://www.uploadvr.com/stormland-is-a-new-co-op-fps-from-insomniac-that-constantly-evolves/.
- ↑ "Insomniac's Spider-Man Runs On Same Engine As Ratchet & Clank". https://gamerant.com/insomniac-spider-man-ratchet-clank-engine/.
- ↑ "Insomniac Games' Ambitious VR Game Stormland Gets a Brand New Trailer". August 26, 2019. https://www.dualshockers.com/stormland-gameplay-pax-west-2019-insomniac-games/.
- ↑ "Insomniac Games' Stormland And The Unspoken Disappeared From Oculus Rift Store". January 6, 2022. https://www.uploadvr.com/stormland-oculus-rift-store-missing/.
- ↑ "Stormland Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/stormland/.