Review – Fated: The Silent Oath

June 15, 2016Oculus Game Reviews, Oculus GamesFated, Frima Originals, RPG, storytelling, The Silent Oathjcellsworth

Review – Fated: The Silent Oath

by
Andarius8 | May 22, 2016

Rating:

Rating:

Platforms:   Windows PC, Steam
Device(s):   Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Playstation VR (VR Required + Gamepad Required)
Game Name:   Fated: The Silent Oath
Publisher(s):   Frima Studio
Developer(s):   Frima Studio
Genre(s):   Adventure, VR Only
Release Date:   April 28th, 2016

Fated – What We Think:
Fated, is a VR Only immersive adventure from Frima Studio, inviting us to explore a colorfully animated world filled with Norse mythology. Firma Studio, is known for creating outstanding digital products for world renowned clients such as Electronic Arts, Activision, Warner, Konami, and LEGO.

As a Norseman recently returned from the brink of death through a bargain with a goddess, which sets a key game mechanic in place, you begin your journey. In the early stages, a natural flowing guide brings you through a tutorial series of experiences, while at the same time mundane interactions builds your connections to your family. This felt primarily to me a storytelling adventure, and -v when I finally thought I reached my limits to the slow natural storytelling pace – the action cranked suddenly up to a 10, bringing some action adventure to the story.

Horse and Cart:
Given this game is designed for not only the HTC Vive which we reviewed it on, but also for the Oculus Rift, it is not surprising it uses a traditional gamepad controller which works well with an Xbox Controller. Hopefully, a future update will take advantage of the HTC Vive, and eventually Oculus Touch controllers. All too often I found I tried to flick the reins with the controller when I could only use the Left, Right analog triggers. Your young niece is full of questions, and for this interaction natural gestures work amazingly well to immerse you in the story.

LOSS OF SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE IS MORE PROFOUND IN VR
We spent 88 minutes inside (covering all current content), slowly forming the opening bonds with the characters and becoming invested. As a result, it is not surprising that at moments of the storytellers choosing I felt a profound loss when something happened to one of my friends or family. Having to naturally answer questions that no one should have to answer with natural gestures vs selected text, or prompts, keeps us immersed to the point of potentially drowning us with emotions. Adventures like these are not for the faint of heart.

Mythologies, puzzles, and magic are blended to create a delightfully amazing adventure, and the blend of both exterior and interior environments ensures that we truly feel we are exploring a full and complete world vs a small set environment.

Fated felt to me more like a story than a game, but a truly interactive game which invests us deeply and will pay back our time with wonderful memories. Do not allow yourself to get bored during the early moments, embrace each interaction and know once the action starts it will be truly engaging for these connections.

Fated: The Silent Oath is available via Steam.

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Watch the trailer for Fated: The Silent Oath below:

tinyBuild GAMES Announces First VR Signing – Stage Presence

April 27, 2016Oculus Rift NewsGuitar Hero, Oculus Rift, Rock Band, Sea Green Games, Stage Presence, tinyBuild Games, VRThe OGR

TinyBuilding a Stage Presence in VR

tinyBuild GAMES, the indie publisher behind such games as Boid, SpeedRunners and No Time to Explain, has announced its first virtual reality offering: Stage Presence.

Designed by Manchester, UK studio Sea Green Games, the developers rather cheekily describe Stage Presence as “a microphone-based music festival and angry mob simulator.” Virtual reality explorers take on the role of lead singer for a band…right when the power cuts out. Players are then required to do their best to keep the virtual audience entertained using only the power of their voice.

Twitching with Stage Fright

Sea Green Games’ approach to Stage Presence appears to be inspired as much by horror – albeit a more mundane sort of horror than the usual zombies and giant spiders – as by the fantasies catered to by games like Guitar Hero. Your primary goal is to keep the crowd from booing you off the stage.

Adding insult to injury, Stage Presence features multiple methods of online humiliation. Players can invite their friends to join the virtual crowd, and said friends can then express their distaste with your singing voice by throwing bottles of urine at you (although if they’re throwing bottles of urine at you, maybe they’re not really your friends).

If you’d prefer to be humiliated by strangers, you’ll also have the ability to not only stream your session on Twitch, but you can let the Twitch chat channel control the crowd.

StagePresence_game_screenshot_blue_800x450

Furthering the Twitch connection, Stage Presence bears the distinction of being the first VR to be shown live on the Twitch stage at PAX East, which took place over the weekend of April 22nd to 24th in Boston, Massachusetts.

Stage Presence is due for release this summer on Steam and for the Oculus Rift.

In the meantime, watch the announcement trailer below:

Oculus Announces Exclusive Dieselpunk VR CCG – Dragon Front!

February 27, 2016Oculus Gamesdieselpunk, Dragon Front, High Voltage Software, indie game studio, oculus games, Oculus Studios, VR CCGThe OGR

Launched on February 26th 2016, the trailer for Oculus’ exclusive collectible card game Dragon Front looks amazing. Flaunting lots of parallax and 3D effects, the first CCG built for VR was developed by Chicago-based indie game developer High Voltage Software, and produced by Oculus Studios.

Slated for release in late 2016, Dragon Front features 280 characters, 80 different encampments, and more than 100 spells! The description from the devs adds that you can expect “mobile squads, rampaging giants, intimidating war machines, soaring projectiles, and fire-breathing bombing runs.”

Stylistically, Dragon Front combines traditional high fantasy with a dieselpunk look for a real leap into the possibilities that VR can uniquely offer. The game runs at 90 frames per second with a full 360-degree stereoscopic view. Stay tuned for our full review!

In the meantime, take a look at the awesome trailer for Dragon Front below: