Starship Troopers: Continuum adapts the sci-fi collection with a brand new VR co-op shooter, and it is out at the moment on Quest.
Developed by XR Video games and Sony Photos Digital Actuality, Starship Troopers: Continuum follows the cult basic movie, presenting an arcade-style wave shooter with roguelite components. Set 25 years after the battle of Klendathu, the struggle between the Federation and the Arachnids has turn into deadlocked. You play as a ‘PsyCommander’ that makes use of psychic powers to straight management troopers on the sphere.
Gameplay footage captured by UploadVR on Quest 3
I went hands-on with the Quest 3 model earlier than at the moment’s launch, leaping right into a co-op session with our video producer, Don Hopper, and later going solo for comparability. A surprisingly prolonged opening tutorial particulars this universe’s historical past nicely for newcomers earlier than touchdown at Camp Triumph, your in-game hub for purchasing new weapons, choosing missions, and extra.
Continuum retains weapons administration simple with an on-body stock system, inserting two weapons over your shoulders with pouches close to your waists for each ammo and grenades. Manually reloading your weapons is not too in-depth which is okay for the gameplay; I additionally like you could swap to automated reloads with out visiting a settings menu by pointing the gun down and urgent A.
You possibly can shortly inform Starship Troopers: Continuum is supposed for co-op. Taking part in alone is not that enjoyable however as you discover these massive maps, it is instantly clear this was designed for multiplayer. I loved strategizing with Don whereas Arachnid hordes began flooding in from all instructions. Blowing them up with rockets and shotguns is relatively satisfying, taking down bosses gives an acceptable problem and the enemy numbers appear well-balanced relying on get together dimension, too.
What’s attention-grabbing is that the PsyCommander will not die however the trooper you’ve got inhabited can, biking via numerous lives for a neverending struggle. Loss of life places you again to degree 1, eradicating all perks your fallen trooper earned within the meantime. This creates an effective way to boost the stakes throughout fight that punishes the careless. Co-op mode gives teammate revivals, no less than. You possibly can proceed your mission after dying 5 occasions, and I did not discover out what occurs past that.
I want extra time to evaluate the development system; what I’ve seen up to now is promising, no less than. Leveling up steadily earns a welcome vary of perks, like elevated injury for guide reloading or sooner motion velocity. When you maintain your trooper alive lengthy sufficient, they’ll then “graduate” to citizenship for added bonuses, which XR Video games states will advance your powers sooner.
I am simply undecided what’s right here in Continuum will likely be sufficient to maintain an “8-10 hours” marketing campaign. I am additionally fearful the remaining missions will largely really feel comparable, although any degree selection judgments proper now can be untimely. As somebody who’s performed quite a few VR wave shooters throughout the years, mowing down normal enemies on repeat is not that thrilling.
The visible presentation on Quest 3 is not nice both, and I’ve but to play on PlayStation VR2 for comparability. The extra cartoonish method was the suitable name for standalone {hardware}, these harsh desert environments aren’t that attention-grabbing to discover. Visible pop-in and flat environmental surfaces had been additionally obvious, and I encountered a number of efficiency stutters when Arachnids emerged.
Nonetheless, it is a good first impression for Starship Troopers: Continuum total. It isn’t essentially the most revolutionary VR multiplayer shooter, positive, however blowing up area bugs in co-op gives satisfying enjoyable, and the development system efficiently incentivizes you to be strategic. Whether or not that is sufficient for the complete marketing campaign, I am undecided, but it surely’s a very good begin.
Starship Troopers: Continuum is out now on the Meta Quest platform, and the PS VR2 model will observe on November 25.
