The riveting trailer offers a sneak-peek into the new Virtual Reality (VR) world game Stormland, all set to debut on Oculus Rift: Stormland. Insomniac games officially announced the release of the game. As shown in the trailer, the game revolves around a robotic world based on an open world concept, and the new title displays high-tech weaponry and graphics, promising an edge-of-the-seat gameplay experience. The open world concept places the player physically in the body of the Android and its story as it unfolds through the game, personalizing the experience for the player, modeled after earlier open game prototypes like Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, etc.
The story, as per the description by Oculus, goes
YOU’RE A PEACEFUL GARDENER…UNTIL THE TEMPEST SHATTERS YOUR ANDROID BODY. AFTER LYING DORMANT FOR CENTURIES, YOU MUST JOURNEY THROUGH AN EVER-CHANGING CLOUDSCAPE, AUGMENTING YOURSELF TO BECOME A HEROIC FIGHTER, SAVE YOUR FRIENDS, AND RECLAIM YOUR WORLD.
What’s the gameplay like?
The game offers both single and multi-player modes. The multi-player mode enables the player to explore the world as a group, pick up shared missions, or take up raids. And, the single-player mode comprises missions that will take the storyline ahead.
Drawing from the reputation held by Insomniac Games with other VR games, the character make-up, the mechanics and dynamics are anticipated to be as good and engaging, if not more impressive. Insomniac Games has built its reputation as a quality game developer, drawing on board players in another world to spice up the overall gaming experience.
Hinged on an open world concept, the players can access make-shift weapons customized as per the situation, say for battling mobs and so on. Stormland will allow the player to fly and climb cliffs, which adds to the many game scenarios. The possibilities of the gameplay have been increased with Stormland due to new “touch mechanics”, as per Insomniac Games, keeping up the entertainment and excitement quotient of the gamers at a steady pace and is therefore sure to keep them invested in the game smoothly.
Stormland is to go live in 2019, but that’s about it as no specific time frame has been set to date and the Stormland fans are to just hold on and be on the lookout for details and updates as they are revealed in due course of time.
Positives of having Stormland on the VR market
VR is still a nascent technology that is focused only on gaming. Stormland can break ground in the gaming tradition espoused by VR, as till date the biggest and best VR games have been streamlined and based on linear storytelling like in Wilson’s Heart, or Lone Echo, or straight up arcade games like Robo Recall. Stormland steps in as a prototype game that extends boundaries of VR gaming by inching closer to the likes of a big-budget studio game. Insomniac and Oculus hope that Stormland can redefine the medium. “This title is very important for us because it’s scratching an itch a lot of the community has, and that’s for a big open world to discover and play around in and play perpetually,” states Jason Rubin, the vice president of content at Oculus. “We think it will take us to the next level when it comes to VR software and start to attract consumers who might have been saying, ‘I’m really interested in VR,’ but wants something that scratches that itch.”
Stormland has to negotiate the obstacles of marketability and sale to players as well the comfort quotient of players who are to experience the open world concept first hand. Questions about the duration of the game in single sessions, and VR fatigue are to be dealt with after the game goes out in the hands of the players.
However, there’s a positive outlook to it all as Oculus believes that games like Stormland will break through the usual mould and meet expectations as well. As per Rubin, the right balance of pricing and game and entertainment options will help the medium of VR to reach to mainstream consumers in broad sweeps. “I believe we’re well on our way to the point where people say, ‘Okay, yep. This is the future of the medium.’”
We hope Stormland storms through the usual clutter of VR games and succeeds in impressing the gamers for an altogether improved experience of open-world gameplay!
