BattleZone VR beta for PC on HTC Vive and Oculus

Zarathustra[H]

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Some of you might remember BattleZone, the Atari 2600 and Arcade tank classic from the early 80's. A modern VR interpretation of this game has been out on for Playstation VR since late last year. Now Rebellion has announced that they are launching a beta for PC VR supporting Oculus and HTC Vive.

In looking at screen shots the game still appears to have an old school Tron-esque feel to it. Maybe this is on purpose, or due to limitations necessary to get VR to run well on a low-powered console. It is cool to see this classic make a comeback in VR, even though it feels like we on the PC are getting sloppy seconds from the PSVR.

Why are we doing a beta?
PC is a fantastic platform for gamers because of the choice it offers. Before we release Battlezone on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift we want to make sure it’s optimised for the different kinds of hardware configurations you use, as well as testing the performance of online co-op.

To do this, we need your help! We’re looking for a select group of HTC Vive and Oculus Rift owners who want to help test our game, and are keen to give feedback directly to the devs.
 
I played the PS4 VR version. It's pretty "meh." Beyond the graphics not being great, the game concept feels dated. It isn't horrible, but I lost interest after about 10 minutes.
 
I played the PS4 VR version. It's pretty "meh." Beyond the graphics not being great, the game concept feels dated. It isn't horrible, but I lost interest after about 10 minutes.

I can see the dated take if you reference it in terms of current PC gaming, but it strikes me that the old school battlezone model of wave attack survival is pretty much middle of the bell curve for where VR gaming is. It's one of the reasons I'm less than excited by VR so far. Is it actually falling short in the VR realm too, or just when compared to the gaming world as a whole?
 
I can see the dated take if you reference it in terms of current PC gaming, but it strikes me that the old school battlezone model of wave attack survival is pretty much middle of the bell curve for where VR gaming is. It's one of the reasons I'm less than excited by VR so far. Is it actually falling short in the VR realm too, or just when compared to the gaming world as a whole?

To me it didn't feel like you were immersed in anything. When I'm playing a VR game I like to feel like I'm there. This didn't. It felt like I was playing a first person game but the screen was super close to me eyes. It isn't that the game is awful so much as it gained nothing from the VR experience. The graphics might have had something to do with it, but I think the game itself (or the POV) could have also played a role.
I played it during a marathon of other VR games (Battlefront, Rush of Blood, Eagle Flight, London Heist, Rigs, Luge, Scavengers Odyssey) and it was the one that by far the worst of the bunch.
 
Personally, if I'm going to play a tank game, it better look like Tron. I have zero interest in playing a realistic tank game. So, IMO, the graphics look great. I don't see why flat-shading has to equate to "bad graphics". As long as the shading is good, anti-aliasing is good (important for this sort of look), effects are big and flashy, physics are good, and the actual VR implementation is good, then the game looks good. If the goal was to look realistic, and then it failed at that, then sure, it has bad graphics.

There are some Tron-esque games, and TRON 2.0 looked really good, but I still have yet to see a TRON game that looks as good as the movie as far as the way things move, are shaded, etc. There's still some disconnect there. (which is pretty sad given the hardware we have to work with these days)

Also, I agree with the above, that if it's going to be VR, it should gain by it. If it doesn't feel right with a headset, it should either be reworked, or backed out to a monitor experience. Something like this COULD be the perfect VR game though if done properly. I'm of the opinion that I'd rather use VR for vehicle and otherwise "seated" gaming to avoid the limitations of room size, walking/running, etc. The whole idea of "experiences" confined to the size of a living-room for example, are exactly why I haven't jumped on a headset yet. I want racing, flying, space-sims, etc.

(I can also allow myself to get into good FPSes while seated too I think. I'm pretty sure I'd get used to that. It would be worth it for something like Doom for example.

However, that middle-ground of playing "room-games" doesn't do anything for me.
 
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I personally think the PSVR version is the best one I've ever played. The 1998 one not so good. Kind of Blah.... PS I like the Tron Style.
 
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