Publisher Tripwire Interactive and developer Digital Lode are aiming to create the ultimate VR stealth experience while eliminating the problem of VR motion sickness with Espire 1: VR Operative. Announced today for the newly released Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S as well as the PlayStation®VR platform, Espire 1: VR Operative is scheduled to deploy for most major virtual reality platforms in August, 2019, including Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality. Expect more official news regarding a launch date for PlayStationVR and an exact launch date for all other major platforms in the coming months for Espire 1: VR Operative as development continues.
Designed to deliver the definitive VR stealth experience, Espire 1: VR Operative drafts players as drone operators of the future. Players become “Espire Agents” and use cutting edge Virtual Reality hardware to remote-operate the Espire model 1 from the safety of their “Control Theatre.”
The technology behind the “Control Theatre” and the game’s approach to movement lie at the heart of Espire 1: VR Operative’s gameplay and intuitive VR control system. Any time a player performs any artificial locomotion, the game world shrinks down to the size of a floating tablet, with the Control Theatre visible in the player’s peripheral vision. This “VR within VR” system allows for precise, full freedom movement, while maintaining immersion, and eliminating “VR motion sickness” for almost everyone. The Control Theatre is fully customizable to suit the player’s level of comfort, and can be fully disabled for those already comfortable moving in VR.
This unprecedented freedom of movement allows the title’s stealth and action gameplay mechanics shine. Make sure to check out our press kit for series of curated gameplay gifs, showing an Espire Agent stealing a guards gun to neutralize him, using the voice command “Freeze” to immobilize a guard, throwing a spare ammunition clip to cause a distraction, and activating bullet time to headshot multiple guards while dropping down from the ceiling.
Espire 1: VR Operative Key Features Include:
- The definitive VR stealth experience: Espire 1 brings the stealth genre to the exciting medium of Virtual Reality, delivering gameplay mechanics for the stealth and action genres that have yet to be explored.
- Full freedom of movement: Espire 1 allows players the freedom to move anywhere within their virtual environment, moving, climbing, and falling with full comfort and no motion sickness for almost all players.
- Complete single-player story, rich in detail: Espire 1 is being developed as a dedicated single player VR experience with individual story missions and scenario missions that use the story mission environments for short challenges.
- Voice control: Using the VR headset’s onboard microphone, you can make commands and perform actions simply by speaking. The noises you make could draw the enemy to your location – use this to your advantage.
- Arsenal of weapons and gadgets: As an Espire 1 VR Operative you will have access to dozens of unique gadgets and weapons such as a tranquilizer pistol and deployable spy cameras in order to complete your mission objectives.
- Global Leaderboard: A worldwide tally awards players a competitive score based on mission time, movement, stealth, ammo conservation, takedowns and other factors.
- Intuitive controls that mimic real life: Interaction in this game aims to be natural and intuitive. Instead of memorizing dozens of button combinations for every action, you perform them as you would in real life. You can crouch and enter cover by physically using your body.
- Smart AI: Enemy combatants in this game actively hunt the player. The AI responds to sight, sound, and other stimuli and will react to with varying levels of suspicion based on your physical stance, movement speed, cover and relative location.
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