The two biggest excitements in the gaming world last year were the introduction of VR (Virtual Reality) and developer’s willingness to take us gamers into the final frontier. Star Wars Battle front, Overwatch, Doom, and Titan Fall 2 are continually touted as the best games of the year.
These games re-opened the allure of space age combat games. And, even the year’s biggest let down of No Man’s Sky was based around a first person space exploration experience. Now, Winking VR seeks to combine last year’s biggest excitement with the release of “Unearthing Mars”.
Unearthing Mars is a virtual reality space exploration game that puts the player on the surface of the red planet and leaves them free to dig up the secrets of its ancient inhabitants. Unlike No Mans Sky, players won’t be stranded on the barren planet with no instructions or story line. Instead, the players will be injected into a Sci-fi thriller, and tasked with unearthing the secrets of a mysterious ancient Martian society.
After being scorned last year by the promise of an open world multiplayer space exploration game in No Man’s Sky, gamers may be skeptical to jump on the band wagon for Unearthing Mars. So what are the differences in between Unearthing Mars and No Man’s Sky?
First, WinkingVR went straight to the good stuff to eradicate one of the main complaints of No Man’s Sky. The graphics. The developers harnessed the power of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4, the gold standard in VR development, and the results are stunning.
Second, Unearthing Mars offers the player a dramatic storyline filled with a mixture of action, challenges, and good old fashioned explosions.
According to the official Unearthing Mars web site, “Unearthing Mars provides hours of unique gameplay experiences, ranging from navigating a landing craft through a sandstorm to driving a Mars rover. From puzzle-solving to first-person shooting, the game will allow players to resolve challenges from a variety of game genres”.
The biggest complaint surrounding current VR gaming is how one dimensional some of the games are. According the PlayStation blog, the Mars exploration experience comprised of 10 different stages that each utilize a different VR mechanic. So you are essentially getting 10 VR mini games and one succinct story.
The idea seems like a huge step for VR gaming. However, we must prepare ourselves for disappointment, VR is still a growing technology. Even if they can produce a stunning and intriguing VR space exploration experience, there is still the task of matching the gameplay experience to that of a two dimensional PS4 game. Too often we see developers rely too heavily on the VR experience to make a game fun. The fact of the matter is that the stunning visuals and the allure of the VR experience will wear off. And after all that we still want to have a great video game.
Unearthing Mars will release digitally on March 7, 2017. You can check out more about the game here http://www.unearthingmars.com/en/index.html