
Lone Echo’s space station doesn’t just send you from one important room to the next. The real world doesn’t conveniently lead from one corridor to the other, and while we appreciate that efficient design in Uncharted or other games, your brain will recognize it as a false space quickly in VR. And while those are crucial, no one really talked about how traditional level maps would also break the illusion. Lone Echo does that by giving you a space station to explore, and that does such a better job of creating a connection between the player and the world they’re inhabiting.Įarly on, a lot of the talk surrounding VR made it seem like creating presence would come down to a high framerate and simulating the player’s hands. It is a far better experience if players can spend time in a persistent, simulated space. Developers shouldn’t try to funnel players through obstacle courses or linear pathways. One part of traditional game design that doesn’t translate well to VR is levels or stages. It works, and other developers should look to this for their VR games. Instead, the studio uses that trick to create a bond between you and Rhodes so that you care more about the action and story. Image Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainmentīut in Lone Echo, Ready At Dawn doesn’t make the game about that 1-on-1 interaction. That locomotion is one of the big reasons that Lone Echo works, but Ready At Dawn has incorporated several other amazing VR elements to make one of the best Oculus Rift releases so far. Things go wrong, and you have to zoom around in zero-G by grabbing onto surfaces and flinging yourself where you want to go. It is a narrative exploration adventure where you play as Jack, a robotic companion to the sole human on a space station.
#SUMMER LESSON VR RELEASE PSP#
Lone Echo is the first major VR release from developer Ready At Dawn, which is responsible for the excellent PSP God of War games. Thankfully, Lone Echo has picked up enough hype that I took the time to sit down with my Oculus Rift to try it out. The latest shooting gallery doesn’t even register in my brain anymore, and even the more original games have to get some buzz before I’ll try them.

Most virtual reality games are leaving me cold these days. Join gaming leaders, alongside GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming, for their 2nd Annual GamesBeat & Facebook Gaming Summit | GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2 this upcoming January 25-27, 2022.
