(Nweon, March 4, 2022) Steam gave 91% "special praise", and the Rift Store's 380+ rating also achieved nearly five full ratings, which is believed to explain the quality of the VR mecha game "Vox Machinae". Now, the work has officially landed on the Quest Store for $29.99. If you have Gundam Dreams and want to maneuver giant mechs to battle enemies in clanging metal collisions, Vox Machinae may be your best bet.
A few days ago, RoadtoVR experienced the all-in-one version of the game with Quest 2 and Oculus Link, and said that it was a very immersive mecha simulation game. The following is the specific collation of Yingwei Network:
1. Gameplay
Vox Machinae is a VR mecha simulation game originally developed for multiplayer, and developer Space Bullet has now added a campaign mode for free.
Understandably, this small indie team built the campaign mode primarily based on the elements of the original game, so you'll see roughly the same scenes, mech devices, weapons, and enemies, but they incorporate handmade scenes intertwined with characters and stories.
So, campaign mode is much more than just a series of scenes with narration. It includes a fairly large cast of characters and a story that fleshes out the game world. As a player, you will become a crew member of the transport ship 'The Competence'." This is the center of the game, where players will roam the halls of the ship, talk to characters of different levels to advance the story, and jump into the hangar to perform various missions.
Although it's a clever concept to have a spaceship at the center of the story's rhythm, it's clearly the least interesting part, mostly because of the very rough dubbing and animation, as well as serious rhythm problems.
Between missions, you'll mostly roam around the ship and talk to the characters until you're finally allowed to pilot the large mech Grimer, the most interesting part of the game. When you finally enter the cabin, everything will be wonderful.
When Vox Machinae was released in 2018, its unique understanding of VR mechs had left a deep impression on the community. The mech in the game is not a simple and crisp combat device, but a remodeled mining equipment. So, the mech operates more like a large rig than a fighter jet.
Sitting in the cockpit will really give you the feeling of being in control of a mech. Even if you just wander through the chic alien landscapes, you will feel a very high sense of immersion.
Although not a fighter, you can perform certain flight operations. Although "slow and hard" is definitely the key word for Grinder, each mech is equipped with a jump jet. Due to the wide variety of Grimers (some large and heavy, some small and light), the jumping uses of different mechs may vary greatly.
Arguably, driving a Gridr is a matter of managing momentum, fuel, and heat.
The larger Gridr moves slowly and takes some time to complete the acceleration, which means you need to plan your movement carefully to avoid getting caught in the middle of battlefield fire, as standing still can easily get caught up in the middle of being set on fire. Jump jets help you move around, but your fuel is limited and takes time to regenerate. You can fire heavily, but if you fire too hard and cause the Gridr to overheat, you need an emergency shutdown, at which point you are like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, anxiously waiting for your explosion shield to open.
Learning how to manage the system effectively is a fun challenge, especially when you feel like you've got your hands on this huge mech.
The game's campaign mode isn't particularly fun, usually just a series of "come here, do that" objectives. But campaign mode offers enough variety, as well as unique scenarios you won't see in multiplayer.
More eye-catching tasks include zero-G. Among them, as you sail through minefields, your jumping jetting ability will be tested. Another mission is Overhaul's racing game. Other missions involve unique Grunders, or even large stationary guns.
Not every level, though, is worth appreciating. Many levels have tempo problems, and sparse respawn points can make death a more annoyance than a deserving punishment.
Unfortunately, Vox Machinae attempts to narrate the story by integrating a series of scenes, which greatly hinders the fun of being in a mech and operating it.
It took me about 10 hours to complete the campaign mode. In fact, too much time was spent advancing the storyline on the ship, the characters were not performing well, and the animation could only be described as scary. I'm tired of what the characters say and they say too slowly.
The development team needs to greatly improve the existing situation, or even cancel it altogether. One way to alleviate this sense of hassle is to link story advances to what happened on the spacecraft. This can be a fun way for players to unlock new Grimers and new weapons, but unfortunately, campaign mode simply gives you mechs and weapons on a per-mission basis; sometimes it gives you the choice of mech you want to drive, and sometimes it only gives you a specific configuration that suits a specific mission.
Overall, Vox Machinae's campaign mode feels like a bad case of a fat guy.
However, another core gameplay in Vox Machinae is multiplayer. If you think of campaign mode as a training ground, that is, learning how to operate mechs in preparation for multiplayer mode, the situation is very different.
Vox Machinae's full-featured multiplayer components offer up to 16 player battles, 6 different game modes, 7 large maps, 7 Grinders, 23 different weapons and modules, cross-game gameplay between all available platforms, including PvE, and even support for non-VR PC players.
For better or worse, multiplayer means everything unlocks and starts right away, while beginners can more easily compete on the same level with experienced veterans.
But keep in mind that Vox Machinae is actually a simulator. Once you start operating the Gridr, the fight feels more like a brawl. Weapons are fully unlocked, but each requires a certain amount of energy, and you'll never have enough fuel. But as a simulator, that's where the charm lies.
This simulation factor is very helpful in enhancing the immersion of the game.
The existence of campaign and multiplayer modes makes scoring the game tough, as your fun will really depend on which mode you're interested in.
2. Immersion
For you to feel like you're in the middle of a giant mech, Vox Machinae is probably the best VR game to date. This means a lot to a game released since 2018. The game is definitely a "simulation" game, and the development team Space Bullet has achieved a unique American violent truck type with its own aesthetic and gameplay.
When you run around with the Gridr, the cockpit vibrates convincingly. You'll feel particularly cool when you fall from a very high place and hear the beep of the impact alarm.
A major factor in the immersion of the game needs to be attributed to the manual control of the cockpit, which combines head aiming in a completely natural way.
Grinder's main controls are the throttle, joystick and jump jet bar. They all need to be controlled by hand. Jumping the jet bar, in particular, you'll feel very intuitive; grab it, pull it up, combine the jet, and pull the joystick in any direction, and the armor will push in that direction.
Weapons are aimed primarily based on the head, and you can fire them with trigger touches or buttons for each controller. You can assign weapons at will, but even after hours of playing, I still find myself confusing which button corresponds to which.
The only time you don't need to aim with your head is when you use the scope. Each Gridr has a scope, and a small display appears in the cockpit with a magnified view of the battlefield and a controllable crosshair. This can be used for sniper and ranged weapons such as cannons or railguns.
Although the cockpit offers a lot of detail, many panels and instruments are just decorations and cannot be interacted with. But one key detail deserves praise, like a small instrument that shows the current speed of all three axles, a draped cable that shakes with every movement of the mech, and the "truck horn." Each Gridrer has a unique sound, purely for fun.
Oh, or one of the coolest elements of the game: the CB radio microphone, which you need to pick up to talk to your teammates in multiplayer. When someone speaks over the radio, other players see each other's avatars projected on a small display in the cockpit. This greatly increases the immersion of communication. When playing games with friends, we all use the in-game radio system because this increases the sense of immersion and substitution.
Outside of Grinder, I was really surprised by the environment outside the window. Although alien worlds are largely barren landscapes, it's surprisingly detailed, such as patchwork sand dunes, rich and interesting formations, and small rocks and debris scattered everywhere.
Even just hanging out, it's enough to provide a sense of being in the middle of it. Of course, one thing I need to complain about is that any man-made structure, such as a building or a truck, has a size problem, and they always look like small toys, rather than full-size objects that happen to be smaller than mechs.
It is worth mentioning that the environmental details of the Quest 2 version have been drastically reduced. Obviously, the all-in-one version obviously does not have the visual surprise of the PC version.
But aside from the environments that lost a lot of fidelity, the Quest 2 version left a pretty big impression on me. Throughout the campaign mode, I saw a very perfect performance. Although the textures and effects are sometimes very rough, the essence of the game is still there.
Of course, when it comes to characters, the graphics on both platforms are not pretty, especially when NPCs twist their bodies too much in an unreasonable way, and it's hard to take them seriously. In fact, I found it easier for me to identify the two robot characters in the game, mainly because the artificial sounds and movements masked the game's inadequacies in voice acting and animation.
I can say, at the very least, that I was impressed by the unique dialogue of each character in a particular situation... The premise is that the dialogue is prominent enough.
Whether it's Quest or PC, I was very surprised to find that the whole game had almost no loading time.
Big brother, can you read the news, isn't it, give a chance or not gorgeous we are happy deserve your approval, isn't it, the ground shattered garbage level I feel
3. Comfort
As a boat-based sitting game, Vox Machinae brings a potential boost in comfort thanks to the static geometry around the player.
But all The Gridr is smooth rotation, and there is no option for fast rotation. If you're extremely sensitive to smooth rotation, this can be a challenge. But even for players like me, who never choose to spin smoothly, I find myself able to comfortably play the game for hours on end. Still, I'd like to see options that the development team tries to pivot quickly. Keep in mind that if you feel sick and uncomfortable while playing Vox Machinae, all platforms offer a refund window of no more than 2.5 hours for 14 days.
The game provides a perimeter shroud, but I've found that the specific implementation increases discomfort rather than reduces it. When turning, the mask "brushes" in from the left or right. In my brain's view, this sliding would actually be interpreted as movement itself, and the initial goal of the mask was to reduce the sense of movement. In the end, I chose to turn them off completely.
However, even though your mech can jump on the battlefield using a jumping jet, the game does a great job of keeping the field of view completely stable. Coupled with the cockpit view, Vox Machinae is quite comfortable even in the heat of battle.
When you're not operating a mech, walking around the ship (during campaign mode), you'll see the usual movement options such as Smooth Move, Teleport, Quick Turn, Smooth Turn, and so on.
In addition, Vox Machinae supports a range of standard controllers and HOTAS, among others, including Mouse Keyboard, Oculus Touch, Vive Wands, xbox 360 and One, among others.
At present, the game has officially supported Quest 2 (quest 1 is not supported) and is priced at $29.99. Plus, you can download the PC version of the game through Steam and the Rift Store.