Jar Wars Joins RTX 2018

RTX, one of the largest gatherings for enthusiasts of video games, animation, comedy, and Internet culture will be having a special VR guest at this year’s con.

A recent announcement from multiplayer game dev Farcade detailed plans to bring their four-player virtual reality combat game Jar Wars to RTX 2018 being held in Austin, Texas at the Austin Convention Center, August 3 through August 5.

Making its first appearance in 2017 at Fantastic Arcade, Jar Wars is the joint product of Farcade and Taco Illuminati and is a game geared towards gamers who enjoy multiplayer VR and team combat, pitting teams of 2 against each other in a battle to the death to dominate the surface of the moon.

You read that right – you’re fighting other brains in jars to conquer the moon’s surface. How’s that for a concept?

A zany concept on paper, the Earth’s surface has become so polluted and uninhabitable that the warring nations of the planet decide to move their conflict to the moon but, since sending soldiers to the moon is so expensive, they instead opt to blast the troops to the moon sans bodies as jars in brains.

The arrival of these brains in a jar on the moon’s surface inaugurates the Jar Wars, hence the game’s title. Jar Wars’ plot combines the typical absurdity of the conflicts in first-person shooter games with the tongue-in-cheek economic commentary of sending soldiers as brains in jars because it is “too expensive” to send them whole.

The game’s unique approach to multiplayer combat has helped it to stand out in a nascent gaming field and it is that gameplay feature that will form the core of the RTX 2018 debut.

Lead Developer at Farcade, Damon Chandler said of Jar Wars, “We wanted to create a game that breeds a fun, competitive environment,” said Damon Chandler, Lead Developer of FarCade. “Laser tag is a really good analogy because you have that group dynamic that’s skillful and fun. People who’ve never even tried VR before all the way to veterans have had fun playing the game with each other.”

Game modes include whacky, off-the-wall weapons and unique objective-based scenarios. In addition to weapons, players can obtain other power-ups within the in-game world including shields and boxing gloves.

One of the most immediately noticeable features of Jar Wars is how little it takes itself seriously but how obviously competitive it is. Though presented in what some might consider a bizarre way, Jar Wars makes perfect sense when looked at from a gameplay execution standpoint. Though simple in graphics and style, the game is nonetheless deep, the controls are responsive, and the premise plausible enough to let you dive into the game headfirst. Jar Wars appearance at RTX this year should help broaden awareness of the title and that of multiplayer gaming in VR. Usually considered a “single-player experience,” a multiplayer VR game is truly next level when it comes to immersion and competition with other players, something that Jar Wars illustrates immediately.