The latest in a never-ending wave of gaming fads, the battle royale genre has taken over PC and console multiplayer gaming and now it is turning its sights to VR if Raptor Lab has anything to do with it.
The devs behind VR battle royale game Stand Out, Raptor Lab is turning everything up to 11 with War Dust which is not only a much larger experience but also promises to more closely approximate Fortnite and PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds’ huge open vistas and tense combat.
One thing that players loved (or hated, depending on who you ask) about Stand Out is that it made players approximate the actions depicted on screen. This means real-time reloading of your gun, etc.
Though Raptor Lab is only a tiny indie studio and the initial showings of War Dust don’t present the most polished product right now, the team knows what they are doing in this space.
At a playing field of 64 people, War Dust not only doubles Stand Out’s maximum number but it does so while still maintaining the same robust movement and gameplay found in that game. This is no small feat in the VR realm and is a good sign that Raptor Lab is on the right track with this title.
Outside of battlefield combat and guns, War Dust will also have melee as well as vehicular-based segments. This means that players will fly helicopters and drive tanks in a VR interface. The action, of course, should be intense and, most of all, fun. Raptor Lab’s main goal is to create a compelling multiplayer experience that proudly wears its battle royale inspirations on its sleeve but also does its own things at the same time.
The 32 v 32 combat is what is expected to be the main draw outside of the title’s novelty on VR. Outside of Stand Out, the company’s own game, there really isn’t anything trying to do what War Dust is promising. And the devs would seem to be on the right track. Activision recently reported that their most recent Call of Duty, Black Ops IIII, had the biggest debut of any title in that series history with over $500 million in first week sales.
Those in the know will note that Black Ops IIII’s touted must-play feature is its “Blackout” mode, a multiplayer, battle royale segment that is wowing audiences and eclipsing stalwarts Fortnite and PUBG. Most importantly, however, for Activision, it is printing money and many think that the game can thank the battle royale mode’s inclusion for that.
War Dust, for its part, could become a behemoth of a success on VR by approximating a fraction’s of COD: Black Ops IIII’s success. As stated above, the competition for it is slim and within its own house so Raptor Labs need only trim and optimize here and there over time to keep the experience on top of the pile.
Of course, when War Dust comes out we’ll be sure to fill you in on what the gameplay is like in the final product.
