'Archangel' Now Available For PSVR, New Game Trailer Debuts
Update, 7/19/17, 7:55am PT: Archangel is now available for PSVR. You can get it here for $40.
There's also a new trailer, which you can see below:
Original article, 6/15/17, 2:30pm PT:
Who hasn't left "Pacific Rim" or "Voltron" with the desire to control a giant robot in a pitched battle for the sake of mankind? Skydance Interactive seems to think the answer is "nobody," because it released a new trailer for Archangel, an upcoming VR game that lets you pilot a war machine.
"War machine" might be a bit of an understatement. You're actually tasked with controlling a six-story-tall mech through what Skydance Interactive described as an "action-packed, story-driven shooter" in which "you and your squad are the last hope to stop a tyrannical corporation from controlling post-apocalyptic America." (Mechs and the post-apocalypse? Add in a few zombies and you'll have the "modern media" trifecta.)
Archangel impressed us when we went hands-on with it in March. Besides making you feel like a badass, putting you in control of a giant mech instead of a smaller and faster character actually helps the game avoid a few problems VR titles can sometimes encounter. The most important is locomotion--the mech walks automatically, and it takes slow, deliberate steps that you watch from your perch in the cockpit. This rate of movement, combined with the perspective of being in side a vehicle, should help make sure you don't feel nauseated while you're playing.
Skydance Interactive also made Archangel feel quite immersive. The mech's arms move in tandem with your own, thanks to the game's motion controller support, which helps drive home the "cool" factor. Good performance helps too, and we summarized our time with Archangel by saying that its "fun, engaging, and pretty gameplay and visuals; clever no-nausea locomotion; and seated experience" made it a game you'll want to spend time with. And if that doesn't convince you, the new trailer posted above just might. (Not that it's hard to sell anyone on giant mechs.)
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Archangel will debut on PlayStation VR in July, and after a two-week-long exclusive window, it will also head to HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.
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SteveRNG I think I really am getting too old for this ... stuff. The "resistance" can manufacture a 6 store tall robot? I single one? Just one? Against all the bad guys? And it's fighting against air/space-craft that are larger than it? And can't outnumber it? And... and...Reply
Give me a good ol' Mechwarrior story where you're part of a team or army. Heck, give me a VR Robotech story. VR piloting a Veritech? Hell yeah! -
rantoc Dang the auto targeting seriously reminds me of most of the console shooters nowadays, more like casually watching a movie than really getting immersed in the game- No thx!Reply -
SockPuppet This gameplay married with Mechwarrior would be absolutely incredible. May as well try this one out to get in on the "ground floor" of VR meching.Reply -
alextheblue Reply
Sadly most Robotech/Macross games were not very good. I enjoyed the classic anime, books, and pen and paper RPG material. But for games I'm pinning my hopes on a future MechWarrior title - Maybe MW5: Mercs in 2018 or a follow-up.19824006 said:Give me a good ol' Mechwarrior story where you're part of a team or army. Heck, give me a VR Robotech story. VR piloting a Veritech? Hell yeah!
Actually that style of lock-on targeting has been around in arcade games and console games for decades. It's actually not as common these days outside of auxiliary weapon systems... speaking of which... it didn't look like the primary guns used it. Just one weapon system, from what I saw at a glance. Otherwise they appeared to use motion controllers to point and shoot (not all that strange, especially in a VR title).19824070 said:Dang the auto targeting seriously reminds me of most of the console shooters nowadays, more like casually watching a movie than really getting immersed in the game- No thx! -
bit_user Reply
What about the PS2/Gamecube Battlestrike game?19826785 said:Sadly most Robotech/Macross games were not very good. I enjoyed the classic anime, books, and pen and paper RPG material. But for games I'm pinning my hopes on a future MechWarrior title - Maybe MW5: Mercs in 2018 or a follow-up.
I used to do a bit of tabletop gaming, including BattleTech (the origin of Mechwarrior). I'd probably be more interested in a VR version of something like that, than actually piloting the things. Plus, you'd avoid the whole nausea issue.