Vertigo Games released Arizona Sunshine a little more than a year ago, and we’ve been waiting almost that long for the two-handed weapons mode. Arizona Sunshine hit the market with full support for the Oculus Rift with Touch controllers and the HTC Vive in early December 2016, and by December 21, the company was already talking about adding a peripheral-supported two-handed weapon mode. Last year, Illium launched an ill-fated Indiegogo campaign that would have helped launch a rifle peripheral with Steam VR Tracking sensors and force feedback called Athena. Illium partnered with Vertigo Games to integrate support for the Athena rifle into the game. Unfortunately, the Athena rifle campaign fell far short of its goal, and that was the last we heard of Illium and the Athena rifle.
In June, Sony released the PlayStation Aim controller for the PlayStation VR platform, and Vertigo Games took the opportunity to revive its two-weapon code for the PlayStation VR version of Arizona Sunshine, which debuted shortly after the Aim controller hit the market. Until now, two-handed weapons have been exclusive to the PSVR version of the game. Now, the full complement of weaponry, including 13 different rifles, is available on any platform, including HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality.
You could use a motion controller to use two-handed weapons, but Vertigo Games said that the new game mode is best experienced with a rifle peripheral. We don’t know of a solution for a rifle peripheral with Windows Mixed Reality headsets, but we’ve seen homemade rifle stocks that support Touch controllers and Vive Wands. Vertigo Games suggests using the PP Gun rifle peripheral for the HTC Vive.
"Arizona Sunshine is all about shooting, so we wanted to provide only the best experience when it comes to two-handed weapons. With the PP Gun, we were finally able to get it right," said Richard Stitselaar, Game Director at Vertigo Games. "To ensure everyone will be able to play two-handed mode, however, it will also support regular motion controllers. We just want players to be mindful that it was designed with a two-handed VR gun peripheral in mind and that this will provide the optimal experience."
The two-handed weapon update is the second peripheral-specific update for Arizona Sunshine in less than a month. On December 12, Vertigo Games updated Arizona Sunshine to add support for the HTC Vive Trackers and the new Hyperkin Hyper Blaster pistol peripheral. Perhaps someday soon, we'll see support for both peripherals at once.
The Arizona Sunshine two-handed weapon update is a free update for all three PC VR platforms.
