Quixel, a studio most recognized for its hand in developing graphics technologies for game franchises such as Battlefield, Destiny, Doom, Starcraft, and Dark Souls, has announced that its debut VR title is now available on Steam for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to plummet to the earth in a failing spacecraft? Homebound is your (one-way) ticket to exactly that, as you become a lone astronaut struggling to survive a disaster as your ship hurdles out of control towards the planet.
As an increasingly sinister-sounding computer AI guides you through the ship, you’ll start with menial tasks that allow you to explore the spacecraft and experience the joy of weightlessness (and ruffled potato chips). The mood will start to get creepy as you discover more of your environment, with the trailer implying that there is more to your mission than just being a good astronaut. You’ll inevitably press a stereotypical big red button, at which point things take an intense turn for the worse, as explosions tear through the ship and send it crashing towards Earth. (Get it? Homebound!)
Homebound was created using Quixel Suite, the texturing toolkit used in many of the aforementioned AAA game titles. The engine purportedly offers increased visual fidelity, with the company claiming its Megascans technology delivers “the most believable surfaces to date in VR.” Whether that's true or not, you'll need significant horsepower under the hood to meet Homebound's recommended specs, which calls for a GTX 980ti and an Intel Core i7 processor. Windows 10 is also preferred, with the spec list suggesting DirectX 12 as the recommended API.
You can download Homebound now from Steam, for a limited-time price of $7. The promotion ends on February 23, when the game returns to its full price of $9.
