Popular Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games recently held a media event for journalists and streamers in order to reveal a number of new projects it has in the works. Two of these are headed to the Oculus Rift: Feral Rites, slated for a Fall 2016 release, and The Unspoken, which will be released this November. The previously announced Edge of Nowhere, which was playable at the event, is scheduled to hit the Oculus Store on June 6.
“Launching one game in a year can be a complex, exciting, and occasionally nerve-wracking endeavor,” Insomniac said in a related statement. “Developing five games simultaneously for 2016 launches on console, PC and VR might sound as crazy as it sometimes feels, but that’s just what we’re doing here at Insomniac. And we’re loving it.”
Feral Rites is an adventure-brawler game that takes place on a mystical island. The overall storyline has players avenging the death of their father through quests and missions. Along the way, they can explore an assortment of unique areas in VR extending from the jungle to the island’s massive temples. Players also acquire new skills in their adventure such as the ability to transform into a feral beast.
The game provides a combo-based combat system that includes fighting in mid-air. Players have the option of choosing a male or female character (both with their own abilities), and performing quests on the side, in addition to pursuing the main storyline missions. Players can collect gear and treasure as they explore to beef up their character and add replay value.
As for The Unspoken, this Oculus Rift game takes advantage of the Oculus Touch controllers, allowing players to cast spells and fight with other “magicians” in supernatural PVP combat. On the whole, The Unspoken combines the one-on-one combat of a fighting game with the destructible environment found in arena shooter maps. Thus, players can manipulate the environment using “arcane forces” and summon “ghastly” monsters.
The spells that players will be able to use include Dark Flock, which can be summoned by using a crow skull. There’s also the Debris Golem ally that can be generated from the moldy street trash littering the streets. A marker can be used to create an impenetrable shield called the Mystic Wall while the Javelin can be created by combining a hammer and an anvil. Ultimately, there are more than 25 spells that players can unlock and use against their opponents.
Insomniac’s upcoming third-person action/adventure game Edge of Nowhere for the Oculus Rift sounds just as nail-bitingly intense as The Unspoken although here the player isn’t a magician, but an explorer in the mountains of Antarctica (Victor Howard) looking for his missing fiancée (Ava Thorne). Scaling massive ice walls and exploring the icy mountains are part of the gameplay, providing what should be an incredible VR experience.
But the scenario isn’t what it seems at first glance. Players must explore dark, “alien” caverns and fight off “uncanny horrors” that walk among these caves. The game is advertised as an “unsettling” pathological thriller packed with vertigo-inducing cliffs and massive giants that tower over the player. From the brief description of the game, this is no ordinary search-and-rescue expedition for Oculus Rift gamers this June.
In addition to the VR games, Insomniac also said that its GameStop-exclusive Song of the Deep game is heading to Xbox Live, the PlayStation Store, and Steam on July 12. A load of screenshots for all games can be found on Insomniac’s blog here.
