It was updated on November 21, 2024, to coincide with the launch of By Grit Alone. It was updated on November 21, 2024, to coincide with the launch of By Grit Alone.
Revealed at the
in June,
is a new narrative-driven VR horror shooter set in the “Bermuda Triangle of space.” You’ll be exploring a graveyard full of abandoned spaceships as you fight to survive. The game takes an anthology style approach, with writers like Antony Johnston (UploadVR Summer Showcase), Emma Beeby (By Grit Alone), and others. UploadVR interviewed Crooks peak’s Charlie Cochrane via video before the preview. Cochrane, who had previously made Resident Evil Village and saw that the VR market was expanding following Quest 2’s launch, felt it was the right time to come back. Crooks peak, after the success of
in 2010, began looking at its next project two-and-ahalf years ago.got an early look “We thought, Okay, now that we have our feet on the VR market, it’s time to move forward. What is it that we want to do? “I’m a huge Dead Space fan so I thought ‘Dead Space VR’.” By Grit Alone aims to provide a similar “frantic combat experience” as Dead Space. However, the story of the game is also important. You can explore the lore to your heart’s content, but you won’t be able to fully understand it if all you want to do is blow stuff up. The lore can be shared through audio and written logs. Holographic logs, which show you characters walking around, offer clues about the ship and its past. Cochrane did not want to reveal too many details, but it was said that splitting the adventure over two ships allowed for different stories to be told. For that, they hired different writers.
“This was really good because we could say to the writers, ‘It’s a spaceship, you’re stuck in this horrendous zone with aliens but apart from that, do whatever you want.’ They’re excited to be onboard because they can do anything they like. By Grit Alone, designed to be an anthology for the sake of variety and diversity by Crooks Peak, was structured as such. I wondered how studios could keep the story flowing with so much creative freedom. You’re trying to survive and understand the situation, which is why these short stories are scattered across the ships. You don’t play as a particular person; the character you embody has no voice lines, and Crooks Peak took this approach to maintain immersion.RacetronicVR“We don’t want players to feel like they’re doing stuff in the story that they wouldn’t want to do because it completely breaks the illusion that they’re in this survival situation… we’re really trying to make it feel like it’s you. Cochrane explained the gameplay when we first jump into it. You will be traveling with caution because of your vulnerability, and you may then find yourself in a fantasy world with the holologs you can activate with a single button. The game then switches to an investigative mode, where you try and figure out what is going on. There might be some puzzles, or lore… At each point we also try to introduce aliens. It’s a mix between frantic combat and little narrative vignettes. It’s a mix between this really frantic combat situation and little narrative vignettes.Alien ExtractionYou won’t find any jump scares and beyond its Dead Space influences, By Grit Alone aims more for action horror like
than hardcore titles like
. Crooks Peak wanted to emulate classic action films from the 80s/90s like Terminator 2 or Aliens. The hero is put in an incredibly scary situation, but he keeps pushing forward. Considering many VR games take a more bite-sized approach to campaigns, whether that’s a mission-based structure or simply offering regular saves, I asked how Crooks Peak is tackling progression.
“With each individual ship, you’re probably spending somewhere between 30 mins to an hour. Players should be able say “I’ve got to a point where the story is good enough to take a break.” You could, of course, play the game all the way to its end. But we want there to be no breaks. Cochrane also agreed that loading screens and fading into black can break VR immersion. This is especially important when it comes to horror games. He explained that this should be avoided in order to create tension. Quest 3 users can expect “improved” graphics compared to Quest 2. But are there other VR headsets in the works? Cochrane did not confirm plans but he believes Steam is a “natural fit” for Alien Extraction PC VR. By Grit Alone’s use of OpenXR means that the porting process “isn’t easy, but it’s doable.” Cochrane is waiting to see what happens with
, even though Sony’s VR headset is his favorite.