I had some fun over the past weekend starting and completing the fun VR game “I expect you to die!“.
The premise from the website:
You are part of a special secret agency that aims to topple Dr. Zor and the Zoraxis organization.
You have been given telekinetic powers — a special treat for our Agents in the Enhanced Operative Division. Report to your office where your Agency Handler will provide you the information and training you need to successfully complete your missions. Welcome aboard.
There are a lot of fun puzzles and many scenarios (missions) to complete. I completed them all and had great fun doing so. There’s great satisfaction to be had in beating the puzzles and thwarting Dr Zor and his henchmen. Nothing is too frustrating. I think it has just the right amount of difficultly.
I had Wishlisted the sequel and saw on Steam I can purchase it for a discount of 20% since I have the first game. But yesterday I noticed they now have a THIRD installment coming real soon now! I can’t wait to play both of these! 🙂
I’ve been getting back into VR with my Oculus Quest Pro after not using it for a while.
I had started doing some exercise with Beat Saber and Dance Central and Eleven Pingpong, but decided to branch out.
I originally started playing “I expect you to die!” but after half an hour or so had to run and get the groceries delivered to the front door. When I got back I spent about an hour trying to get it to launch but it kept crashing out. I’ve reinstalled it since, but that afternoon I wanted to test it on another game to make sure everything was still good with the headset.
I clicked on A Fisherman’s Tale. You play a puppet inside a model of a lighthouse. Above you is a puppet copy of you in a bigger copy of the same lighthouse with the same objects in it. Below you is another smaller puppet copy of you in a smaller model of the same lighthouse with the same objects in it. In fact, you can interact with the other puppet versions of yourself. You will need to in order to complete the puzzles in this game. Maybe you need a larger version of an object which is stored in the upper-level bigger model. Maybe you need the same object shrunk down in size which you can reach into the small model of the lighthouse on the table in the room you’re in. Tons of fun! I completed the game and really enjoyed it. It probably would have taken a lot longer if I had turned off hints (which only occur if you’re really, really stuck anyway) but I’d have been too frustrated if I didn’t figure out the puzzle!
Once I finished that I decided to see what all the fuss is about with Half Life: Alyx. This is a part of the original Half Life game story. I’m playing it in Story Mode as I haven’t really played the other games and didn’t know what I’d be in for. There’s still enough difficult puzzles to figure out and scary action, but it’s not too frustrating as higher levels would be. The controls are great and the graphics are amazingly high-quality and life-like. You get to talk to other ‘people’ in the game to move the story along. I’m not really into alien or zombie games, but this kinda combines them into a fun adventure. I play about 3-3.5 hours at a time untethered. My Oculus Quest Pro still has about 29% charge at the end of 3.5 hours and the controllers still retain 82% each — which is AMAZING! People were sure it’d last maybe 2-2.5 hours from what I read. The first time I played this I had already been playing The Fisherman’s Tale above so I did need to plug in my long USB cable, but it’s powerful enough to charge the headset while playing. I really recommend this if you like some fun action games.
I have completed about 21% of achievements so far and so still have quite a ways to go, but that’s no issue.
I was browsing Reddit and there was a post promoting this game: V-Racer Hoverbike. I don’t ride a motorbike but it had me intrigued and it was on sale on Steam, so I figured why not? 🙂
Dance Central VR for Oculus Rift and Quest is a fun game which will certainly give you a great workout. If you’re looking for something different to Beat Sabre for your exercise, this is the one to try. I downloaded it today and tried a few dances.
I played Poker VR extensively and so thought I’d give PokerStars VR a whirl.
https://youtu.be/7vsKm4BF7HY
It’s similar to Poker VR in some ways, but in others it’s different. To begin with, there doesn’t seem to be any tutorials which is annoying when you first log on in a lobby and have no idea what to do. I teleported around the lobby and ended up next to a Wheel of Fortune type wheel which I spun and won some credits. Then a countdown began for 8 hours which I guess means I have to wait that long to spin again.
Whereas Poker VR has a menu which lets you click on things to find a table and shows which tables exist and what stakes are on each table, PokerStars VR does not. After a while I thought to turn over my left wrist and a menu popped up! I changed the graphics settings and looked at the various other menus and customised my avatar. Then I found a menu which had Quick Seat (I think) on it which plopped me in a western-style saloon. While waiting for the current game to end I watched the other players. There’s a lot of objects to play around with and many people had cigars, pipes, guns, zippo lighters, etc strewn around the table or were playing with them. One guy brought out a hookah and lit it with the lighter, then we could take a puff from it and blow some smoke. Someone gave me a cigar and later on I tried a pipe for something to do.
The next round began and I got my cards. No matter what I did, when I grabbed them with my controller hands and turn them over they were always upside down so I had to spin my wrist awkwardly around the wrong way to view them. I later discovered if you grip the cards differently they will bend the edges up so you can take a glance at your cards. When it was my turn to play a saw a tickbox appear in front of me which I took to mean CHECK. I tapped it and that worked fine. I found out how to bet money by watching other players and trying it out on my turn and to fold you throw your cards in the general direction of the centre of the table.
It didn’t seem as nice as Poker VR when I first started and I questioned whether I’d return again after this trial go, but I did have fun with everyone and won several hands. Not many people talked much, mostly miming with their avatar which was fine. I think the dingy saloon style table which was quite cramped was a bit offputting at the start but I soon got pretty used to it. I’ll give it another go another day. It could certainly do with some sort of tutorial when you first log on, however.
