When Oculus Touch arrived at the end of 2016 there were a few decent titles to show off the controllers. It wasn’t until Epic Games released free experience Robo Recall in early 2017 that the controllers truly shone, with the title becoming one of the standout VR videogames of the year. When Oculus announced standalone headset Quest during Oculus Connect 5 (OC5) one of the first titles confirmed for launch day was an intense first-person shooter (FPS). Now the first screenshots have been released showcasing the incredible work porting the title across.
The port isn’t the work of Epic Games, instead, it has been entirely handled by Drifter Entertainment – best known for 2017 FPS Gunheart. Not a simple undertaking due to the quality of Robo Recall, a recent interview with Drifter CEO and Co-Founder Ray Davis on Oculus Blog reveals the importance of bringing the exact same gameplay to Oculus Quest.
“It’s going to push the platform extremely hard,” said Davis, going on to stress: “Our core principal was, ‘Do not change the gameplay,’ We want complete parity on Rift and Quest.”
“When I told [Epic Games Technical Director] Nick Whiting we were taking on the project, he said, ‘You are fucking insane,’” Davis adds. “Four months later, here we are. It’s totally a viable, awesome experience—and it also speaks to our culture at Drifter. We’ve all had the past experience of really pushing forward on new platforms and seeing what can be done, so this is the perfect project for us.”
Looking at the screenshots the team look to have created a mobile version worthy of the original, from the detail on the guns and the enemy robots to the vast cityscapes Robo Recall is known for. But it was easy, with the veteran team using as many tricks of the trade as possible.
“Early on, everybody had some skepticism,” admits Davis. “But once we got Robo Recall playable on Quest, more and more people were like, ‘Wow, this is how the game was meant to be played.’”
The Oculus Quest has yet to receive a specific release date with an announcement expected soon. The line up of titles has been growing ever larger of late, so customers should have plenty of choice on launch day. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.