VR FPS Gunheart launches, headset no longer mandatory
Heart of iron
Being a whole new frontier in games, I've been eager to pick up a VR headset, but still can't quite justify the price. Of the games I put on my day-1 wishlist for when I got myself some space-goggles, Gunheart ranks pretty high. It's a very slick-looking online co-op FPS with a sci-fi mercenary RPG-lite structure. It's been in early access for a year, but launched in full this week, and while the game is still built for VR, it's no longer mandatory, so mouse & keyboard-using folks are free to join in.
While Gunheart can be played solo, it's designed for co-op. In shared online lobbies, players can meet up, pick out missions, or just shop for weird space-clothes to put on their cyborg body. It also boasts the holy triumvirate of loot, levelling and randomly generated levels, which should at least put a little more meat on Gunheart's bones, compared to most other VR shooters at the moment, although from the gameplay streams I've watched it does seem like there's not a great variety of environment types or enemies.
While the initial crop of launch user-reviews seem positive on the whole, there are some complaints that the mouse and keyboard controls are more awkward than they should be. It makes sense given that the game was built for VR from the ground up, and wild that we're even getting to the point where some games just play better in VR but it's not exactly ideal. It is one of the more technically fancy-looking VR games out at the moment, at least, and doesn't look too shabby even by traditional FPS standards.
Gunheart is available for £23.79/$30 on Steam, minus a 10% launch discount. You can also find it a little bit cheaper on the official Oculus store, if that's your headset of choice.