PowerWash Simulator VR and more get Meta Quest Gaming Showcase reveals
The 7th Guest! Samba de Amigo! Bulletstorm!
It's been a good day for VR fans eager for something new to shove in their goggles. Meta has aired its latest Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, featuring a whole bunch of reveals for VR games heading to Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, and the newly unveiled Meta Quest 3 in the coming months - including some very nice surprises. FuturLab's splendid PowerWash Simulator is getting the VR treatment, for instance, as are a whole bunch of other familiar favourites, including Samba de Amigo, Bulletstorm, and even cult-classic CD-ROM puzzler The 7th Guest.
For a full rundown of everything revealed during tonight's Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, along with a couple of promising additions that popped up during its pre-show, read on.
Samba de Amigo
Sega's beloved, maraca-shaking rhythm-action game Samba de Amigo is making the jump to Meta Quest. Described as an "all-new entry" in the sporadically expanding series - not to be confused with Samba de Amigo: Party Central, which is heading to Switch in August - Meta Quest's VR re-imagining of the beloved classic is scheduled to launch this autumn.
I Expect You to Die 3: Cog in the Machine
Schell Games' spy-themed room-escape series, I Expect You to Die, returns for a third outing on Meta Quest "later this year". It promises new gadgets, action-packed locales, and custom disguises as players once again attempt to thwart the evil Dr. Zor (plus, a brand-new villain for this latest instalment) and his diabolical schemes.
Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire
Another one from Schell Games, Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire is a single-player horror game blending stealth and slaughter as players battle against bloodsucking forces. Expect to hear more about this one at a later date.
Underdogs
Underdogs, from developer One Hamsa, is a "futuristic physics-based brawler" set in New Brakka, the mech-fighting capital of the 22nd century. Strapped into a five-tonne Gorilla Mech, challengers must smash their way through the competition, upgrading their abilities and arming themselves with everything from chainsaws to wrecking balls along the way. There's also a bit of action away from the arena, with players able to hire the likes of hackers and saboteurs to gain the upper hand in battle.
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
A year after its unveiling, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord - a co-op ghost-hunting adventure for up to four players - returns with another story trailer, this one introducing scientist-turned-super-villain Gustav Hookfaber. We also get a brief glimpse of the brand-new Ghostbusters HQ - what with Rise of the Ghost Lord shifting settings from New York to San Francisco - and a slightly more specific release window, with launch now due this autumn.
NFL Pro Era
Following the release of last year's officially-licensed NFL VR game, NFL Pro Era, developer StatusPRO is back to do it again in 2023. Promising "more than just a roster update", this year's game is said to include an expanded focus on multiplayer, new modes, features, and more.
Racket Club
If smacking things with a springy stick sounds appealing, you'll probably be into Resolution Games' Racket Club. Built around a "brand-new, built-for-VR racket sport", there's a single-player mode, online play, and opportunities to hang out court-side between matches.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice
Here's another to toss on the ceaselessly expanding pile of Vampire: The Masquerade spin-offs. Justice, a "brand-new adventure-RPG" coming to Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro this autumn, casts players as vampires loose in the city of Venice. Details are limited, but at least some of the action will see players prowling the streets and using their supernatural abilities to hunt down and feed on human and vampire foes.
Dungeons of Eternity
Developer Othergate's Dungeons of Eternity does pretty much exactly what its title suggests, giving up to three players the change to explore an ever-changing dungeon, randomly generated from "hundreds of unique chambers" on each play through. The goal is to go in, grab the treasure - fending off the likes of skeletons and scorpions using "realistic physics-based combat" along the way - then make it out alive. Succeed ad you're able to craft new, randomly generated weapons ready for another try. Dungeons of Eternity launches later this year.
The 7th Guest
Cult-classic CD-ROM adventure The 7th Guest is being rebuilt from the ground-up for VR by Vertigo Games. As in developer Trilobyte's 1993 original, players must explore the lavish mansion of murderous toymaker Stauf, working through its many rooms and solving ghoulish puzzles in a bid to escape. Vertigo has recreated the game's memorably off-kilter house in full 3D for this VR outing, even reshooting the old-school FMV sequences using volumetric video capture. As someone who played the original to near-oblivion (screw that microscope puzzle!), I am unreasonably interested to see how this pans out.
Arizona Sunshine 2
If it's sunbleached deserts and zombie mayhem you're after, then Arizona Sunshine 2 - the sequel to Vertigo Games' well-recieved multiplayer FPS - should be just the tonic. Picking up one year after the events of the original, it tells the story of a "profoundly lonely man desperate to find another living person in a zombified post-apocalyptic Arizona", who, as luck would have it, finds a new best friend in Buddy the dog this time around. So yes, zombie slaughter and a pooch to pet. What more could you ask for? This one's out later this year.
Stranger Things VR
Following its announcement at the end of last year, developer Tender Claws' Stranger Things VR adaptation is back for another showing. As we learned previously, it'll whisk players to the Upside Down where, in the role of the show's big-bad Vecna, they'll be invading minds and conjuring up nightmares to bring down Eleven and her pals. This one launches this "winter".
Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to face off against an enormous nude person firsthand here's your chance. Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable, developer UNIVRS' adaptation of the acclaimed manga and anime series, straps players into their ODM gear as a member of the Scout Regiment, then launches the into battle against armies of killer titans using "dynamic combat". There's single player, co-op, English and Japanese voice acting, and more - and it's all coming to Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro this "winter".
Bulletstorm
Another unexpected revival! Developer People Can Fly has teamed up with Incuvo to adapt the acclaimed 2011 shooter Bulletstorm for VR. In keeping with the original, it promises plenty of mutant maiming, the full story campaign, plus "skill shots new and old", all recreated from the ground up. As for when it's out, Meta only says "later this year".
Asgard's Wrath 2
Sanzaru Games' acclaimed action-RPG Asgard's Wrath is back for another foray into Norse mythology. This time, players - in pursuit of the trickster god Loki - take control of four uniquely equipped mortal heroes on an adventure across "free-roaming environments" that promises "well over 60 hours" of exploration, puzzles, and combat. Asgard's Wrath 2 arrives this winter.
Assassin's Creed Nexus VR
We're now closing in on three years since Ubisoft announced its VR adaptation of Assassin's Creed (which was revealed alongside the sadly now cancelled Splinter Cell VR), but it looks like we're finally about to get some solid details on the project soon. Tonight's Meta Quest showcase didn't have much to say beyond what we've heard before, but we do now know more will be revealed during the Ubisoft Forward showcase on 12th June.
That's everything from the main Meta Quest showcase, then, but, as promised, here're couple of notable game reveals made during the pre-show:
PowerWash Simulator VR
Developer FuturLab's marvellous hose-'em-up PowerWash Simulator is - amid an avalanche of crossover announcements ranging from Spongebob Square Pants to Warhammer - making the jump to VR. Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro players will get the chance to embark on the game's very silly grime-busting adventure later this year.
Death Game Hotel
You mightn't immediately recognise the name White Owls, but you'll likely be aware of the studio's founder, Deadly Premonition creator Hidetaka "Swery 65" Suehiro. To date, White Owls has given the world the wonderfully idiosyncratic likes of The Missing, The Good Life, and Deadly Premonition 2, and now the studio is going VR in Death Game Hotel. Described as being "a bit weird, a bit disturbing, and a lot intriguing", it features an "intense story mode" where players gamble with their lives, betting with their limbs instead of chips. It also features various online modes, including Goblet of the Reaper and Death Poker for up to five players, and it's coming to Meta Quest at some undisclosed future point.
