Crystal Rift, the grid-based dungeon crawler by developer Psytec Games, has just received an update via Steam Early Access which includes the introduction of a whole host of monster enemies for you to encounter. Also, news of the team’s HTC Vive support which is currently in development.
I was impressed with Crystal Rift‘s level of generated atmosphere and immersion when I went hands on with en earlier release of the title back in April this year. Not only did the retro-style grid based dungeon style suit virtual reality very well, I was really taken with the team’s commitment to longevity, specifically via the included ‘in VR’ map editor.
Buy Crystal Rift on Steam Early Access
Now, the team behind the game have released a new gameplay trailer alongside the latest version of the game, now available for purchase via Steam Early Access, which addresses one of my original niggles with the game – how lonely and empty the dungeons felt. “We continue to listen to our community (Which is Amazing) and every sprint make changes to Crystal Rift to present our vision in-line with what people want, we are very proud to have introduced Monsters …”, Psytec founder Jon Hibbins says via press release.
With monsters come conflict and so the team have also introduced weaponry in the form of the Crystal Blade which is now your to wield and to use in the splicing of enemies as you see fit. The blade itself will also take on special powers, including the firing of poison bolts and fireballs. Nice!
In addition to all this, the team have also received their HTC Vive Developer Edition kit “…we were so impressed by HTC Vive when we tried it at EGX Rezzed in April that we immediately started work on Vive support. We’re very pleased to say that it is now ready and those lucky enough to have access will be able to try it now!”. But, the team have had to re-evaluate the game’s proportions in the face of the hardware’s Lighthouse tracking enabled room-scale capabilities. “The dungeons of Crystal Rift have been overhauled and reworked and the entire experience is now at a new ‘real world’ scale to best accommodate standing experiences (the old scale is available from the Options Menu).”
Crystal Rift will launch in full in November, which is the current estimated release date of the retail Steam VR flagship system manufactured by HTV, the Vive. You can buy Crystal Rift over at their Steam Early Access page, via the Humble Store or on Amazon.
