Boneworks (2019), the VR shooter-adventure from Stress Level Zero, is now live on the Oculus Store for Rift, although arguably more fascinating is the studio’s intention to bring its physics-based system built for Boneworks to the modest Oculus Quest, which it recently reaffirmed, as well as PC VR headsets too.
Update (1:00 PM ET): Largely gone under-reported, it’s come to light that Stress Level Zero doesn’t intend to make their next Boneworks game (code named ‘Project 4’) a Quest exclusive. The studio said in late November that it will “put it anywhere we can,” implying that it will also launch on PC VR headsets.
We’ve updated the headline and included the info in the body of the article below.
The studio reaffirmed in an Oculus blog post yesterday that they’re “working on bringing Boneworks’ mechanics and core systems to Oculus Quest in an all-new project that we will have more to show from as the year goes on.”
Moreover, the developers previously have noted in a Steam blog post back in late November that the game, which is tentatively called ‘Project 4’, will “not an exclusive title to any platform,” maintaining they will “put it anywhere [they] can.”
There’s no more info to go on for now, although creating an entirely physics-based game for Quest is sure to present its own challenges; Boneworks is CPU dependent for its physics system on PC VR, so its unclear whether Quest’s modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 will be up to the task. Whatever the case, it’ll be interesting to see just what Stress Level Zero needs to lop off in order to deliver its ‘mechanics and core systems’ for the new game.
In case you haven’t heard of Boneworks, the physics-based shooter-adventure has celebrated its fair share of success, what with its $3 million in estimated revenue earned within the first week since launch.
Here’s a summary from our full review if you’re just learning about it now that although may deflate some sails, pretty much sums up what we think of the game:
Boneworks offers up a rich sandbox of physics-driven gameplay which can be magical when it works right and frustrating (or downright uncomfortable) when it doesn’t. Detailed weapon interactions and enjoyable slow-motion shooting aside, combat is largely devoid of challenge and interesting enemies—the player, it seems, is expected to do the heavy lifting of embellishing the combat with their own sense of fun. Puzzles don’t establish overarching concepts and instead come off as singular moments despite being part of a linear story mode. The totality of the game lacks effective pacing as it bounces back and forth from puzzle to combat with little sense of synergy and no apparent climax. For those that are compelled by Boneworks’ combat, the Arena and Sandbox modes offer up a great opportunity for extended gameplay, though we would have liked to see an emphasis on user-generated levels so that the community might flesh out concepts that didn’t hit their stride in the campaign.
Most recently the studio pushed an update to refine its checkpoint system however, one of the biggest gripes with players after its initial December 10th, 2019 launch. The update also includes some quality of life updates such as climbing and sandbox improvements.
Make sure to check out our full review of Boneworks to learn more about what makes this physics-based game tick, and why we gave it a [6/10], something we consider on our linear rating scale as ‘good’.
