Crytek’s new virtual reality demo prototype which debuts at E3 this week, is an impressive testament to Crytek’s renewed commitment to VR. Here’s a video playthrough and some thoughts from my time with the ‘Robinson: The Journey’ Prototype.
Arguably late to the VR party, Crytek have been working overtime to regain traction in the space. Their E3 demo, a prototype of the company’s forthcoming title Robinson: The Journey, is proof positive that they’ve now not only caught up, but surpassed many content creators working in VR right now.
Robinson‘s sumptuous, tropical vistas complete with towering waterfalls and gaping canyons merely re-emphasises Cryteks existing reputation for stunning in-game visuals. It’s this demo’s use of VR specific techniques, such as directed gaze cues and a neat climbing mechanic, that really bely Crytek’s huge investment in virtual reality over the last 12 months.
You can read a detailed impressions piece from Ben here. For my part the vertiginous drops, the lavish art direction, dead-on control system – not to mention a constant, silky smooth frame rate – marks Robinson as one of the stand-out experiences of the show. Oh yeah and it’s got f**king dinosaurs in it too!
Whilst visiting Crytek to play Robinson, we also managed to catch up David Bowman, Director of Production for an interview which we’ll share soon. Bowman was bullish about the firm’s current status in the VR content production industry. He said in relation to the resources Crytek have poured into VR development “I’ll argue we’re one of the largest VR development teams on the planet today.” Yet more proof that the gaming industry continues to clamber over itself to claim a piece of the VR wild west.
In the mean time, despite the poor quality off-screen video (for which we apologise) we managed to grab, it still gives a good feel for the scale and grandeur of the visuals as well as a look at the neat climbing system Crytek have implemented.
