Evocat Games’ first title Nemesis Perspective is a two-player action game where one player uses a gamepad and traditional screen to operate a third-person hero character, while the other assumes the role of an ‘endgame boss’, towering over the hero in VR from a first person perspective.
Launched on Steam in December 2016, Nemesis Perspective is one of a few examples of innovative virtual reality asymmetric multiplayer, where one user wears a headset, and one or more players use a traditional screen from a different perspective, resulting in some unique gameplay. In this case, the VR user plays the role of an enormous ‘boss’ character, styled after what you might expect from a third-person action game. Played in first person, and holding two motion controllers that represent the claws, the game is highly intuitive, as players will attempt to battle with the tiny hero character in a similar way to flailing at a fly.
From the hero perspective, the controls will be familiar to gamers; the player needs to have some proficiency with a gamepad, unlike the boss role, where non-gamers can immediately understand how to move and react.
The concept is simple, but well-executed, and could be a fun party game or quick introduction to VR.
Given that the majority of gamers don’t yet own VR hardware, games like Nemesis Perspective, which let VR and non-VR players play together in interesting ways, are a potentially smart way to design a VR game that has a much larger addressable audience than only those who own VR hardware.
Nemesis Perspective is available on Steam today for $10, and while it isn’t officially designated an Early Access title, developer Evocat Games says in an update that they plan to significantly expand the game and its universe with two additional “content packs” coming in 2017. The studio released a piece of concept art—which appears to show a more expansive environment—as a teaser for what’s to come.
After the two content packs the studio plans to focus development on a their “next production,” which sounds as if it will expand further on the asymmetric multiplayer of Nemsis Perspective.
