Crossout, the upcoming free-to-play vehicle combat game from the makers of War Thunder (2012), is coming to VR, and while there isn’t a verifiable timeline for public release on the table just yet, we got a first look at an early version of the game’s VR mode, which incorporates Oculus Touch, at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.
Crossout is a online multiplayer game based around building and customizing a host of armored vehicles. Currently in closed beta (non-VR version), the game lets you mix and match armor, weapons, and various enhancements to make your perfect killing machine. The ability to physically pick out a piece with your own two hands using Touch (Oculus’s yet released VR controllers) was an interesting experience to say the least.
Strapping into the Rift, I was presented with a swath of vehicle parts, everywhere from rusty miniguns to a pair of steer horns to adorn the Mad Max-inspired death truck set in front of me. Popping the pieces onto my car using Touch was simple, with each individual piece clicking into place magnetically. Once I threw on enough side-mounted chain saws and spikes to boot, I took her for a test drive.
Above is a look at the non-VR Crossout gameplay, just to give you an idea of the depth of customization that Crossout is aiming for.
Transported to the inside of my rusty vehicle, I instinctively reached for the steering wheel with both hands, mimicking a left and right turn. Ghostly fingers snapped onto the wheel while more clear representations of my Touch controllers floated nearby in their natural positions as my steering wheel predictably followed my hand movements. Depressing the one of the triggers, I let out a volley of machinegun fire mixed with a grenade launcher. Rushing forward to the make-shift arena—a scenery inspired by the dusty steppes of Russia or the high desert plains near the Rock Mountains—I was greeted by three AI drivers barreling towards me.
One shot off my driver’s side door, and another clipped my right back wheel and the vehicle, making it slump to the side and severely reducing the drivetrain’s power. Taking out two AIs with my bullet/grenade mix, I was faced with the last foe. And that’s when I died, destroyed in a ball of flames, disgracefully returning me to the customization menu for a second go.
I was assured by Gaijin that none of this can be considered final, so there’s bound to be more functionality built into it for launch, as the actual flatscreen version of the game has a much more detailed customization scheme than the one I saw today. No word was given if Touch would be the only controls available, or if the Rift would be the only headset available to the VR version of the game.
Developer Gaijin Entertainment is also know for a host of early VR games including Blase Rush, Star Conflict, and most recently War Thunder which now has both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive support.
