COMPOUND is a rogue-lite VR shooter from indie developer NotDead Games that looks to bring back some of the classic feel of early FPSs like Doom (1993) and Wolfenstein 3d (1992). After a lengthy wait, the game finally launched today on Steam Early Access.

Indie dev Bevan McKechnie first showed off the concept for Compound back in October 2016, combining a decidedly retro FPS look to some not-so-retro mechanics such as ragdoll physics and a trusty hand-held gun and map.

Supporting Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Compound first started out as a project hosted on Itch.io where NotDead hosted a playable demo, which is consequently still available for anyone looking to dive in.

The game, the studio says on its Steam page, is a “randomized, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for Virtual Reality veterans.” The goal is to fight through the world’s enemies and eventually reach “the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone.”

The current early access version, which sells for $20, contains six maps across three map types, a headquarters/training range, four weapons, five enemy types, and three difficulty settings. The game also boasts free locomotion, teleportation, and snap-turning for users with a 180-degree sensor setup.

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Sole developer Bevan McKechnie says each map is “procedurally generated to provide a different experience with each play-though, and consecutive loops become progressively harder, providing quite a considerable amount of re-playability already.”

Because it’s a one-person studio, McKechnie has set up a community Trello board so players can keep an eye on what bugs and features will be addressed next.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • MarquisDeSang

    Sad that it is an exclusive to a dying platform : PCVR. Bring it to the Oculus Go to collect my gold.

    • JJ

      lol the go and focus are not going to replace anything anytime soon.

      if its on rift and vive its not exclusive at all.

      PCVR is going nowhere because desktop computers will always be more powerful than standalone devices so people will always use them to push boundaries and get the best. Did the xbox or playstaion render pc’s into a dying platform? nope, to many pc’s are still the best.

      youre a troll Jean… do you even own a go? because if you owned a go or a focus you’d understand that the controllers do not support enough motion for this game currently. They’d have to redo the game play to support a one handed immobile controller and that could change the entire game.

      Turn ur brain on before you speak jean.

      • MarquisDeSang

        Since I received my Go, I did not touch my PC and I don’t plan to use my PCVR for at least another month. Oculus Go has better VR games than PC.

        • Jistuce

          ROWFUL MAYO

        • :D

        • HybridEnergy

          Like what? porn ? Maybe this guy is just an incredible fan of useless 360 videos. He’s been watching too much Nathie, that guy clearly got a pay check from Oculus to promote that over glorified gear VR.

      • kool

        Once 5g hits standalone headsets will be able to beat pcvr in graphics quality. But it won’t kill the market it’ll be like netflNe verses bluray. One is more expensive upfront but the other is a subscription. Just more options.

        • Jistuce

          How is a new data connection going to fix the limited computing power you can fit in a headset?

          • kool

            With cloud based gaming. Its too expensive to build a high end standalone headset. But you can build one capable of streaming high end graphics for around $500-$600.

          • HybridEnergy

            “With cloud based gaming.”

            Hold on, let me catch my breath from laughing. Anyone else remember Microsoft hyping on cloud based gaming and all those games that were supposed to be streaming ? It’s been a pipe dream for a long time, you’re not ditching the PC, that’s where the high end hardware will always be, you won’t out source that for a LONG time.

          • kool

            There’s already a company shadow you can pay $35 a month for a high end PC connection.

        • F1ForHelp

          Yeah having faster internet doesn’t improve graphics and motion tracking.

          • kool

            Cloud based gaming will be the way standalone headsets will offer next gen graphics. And if they want better tracking they should license leap motions inside out solution…

          • F1ForHelp

            Cloud based computing has limitations, specifically ping, which definitely won’t be fixed by the “5th generation” of cellular internet.

            Cloud computing is only viable when your have a dedicated physical connection to a server that is very close. You’re going to need broadband or fiber and you’re going to have to live kind of close to the server that you’re renting the power from. It’s only going to be practical to a minority of people living in populated cities.

            Don’t give your hopes up because it’s not exactly a revolutionary technology. Internet getting faster is a steady and predictable path and the ability to share computing power over the internet is a cumbersome process.

            Mobile devices will steadily get better at rendering VR capable graphics, but the entire idea of mobile VR is being held back by simple things like tracking and playtime.

            My one question for people that support mobile VR. Why exactly do you want VR to be mobile? I’m curious and I don’t have the perspective to make a full conclusion.

          • HybridEnergy

            Not to mention Data caps, like we have here. I’m supposed to now pay what to COMCAST to play games when there is 1TB a month limit ? No thanks, kool is just dreaming.

          • F1ForHelp

            Nice mention. If a GPU’s memory usage has any relation to the amount of data that will be used, then the servers being hosted by that 5G at&t plan are going to explode.

          • Les Vega

            No …just no the photon to movement latency ratio needed for vr means no matter how fast your connection any non local processing will be puke city unless your sugjesting 5g will somehow break the laws of physics and transfer data faster than light then NO, time to back of the 5g koolaid sir.

          • kool

            Companies are already planning on offering cloud based vr this year. To infinity and beyond!

    • gothicvillas

      I smell Jean here haha

    • krazykain

      Dying platform? just recently Beat Saber was the highest game on all of steam. A VR exclusive game was the top seller! PC VR is at the strongest it’s ever been

      edit: reading other comments here… did I just feed a troll?

    • So what makes you say it dying? :)

    • HybridEnergy

      Um what? The Oculus GO is an over glorified gear VR. It’s got the same fate, some sales because cheap, eventual lost interest because lack of functionality. Lets not kidd ourselves, the purpose of the GO is pRon on the go.

  • Peter Hansen

    So… no multi-player? Such a great game, and no online multi-player option. I would love to play this vs. my colleagues.

  • James Fogle

    I like this genre so much! I will purchase this game now. I don’t want to miss it!