Salvaged is a tactical-action game for the Oculus Rift that divides your attention between command consoles and a team of 4 space marines that you must guide through the Aliens (1986) inspired sci-fi universe.
Created by Opposable Games, the Bristol-based indie studio behind SouthWest VR Conference, Salvaged puts you in the command seat of something that can only be described as a top-down, multi-screen FPS tactical game that looks like the lovechild between FTL: Faster Than Light (2012) and the original Rainbow Six (1998).
With a mini-map at your disposal, your task (as the salvager Commander Alex Pieterson) is to lead a band of 4 troops through alien territory via a set of control panels, and eliminate whatever needs a good ol’ fashioned killin’. Sort of like an air traffic controller of death. Because of its indirect top-down control scheme, Salvaged tries to capture what Opposable call “that sci-fi feeling of being connected and engaged, but at once powerless and detached.” And as takes you through an ever-changing procedurally generated map with only one life to give the cause, it means you’ll never play the same game twice.
The game’s quippy AI, Thaddeus, guides you through the main campaign’s story—and maybe not in all the right directions either. Playing through the campaign gives you access to ‘Infinity Mode’, allowing you as much gameplay as you can muster—hopefully without a xenomorph busting through your thoracic cavity.
Salvaged Steam Greenlight Page
Today beginning it’s Greenlight campaign on Steam, the VR version of Salvaged takes cues from its dual-screen counterpart that actually divides gameplay between a tablet and a monitor, sort of like how Wii-U lets you play certain parts of a game using the touch tablet controller. The VR version however utilizes the headsets ability to show rendered monitors instead of physical ones.
A Quick Overview of a Typical ‘Salvaged’ Mission:
Phase One: Recon – Use a node-based system to plan squad tactics – with the choice to run in all guns blazing or flank and distract using a wide range of weaponry and equipment.
Phase Two: Breach – Watch your plan unfold with a finger hovering over the retreat button – just in case things go pear-shaped. Modify your squad’s movements on the fly or change their stance from aggressive to defensive.
Phase Three: Explore – A nice short phase as you claim your rewards (salvage) for clearing a room. Once you’re ready, pick a direction to head in and it’s back to Recon.
After falling short of the game’s crowdfunding mark on Kickstarter back in May of 2014, the 12-person team at Opposable has regrouped and pushed forward with Salvaged, making it available both for tablet/PC gameplay and Oculus Rift headsets. For those of you out there who reckon they could top Lt. Gorman’s somewhat ‘lacklustre’ performance in Aliens, Salvaged looks to give you an immersive way to prove it.
