- Modern VR games don’t get enough praise for their innovations and technical leaps.
- The likes of Marvel’s Deadpool, Batman Arkham Shadows, and more showcase unique technical strengths that make use of virtual reality’s strengths.
- These technologies range from enhanced animation systems to latency compensation.
VR gaming has come a long way since its inception. Releases like Half-Life Alyx and Batman Arkham Shadows have pushed the medium forward, while pieces of hardware like PS VR2 have made the technology more accessible.
In fact, even Valve appears to be working on a new VR headset, suggesting that even more advancements are on the way. Because things will only go up from here, it’s also important to reflect on the most advanced VR games out right now and how they push the medium forward.
Why it matters: VR gaming is far from mainstream, so innovation and wide appeal are key to ensuring it stays relevant among the masses.
Spatial Audio In Batman Arkham Shadows
Batman Arkham Shadows is widely considered one of the best VR experiences available today. As someone who played the game on the Meta Quest 3, I was immediately impressed by its sophisticated spatial audio techniques designed for immersive 3D soundscapes.
Something I like about Batman Arkham Shadows, in particular, is the fact that it impresses despite the many hardware limitations of the Meta Quest 3 and 3S. This is done through advanced Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) technology and spatial audio processing.
These technologies are specifically optimized for the integrated mobile chips of the Quest headsets, making them all the more impressive.
Forefront’s Netcode
I’ve played many VR shooters, but none impressed me quite like Forefront. This was mainly due to how well the game handled 8v8 multiplayer gameplay across a Battlefield-inspired virtual reality experience.
Because multiplayer VR gameplay requires synchronizing head position, hand tracking, body orientation, and all types of other movements, a smooth online experience in this type of game is easier said than done.
However, Forefront’s latency compensation for wireless VR headsets was an instant game-changer for me. This is also one of the key areas of innovation where VR development is currently focused on.
Hand Tracking In nDreams’ Reach
This is a game I have yet to play, but nDreams’ Reach already looks like something special for fans of virtual reality. The marketing is currently focused on ‘full-body awareness’ and ‘true-to-life interactions’ thanks to the use of inverse kinematics systems.
These systems should result in believable full-body avatar representations from limited head and hand tracking data.
Deadpool VR’s Animation
Superhero games are doing better than ever, and this is one upcoming release I’m personally looking forward to.
If the dynamic combo of Deadpool and Neil Patrick Harris wasn’t enough to sell the game, the game boasts an incredibly advanced animation system befitting of an iconic comic book character like Deadpool.
To strike the perfect balance, Deadpool VR aims for a system that blends pre-authored animations with the player’s tracking data. Because everything about this title looks perfect and Deadpool barely gets time to shine in gaming, November 18 can’t come soon enough.
Handcrafted Environments In Arken Age
Arken Age launched earlier this year and quickly became one of the most impressive VR games to date. Its main appeal comes from handmade environments optimized for virtual reality compared to the traditional approach of utilizing procedural generation.
This is interesting since VR requires environmental artists to account for an unlimited number of viewpoints, and Arken Age’s solution to the problem relies on advanced culling algorithms that predict which areas need detailed rendering.
Each of the aforementioned games is impressive in its own right, but virtual reality is just getting started. With more and more studios showing interest in VR gaming, the sky is the limit, and even more exciting games await.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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