Need something to check out in VR today? The Terminus free Oculus Quest demo is definitely worth a look.
Terminus is the new title from CVR, the developers of SideQuest hit, High Seas. The free Oculus Quest demo — also available on SideQuest — launched this week and offers a very early look at the game in an Alpha state.
In Terminus, you explore the French capital of Paris in the midst of a crisis. A mysterious invasion has swept the city, leaving it in disarray, with black clouds of mist patrolling the subways. In the demo, you need to sneak past these creepy threats and find a way out, following a series of exit signs through a labyrinthine set of tunnels. Check out our run-through of the game below.
It’s early days, but Terminus looks like it could be a great VR experience. CVR has spent a lot of time building out an immersive UI, including the standard backpack inventory and an incredibly impressive smartphone menu that’s detailed and easy to use.
More importantly, though, the game aims to provide a physical horror experience, one in which you’ll need to crouch to squeeze through gaps, smash glass with the swing of an axe and lean to peak around corners.
What’s here right now is very basic; from what I could tell there was no way to combat the patrolling mists and, once they spot you, they’ll inevitably catch you. The only way to avoid death is to hide in other rooms, which they can’t enter.
But scavenging for supplies, managing a limited inventory and trekking through the dank halls of the subway was all really immersive, as if someone had made a native VR Resident Evil game. Terminus is also a welcomely manageable level of scary; it provides a few quick jumps and some uncertain corners, but it’s never so overwhelmingly frightful that I couldn’t muster up the courage to continue.
This being an alpha demo, I did encounter a lot of bugs, like my backpack disappearing, floating objects and struggling to grab rungs of a ladder. But that’s all fairly standard and unconcerning stuff given how early in development this is.
I definitely recommend checking the demo out for yourself, then. CVR is planning to release another free Oculus Quest demo in March to showcase more of the game. After that, the team will launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund the rest of development. Should all go to plan, we should see Terminus on Oculus Quest, Rift, Valve Index and HTC Vive, though the developer also plans to make a non-VR version and even a smartphone VR edition.
You can download the Terminus free Oculus Quest demo right here.
