Multiplayer only games, while fine and dandy in theory, tend to suffer a slow, agonizing death over their life cycle. MMOs circumvent this by delivering consistent and massive updates. Some shooters have tried, with varying degrees of success. It’s more common in the PC ecosystem, but still not something you see all the time. Luckily, once the servers inevitably start to die down a bit and people eventually flock to the next big thing on the PS VR, your copy of Rigs won’t be entirely useless.
Today, Guerilla Games have confirmed via the PlayStation Blog that Rigs, the upcoming PS VR exclusive shooter that channels equal parts futuristic basketball and Unreal Tournament with mechanized combat suits, will feature both multiplayer and singleplayer content.
According to Samrat Sharma, Senior Online Producer at Guerilla Games, “In Career Mode, you and your team of AI pilots rise through the leagues as you defeat other teams, earn fame and fortune, and gain access to new Rigs and pilots. In total, there are 24 unique Rigs to unlock, each with their own style of play. While climbing the ranks in Career Mode you will also impress sponsors and obtain exclusive sponsorship deals, liveries, and pilot outfits.”
The singleplayer Career Mode sounds reminiscent of the Career Modes you may have tried in traditional sports games and it sounds like they’re fully embracing the concept of Rigs taking place within a fictional world that has actually developed a sport around the game’s premise. That type of worldbuilding is very appreciated.
All of the 24 Rigs you unlock in the game can be used in both singleplayer and multiplayer, as well as the pilot outfits, and more. In addition to the Career Mode, the full game will feature a 3v3 mode that tasks you with “scoring” in the center ring, much like we tried back at GDC with our hands-on demo, as well as 1 player + 2 AI pilots versus 1 player + 2 AI pilots dueling multiplayer game mode.
While the limited amount of game modes still concerns me, the potential for Rigs as an Esport, and its addictive gameplay, is enough for me to maintain my excitement. Rigs will be available on October 13th exclusively for the PS VR, the same day that Sony’s headset launches.
