If you have a VR headset then you have probably played a lot of wave shooters. If not, you have probably at least played a few and then realized the genre is uninspired and a bit boring so you didn’t play any others. While it’s still a bit too early to tell for sure, Space Conquest from Masai Interactive at least looks interesting from its initial announcement trailer.
As opposed to standing by yourself in the middle of an invisible circle as enemies descend upon you, Space Conquest instead has you moving around maps with full locomotion mechanics and a large variety of different weapons. There is co-op too, as shown in the trailer, as well as A.I. opponents. In terms of gameplay mechanics it all looks very similar to Farpoint’s co-op mode, or the upcoming Gunheart, although the visuals employ a much lower poly style, similar in aesthetic to the likes of Ultrawings, Windlands, and even No Man’s Sky.
It’s hard to tell how much content there will actually be, if the levels are procedurally generated or not, and what there is to do other than shoot at bad guys, but it at least looks like fun so far. You can customize your avatar instead of picking for a stock set of options and there appear to be a huge variety of gun types and designs, but it’s unclear if you can customize those as well or not. A Borderlands-style loot system, such as in From Other Suns, would be a great addition.
We’re still waiting to learn about pricing, release date, and targeted platforms, but let us know what you think so far down in the comments below!
Update: After publication a developer from Masai Interactive reached out to provide additional details about Space Conquest: “It is a 4 player free for all with AI bots. Each player kill increases your killstreak and each second increase of your killstreak upgrades your weapon. Your killstreak is lowered by 1 point for each death. AI bots deal 50% damage but killing them rewards you with 5HP. It is a very fast paced arcade-y game with small maps and random powerups e.g. Double Damage, InstaKill and Rapid Fire. It’s made for casual players who just want to hop in and hop out of games, there are no queues and minimal loading times (practically none on higher end PC’s). The low poly art style means it can be optimised further for lower end PC’s allowing more people to play. It’s designed to be extremely intuitive and easy for anyone of any age to pick up and play due to it’s simple gameplay mechanics.”
The plan is to launch a closed beta within the next few days or week and an Early Access version to hit Steam later this month. It will be playable on both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive over Steam. A price isn’t set yet but the developer stated it will be “on the lower end.”
You can find more information about it on the game’s official Steam page.
