Fierce Kajiu was an early believer in VR, and one of the first to release a full game for Samsung and Oculus’ Gear VR in Viral. Since then it’s brought the original game to Oculus Rift with Touch support, but it isn’t forgetting its roots. UploadVR got an exclusive early look at Viral Quarantine, the upcoming sequel to the first game.
The UK-based developer is expanding upon the original Viral in its new title that takes elements of the gaze-based original and adds in new twists, like new weapons, and branching paths that let you pick your own route forward. New power ups include ‘Manipulation’ which lets you grab an enemy and throw them into walls. There’s also a lure allowing the player to “lead a virus on to a trap,” according to Fierce Kaiju.
Here’s the trailer outlining much of the gameplay:
The premise of the game, like the original, is that you’re inside a computer full of viruses you need to eliminate. You can point your head and tap the touch pad to fire a ball and take out these robot-like viruses. The first game was set mostly in closed spaces but the new one starts out in a much more open environment. It features the same satisfying physics that let you bounce balls off objects, and successful hits leave robots flying like ragdolls into the depths below. In a note, developer Paul Colls of Fierce Kaiju said they took inspiration from Pinball tables that allow “any avenues to play and score.”
“With Viral Quarantine we wanted to build on what we achieved with the original Viral game, we felt a need to open it up and go bigger,” notes Colls. “With that we decided to build huge feature rich arenas rather than smaller stages. Each arena is full of alternative routes, a multitude of secrets and scoring opportunities. We were able to explore ideas that didn’t quite make the first game as well as exploring new ones.”
Viral Quarantine is planned for release in Q2 2017 for Gear VR.
