Virtual Battlegrounds opens up early access to players. It is a tactical VR battle royale game by CyberDream. Across a large 4×4 km realistic island, 24 players battle until only one player or team remains.
While CyberDream’s first Virtual Battlegrounds is much different from the developers’ first VR battle royale release, their take on the trending game genre stands out among the others with its cool public lobby, which includes an aircraft hangar, a basketball court, and a kill-house where you can try out your skills before you deploy into the battlefield. Players can also submit their votes here for the upcoming match.
Virtual Battlegrounds, at launch, allows the players to choose between two game modes – solo and squad. A large touchscreen monitor at the lobby’s center lets them vote on which game mode they would prefer to play. The lobby also features other decisions, like whether to wait for more players or not before starting the match.
Just like other existing battle royale games, each match starts with the players inside a big aircraft from which they free-fall onto the island. Their rate of success may also depend on the drop point. In virtual reality, landing on a rooftop with a parachute and running around in search of weaponry is even more thrilling and chaotic. Virtual Battlegrounds allows the players to find various equipment and attachments to customise their weapons; silencers, laser sights and different scopes are scattered across the map. Carry a backpack and store what you find for using later. Lock and load two primary weapons and two pistols, and carry two throwing knives in case you engage in close combat which may become inevitable in case you survive long enough.
A battle royale game is only complete when it has a battleground that shrinks. As the match progresses, the map shrinks, forcing the players into a tight circle. The experience is different and very tense as players feel they are on the battlefield with everything happening around them if it were all real. As the map shrinks, every remaining player needs to look for new and better positions for advantage. Unlike other normal battle royale games, Virtual Battlegrounds with its VR mechanism allows players to climb different terrains and objects. Virtual ziplining, handling guns and shooting the enemies is also a unique experience that proves the capability of VR gaming.
Virtual Battlegrounds is yet to include vehicles. Once done, the ordinary battle royale experience will feel significantly inferior in front of the all-new VR battle royale. Every player’s private lobby features a voting system through which one can vote for additional content they want to see next; extra weapons and locations, game modes, body armour and vehicles are some of the present voting choices. With the increasing demand for virtual reality games and CyberDream’s ongoing communication and support, the developers may succeed in offering a VR game many others of the genre have failed.
Virtual Battlegrounds is available on every SteamVR-compatible headset. Anyone with an Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality, Oculus Quest, and HTC Vive.