It’s been many years now since the last Medal of Honor title. Now EA and Respawn Entertainment are looking to revive it with the VR title, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. It will once again see you in the midst of World War 2, and we have seen quite a lot of the game’s single player campaign. It will also have a multiplayer aspect, too, which got highlighted today.

The new video from the developer shows several aspects of the game’s multiplayer, disconnected floating arms and all. It will have five modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Blast Radius, Mad Bomber and Domination. It looks to have a surprising amount of depth and the multiplayer scene for VR isn’t too big as of now, so it’s no doubt a welcome addition to look out for.

Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is set to release on PC December 11th and will have support for Steam VR, meaning it’ll have support for most major PC VR headsets such as Oculus, HTC Vive and Valve Index.

In addition to Above and Beyond’s single-player campaign, you can master the distinctive handling of a host of WWII weapons and test yourself against opponents in five multiplayer modes on sites across Europe.

Charge into history when Above and Beyond launches Dec 11. pic.twitter.com/RO3z21h5Cm

— Medal of Honor (@medalofhonor) December 2, 2020

"Physics plays a huge role in the game. It was one of the biggest challenges to simulate the movement of a kayak in the water and to make this feel both authentic and fun."

How much of a focus does the game place on physics?

Physics plays a huge role in the game. It was one of the biggest challenges to simulate the movement of a kayak in the water and to make this feel both authentic and fun. The more accurate the physics became, the more predictable the movement was to the player. Since in VR you are fully immersed with the controls you are able to make very minor control inputs to make the kayak move exactly how you want it to.

The addition of things such as grappling hooks and windsails suggests that the game will also be looking to play around with more arcade-like mechanics- is that something that has been on your mind, to balance such mechanics and physics based gameplay?

We wanted to create a pretty accurate experience of kayaking but at the end of the day it’s a game and not a simulation so it needs to be fun too! We wanted each of the levels to be different each time you play as I think that’s what some VR games lack- replayability. Some of the power-ups are tricky to master but very satisfying to use when you get it right. We’ve had great fun developing them.

Are there any progression mechanics in the game?

Each course has a bronze, silver and gold time. You collect XP from playing the map, collecting power-ups and also achieving a bronze/silver/gold time. New maps and areas unlock as you progress and the courses get more difficult later on in the game. There is also online leaderboards so you can fight for the global #1 spot.

How many modes does DownStream offer?

There are 12 levels in the game across three different terrains- ice, rocky mountains and desert. Each level within the terrains increases in difficulty needing more skill to complete the course and gain a place on the online leaderboards. Most people need a few attempts to complete the harder courses and even the seasoned players keep coming back to beat their
time or just have some fun. This is where the power-ups really shine and help give the player a different experience each time.

"We basically started by saying ‘what would we like to play in VR?’ Kayaking just seemed like a really fun and immersive idea. It’s such an intense, fast paced sport and we thought we’d try to capture those exhilarating feelings in VR."

What sort of power ups will there be in the game?

On launch we will have the grappling hook which hooks onto rocks and allows you to swing around hard turns. The Repair tool which heals damage to your kayak. The wind sail is one of my favourites, this replaces your paddles with the ropes to a parasail. It provides a big speed increase but that is balanced with the face it is pretty difficult to control so it’s a
gamble of setting a great time or smashing into the rocks. Lastly, armour which provides some added protection to the kayak if you crash. We have so many other ideas and prototypes for power-ups in the pipeline but we wanted to keep it simple on launch and gradually introduce new ones over time to keep the game fresh.

Why did you decide to make this a VR-only experience?

We basically started by saying ‘what would we like to play in VR?’ Kayaking just seemed like a really fun and immersive idea. It’s such an intense, fast paced sport and we thought we’d try to capture those exhilarating feelings in VR. The sounds of the water, fast currents, tight turns, drops, feeling the paddles in the water- it’s all brought to life with VR in a way that just
wouldn’t translate to a traditional game. We’ve had so many comments and emails from people who regularly kayak in real life and are really excited to try the game out so we’re definitely not alone!

Do you think VR is uniquely positioned to elevate games such as yours to new heights through more immersive experiences?

I think the unique controls in VR make it possible for new types of games to be imagined that wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun as traditional games. I love watching someone play VR for the first time, how shocked they are and immersed in the game or experience. That wears off after you’ve used it for a while so we wanted to create a game that gave you the same stomach flips and laughs as when you first started playing!

Motion sickness is a potential pitfall that VR games have always had to contend with- was that something that you were mindful of in particular during development?

100%, we had to be so mindful of this during development. I myself can sometimes suffer with slight motion sickness in VR so I know how horrible it can be. We worked really hard making minor tweaks everywhere to make the experience as smooth as possible. When we started to work with testers who had never played the game before I was very worried that motion sickness would be an issue, however we had really positive feedback in that area which was brilliant after putting the work in. At the end of the day this is still an intense experience since it is forced locomotion but I think because the kayak moves in a predictable way and the controls are mimicking real life your brain quickly accepts it. I find it a lot more natural than games where the forced locomotion is walking / hovering.

"We worked really hard making minor tweaks everywhere to make the experience as smooth as possible."

VR has been growing as a medium and showing an increasing amount of potential, but in your view, what sort of experiences can push it even further? Have there been any recent examples that have stood out to you?

Really great multiplayer games. A great game to play with friends and you want to play daily, I think VR is really lacking in this area at the moment. I guess the market and audience needs to grow before this can happen.

Do you think VR is something that will become an integral part of how we play our games any time in the near future?

I hope so. At the moment it’s a bit clunky hardware-wise and involves a lot of set up/space which most people can’t have set up permanently. When we see the next generation of wireless headsets I think that’s when it will really take off.

Next gen is coming sooner or later. From a development perspective, what is your biggest expectation from PS5 and Xbox Scarlett?

From what I’ve read it just seems to be more CPU/GPU which is never a bad thing! We’d obviously love to see more development into PSVR with the new console, we’re hoping to launch DownStream on PSVR after it’s PC release. Apart from that, it’s all still rumours at this point but we can’t wait to see what they bring.

Do you think Microsoft not investing in VR technology is missed opportunity? And furthermore, do you think they will make the next Xbox VR compatible?

If they don’t already have one in development then yes. The market isn’t huge yet but PSVR sold 1.3 million just last year and with around 3 million total sold it’s not a market they should be ignoring. It seems like they could easily add support for at least WMR headsets.

Do you think VR will be a defining feature for the next Xbox and PS5?

For Sony and the PS5 yes, the bundling of a console and headset are doing well for them. Microsoft, I would love to see them launching the next Xbox with a VR support but I’ve not heard anything.

"We’re in the final stages of development with DownStream– fine tuning the look of it, second round of testing and just making sure it’s in a great state for launch."

What is your take on Sony’s reluctant policy on cross-play with Xbox?

I think they would like to create their own walled gardens and use that to leverage player away from their competitors. I can understand why, from a business point of view, they would make that decision but I think it ultimately just frustrates players. Recently we have seen some movement on this with Fortnite and some other big games so hopefully things are changing.

Is there anything else you want to tell us about the game before we let you go?

Thanks a lot for the great interview! We’re in the final stages of development with DownStream– fine tuning the look of it, second round of testing and just making sure it’s in a great state for launch. We’re excited for our launch soon!

Less than two weeks ago, HTC and Valve revealed that the VR headset HTC Vive would be delayed into 2016. In a recent report by Engadget at Vive Unbound, HTC CEO Cher Wang revealed the reason for the same – the company apparently made a “very, very big technological breakthrough” with regards to Vive.

This breakthrough is slated to be show at CES 2016 in January and though it meant a delay from the original release date, it was significant enough to allow the development team to take the time to properly implement it. Wang stated that, “We shouldn’t make our users swap their systems later just so we could meet the December shipping date.”

The Consumer Electronics Show or CES 2016 takes place on January 6th to 9th in 2016 and it should be interesting to see what new breakthrough that HTC have made to their VR headset. How will it compete with the likes of PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift? We’ll find out in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

HTC and Valve didn’t offer much more additional information for their upcoming virtual headset Vive after announcing it earlier this year but the plan was to launch it by 2015 end. Plans can and do change though as Valve has announced that VR headset will officially launch in 2016.

The exceptions are community and developer systems who will still receive their units this year. In a press release (as revealed by The Verge), Valve stated that, “HTC will offer the first commercial Vive units via a limited quantity of community and developer systems later this year, with larger quantities shipping in calendar Q1 2016.”

Vive will have some competition in the form of Oculus Rift which is also releasing in commercial form in Q1 2016. It will be interesting to see which device fares better especially given Oculus’s backing by Facebook and its increased exposure till now.

What are your thoughts on purchasing Vive in Q1 2016? Let us know in the comments.

Gaming slowly seems to be moving into a VR future, or that is what we have been led to believe, but personally, as someone who just went through the 3D gaming boom of a few years ago, I am not so sure that VR this time will amount to much outside of novelty either. Industry experts have expressed that opinion before, too. And now, Warren Spector, the mastermind of games such as System Shock, Deus Ex, and Thief, has chipped in too. And he, too, does not seem to be much impressed.

“I think it’ll generate some interest among the hardcore gamers. And I see amazing possibilities in VR for social media and virtual meetings and training and crazy stuff like dealing with phobias,” he said to GamesIndustry. “But for entertainment? I’m just not seeing it. I don’t think most humans want to look stupid (everyone looks stupid in a VR headset) and they don’t want to isolate themselves from the world. I mean, if someone’s sneaking up behind me with a baseball bat, I want to know about it, you know what I mean? And let’s not talk about nausea.”

That’s what the general consensus among VR cynics seems to be so far- VR may actually have some great applications outside of video games, but within video games? It probably does not stand much of a chance. That said, Spector’s stance comes as somewhat of a surprise, given how enthusiastic he was about stereoscopic 3D a few years ago.

The VR wave begins in earnest in a few months when Oculus Rift, Valve and HTC’s Vive, and Sony’s Morpheus all go on sale, so we will know for sure then.

Sony’s VR headset, Morpheus, has been known to us for a while now; we’ve seen it in action, and we also have a pretty good idea of its capabilities, but so far, Sony has remained surprisingly mum about it. Though they do show it off a lot, they haven’t attempted to generate the kind of hype for it like what they managed with the PlayStation 4 or even some of their recent games.

However, that may be set to change this E3. VRFocus reports that Project Morpheus will essentially be the central focus of Sony’s E3 presence and showing this year. Sony will be pushing the headset heavily at their E3 presser, and over half of their showfloor space will allegedly be given over to Morpheus, Morpheus games, and Morpheus tech demos.

Morpheus is one of three big upcoming VR headsets, all slated to release within the next twelve months. The other contenders include Valve and HTC’s Vive, and the pioneering Oculus Rift, both of which are being developed for PC. We’ll keep you posted on all the latest VR news, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.

Valve is one of the companies trying to spearhead the VR revolution, and its bid for supremacy in this increasingly contested market is the Vive headset, which it will be releasing in conjunction with HTC. We know a lot about the technology behind the product, but any piece of new computing hardware lives or dies on the strength of its software. So far, we haven’t heard much about the kind of software we might expect to see on Vive.

However, a new Valve leak (yes, apparently, these are a thing, which is news to me- I used to think Valve runs a pretty tight ship as far as leaks are concerned) seems to indicate that one big supporter of the project might be Sega. Big Sega games for PC, such as Company of Heroes 2 and last year’s horror hit Alien: Isolation, might both be coming to the Vive, it seems like.

Amazingly, that is not the end of it, either. The biggest coup here might be Game of Thrones- no, not the Telltale game. The actual TV show, which, it appears, will also be adapted for the VR format, and released for Vive.

The veracity of this leaks is in question- they were discovered and publicized by Reddit user linknewtab, who claims to have discovered a number of images of titles coming to the HTC Vive via a directory in the Steam folder. However, as we have seen in the past, Steam entries and files don’t always translate to a real world, final product release- whether or not Vive will indeed be getting these titles or not remains to be seen.

Valve and HTC are collaborating on their own virtual reality headset with Vive and it’s aiming to provide the “most premium VR experience” in the world. According to HTC marketing boss Jeff Gattis in an interview with MCV, the experience may be slightly higher than usual.

“We want to deliver the most premium VR experience the world has seen. That’s not marketing speak, but more about where Vive is positioned in the market. This is at the high end. Starting with the premium experience, even if it has a slightly higher price point, is the right thing to do from a strategic point of view.”

It seems the price will come down eventually. “The price can always come down as the market grows. We know there is some pent-up demand there, so there’s not so much price sensitivity early on. But to get the broader consumer adoption we’re all hoping for, the industry will have to drive price down to make it more accessible.” As of now, HTC “understands the importance” of a price drops in order for Vive to obtain widespread popularity.

Thoughts on Vive costing more than its competition? Let us know in the comments below.

Valve debuted its revolutionary new VR headset and technology at GDC this year, and to do so, it also showed off some great tech demos. The one that instantly caught our eye, and instantly got the internet buzzing, was this one that you can see above- you see, it is a new tech demo showing off the Aperture Science facilities. Yep, Aperture Science. As in from Portal.

It looks pretty neat too (though of course it needs to be seen in VR for maximum impact), though Valve was quick to shoot down any rumors and speculation that this might be a tease for a Portal 3. Apparently, this is a tech demo, and nothing else. So don’t go on getting your hopes up too high, because Portal 3 is not happening.

Which makes sense too- after all, Valve cannot count to three, remember? Stay tuned to GamingBolt and we will keep you posted on more of the latest and greatest.

Valve Software and HTC surprised many of us when it introduced Vive, a virtual reality headset the two companies developed in collaboration. There have been rumours of Valve’s VR offerings for years and with Oculus Rift taking a presumably more mainstream approach, Vive could become the de facto VR solution for gamers.

In fact, when speaking to BBC, HTC chairwoman Cher Wang revealed that Valve wanted its games to be on Vive. “I think Valve’s best game is Dota, right, and Portal and [Team Fortress] and I think they are very keen to have them.”

Interestingly, Wang also said that the two companies are “co-operating with Half-life, and I think…I hope, you know, it will be on it.”

This is particularly interesting since Half Life 3 has been a long-standing rumour as well and to see it appear on Vive would be a shocker. Then again, it’s more likely that we see a Vive port of Half Life 1/2 in the near future. Stay tuned for more information on Vive as GDC 2015 rounds the corner.