7 Essential Blade And Sorcery Crystal Hunt Tips And Tricks

With the full release of Blade and Sorcery we finally have the Crystal Hunt game mode! This brings real RPG mechanics and progression to Blade and Sorcery, and also a brand new sense of challenge.

You can’t just use whatever armor, weapons, and spells as you’d like in Crystal Hunt as you could in Sandbox, so naturally Blade and Sorcery’s crystal hunt game mode is going to be a bit harder. You’ll have to do more with less, and also come up against more dangerous enemies as you become more powerful.

Well don’t fear, because we’ve got 9 fantastic Blade and Sorcery Tips and Tricks for you to help you master the Crystal Hunt game mode and fight your way through this VR RPG.

With these Tips and Tricks you won’t have to be the best at fighting enemies in Blade & Sorcery and still complete every challenge that the Crystal Hunt has to offer.

1. Aim For The Head

The opponents that you’ll be fighting throughout your crystal hunt, and there will be a ton of them to fight, have the same weak spots that normal humans do. They also react to being hurt a lot like normal humans do as well.

Stabbed in the arm? Then they might very well drop what they’re holding in that arm. Stabbed in the head? Well uh… then they’re dead.

The number one Blade and Sorcery Tip is to target your enemies’ vulnerable heads and necks

The head and neck are always the most vulnerable spots on your enemies’ bodies. Even the ones wearing plate armor can be taken down quickly with a thrust to an unprotected face or neck.

So if you want to take down an enemy quickly then aim for their head or neck. Give them a slash or a stab in one of these vulnerable places and you will have one less opponent to worry about.

2. Use The Right Weapon For The Job

Precisely aiming for an enemy’s weak head and neck is easier against lower tier enemies, but gets harder once you start fighting well armored knights.

Even the cruder armor that earlier enemies wear on their bodies can block the blade of a sword, and the further you get in the Crystal Hunt then the more armored enemies you will encounter, making this Blade and Sorcery Tip important in the mid to late game.

This is where blunt weapons can come in handy. While not as great at hurting unarmored flesh as bladed weapons, blunt weapons like maces and mauls don’t care much if what they’re hitting is covered in armor or not. They’re also great for knocking down or stunning opponents.

Armor is no match for a mace in Blade & Sorcery

The effectiveness of weapons against armor also depends on the quality of the weapon, which you can view in your inventory screen while holding the weapon in question.

Generally bladed weapons of higher tiers are better at stabbing or slicing through armor, while maces of higher tiers generally bash better than earlier ones. Some weapons are also lighter, or heavier, and so what you prefer comes down to personal preference.

Having both blunt and bladed weapons equipped and available might be beneficial to you, or you could try to specialize in one or the other. It’s easier and more effective to deal a lot of damage if you are precise with a blade.

Though, if you just want to smash your enemy however you can without caring whether they’re armored or not, blunt weapons are always effective if you land your blows with vigor.

3. Choose Your Crystals Carefully

Speaking of your playstyle, one of the most important and more permanent choices you will make in Blade and Sorcery’s Crystal Hunt is what magical crystals you pick.

Different types of crystals give you different types of magical abilities, and those different abilities greatly affect how you play Blade and Sorcery, so let’s talk about them.

There are a lot of crystals to choose from in Blade and Sorcery. This tip will tell you something about each of them

While a complete overview of the powers that each crystal type gives you is a whole article in and of itself, here’s a few tips.

If you want your bladed weapons to be better at piercing armor then imbuing them with fire will make them pierce metal much more effectively.

At the same time the gravity crystal is great for imbuing blunt weapons to knock enemies into the air. Gravity magic also gives you a lot more options when traversing levels, like the option to blast yourself up high or slowly fall to avoid fall damage.

If you want more health then the Body crystal gives you some general combat upgrades that also increase your maximum health.

The lightning crystal is great for stunning enemies and is useful if you don’t want to be overwhelmed by a large group. So is the Mind crystal, which lets you slow down time. This can be particularly useful if you get overwhelmed in large or fast fights. The Mind crystal also greatly expands your telekenetic powers beyond just grabbing items.

There are an absolute ton of magical abilities in Blade and Sorcery

Keep in mind that you can get up to three of each type of crystal, and the more you invest in a single type of crystal the more powerful the abilities you get from each is. It is generally better to specialize in a few types than spread your investment out, but that also depends on your preferences. The most powerful abilities are locked behind higher tiers of crystal.

There are an absolute ton of abilities to unlock, and even certain abilities that you can only get with certain combinations of crystals.

If you’re the type who wants to plan out your build before committing to which sort of crystals you want to get, then you can always check all of the crystals and what abilities they will give you out in the Sandbox mode. Though beware getting too far into the Sandbox as there may be spoilers.

4. Bring Plenty Of Healing Items

Of course one of your greatest magical abilities that you start Blade and Sorcery’s Crystal Hunt with is your inventory, which can store a massive amount of items right from the beginning. Honestly, it’s more storage than you will probably ever need.

If there’s one Blade and Sorcery Tip that is both obvious and essential it’s to not lose all of your health and die. Healing items will keep that from happening.

Another great Blade & Sorcery Tip is to make sure you have the health to keep fighting by using healing items

Well, as soon as you’ve got the cash to spare you should be filling that inventory with more healing items than you’ll probably need. While this might be expensive in the early game, as you get further into the Crystal Hunt you’ll have plenty of opportunities to make money (more on that soon) and the number one thing that will increase your survivability is having as many healing items as you need.

Think about it. Potions, eggs, and apples don’t weigh much, and having a few on hand at all times can be the difference between victory and defeat. Being able to top your health off between, or even during, fights means that you’ll be able to take a lot more punishment if you got roughed up earlier in the run.

So once you’ve got some spare money it can save your life to make sure you’ve got at least a couple of potions on you at all times.

5. Weapons Can Be Found But Armor Must Be Bought

You’ll notice pretty early on that while you can pick up weapons from fallen enemies in Blade and Sorcery, you won’t be able to keep them once you finish the dungeon you are in.

The only weapons that you keep with you between runs are the ones you buy, but there are always plenty of enemies who drop a wide variety of weapons in each dungeon.

Equipping new armor in Blade and Sorcery will make you stronger and more durable

So really you only need to take down one or two enemies at the beginning of a run in order to pick up a half decent weapon from one of their bodies.

Of course there are some weapons that enemies don’t wield and must be bought, mostly big mauls and big swords, and if you want to invest your money there go ahead, they are your coins after all.

Though if you want to play as optimally as possible and increase your chances of victory as quickly as possible then it’s wise to invest in some armor before you spend your money on weapons that you can just pick up from enemies anyway. You can’t pick up armor during your runs, since armor has to be bought and equipped before you go.

Oh, and when you’re buying armor keep in mind that it has stats just like weapons do. Some armor is better for spellcasting, and some for survivability, make sure to pick what fits your playstyle.

6. You Can Always Repeat Missions For Infinite Cash

Of course you don’t have to think so stingily about your ingame money if you don’t mind a little farming. If you want to you can run as many dungeons and arena battles as you want to collect more cash.

You don’t have to go to the ruins to collect your next crystal once you have the map pieces you need to find it. You can just keep doing outposts and arena battles instead.

If you want more money and crystals then choose Blade and Sorcery mission locations that offer great rewards

So if you just want a little more cash to stock up on healing items, or get that piece of equipment you’ve had your eye on, you can do as many runs as you would like to collect more money before getting your next crystal.

Of course better equipment becomes available later on in the game once you collect more crystals, and the rewards get better for each run as well. Though of course, like in many games, these better rewards come at the price of more difficult enemies.

So you can always get some practice, upgrade crystals, and cash by doing a few extra runs or arena fights. Oh, and keep in mind that in outpost missions your goal is to get to the end and get the loot from the chest in the final room. The enemies there are obstacles, not the goal, so you can sometimes just run past them instead of spending time fighting.

Oh, and make sure to check how big of a reward you get for doing a mission by looking at the stack of coins icon above the travel button when that mission is selected. The bigger the stack of coins, the bigger the payout.

7. Experiment

You would be really surprised at just how many effective fighting tactics there are in Blade and Sorcery. Some are, of course, dependent on what crystals and equipment you decide to invest in.

There are a lot of different combinations of sorcery, weapons, and tactics that are extremely effective against your enemies.

For instance, on my first playthrough I started with the Lightning Crystal background, and quickly discovered that stunning my enemies with lightning and then quickly attacking their faces was a very effective tactic.

If you keep an open mind you might find combinations of blades and sorcery that you never might have thought of otherwise

Even if you didn’t take the lightning crystal you might discover that even your humble foot can be just as effective as a ball of magical lightning in stunning an opponent in front of you to leave them open for attack.

You might discover that jumping around the battlefield can give you a sudden boost to your mobility, and help you dodge incoming attacks.

You might find new uses for your spells, or imbue your weapons with them more often. Blade and Sorcery can just be a game of smashing your way through your opponents if you like, but if you want to be really effective it will take a little creativity.

Still, you don’t need a degree in fantasy combat to come up with new and unique methods of defeating your opponents. Just try new things. Even a chicken can be an effective weapon if you use it right. Experimenting is where a lot of the fun of Blade & Sorcery is, and also how you’ll find the most effective ways to use your items and abilities.

BONUS Blade And Sorcery Golem TIP

As a thank you for reading this far, here’s a bonus tip for fighting the Golem, the boss which guards each new crystal shard.

These crystals on the golem’s back are very hard to reach when it isn’t vulnerable

To defeat the golem you need to destroy each of the pink crystals on its body, and some of the crystals are shielded and will only be vulnerable after you break these larger blue crystals that are spread around the golem combat arena.

These pink and blue crystals can be broken by hitting them, or even from afar with ranged attacks. Though you might notice that some of the pink crystals on the golem are harder to attack than others, especially those on the golem’s shoulders and back.

However, whenever you break one of the blue crystals the golem will be stunned briefly. This gives you some time to jump on the golem and break a crystal before it recovers. So when this happens quickly run over to the golem and break one of the crystals that are harder to reach, don’t waste the opportunity on a crystal that is easy to break anyway.

Once you break all of the crystals, then the crystal shard inside the golem’s head is yours for the taking.

Well, that’s it for these 7 essential Blade and Sorcery Tips and Tricks for the Crystal Hunt gamemode. Armed with this knowledge and a sense of adventure you will be more than ready to tackle all of the challenges the game has in store for you. Enjoy!

Blade And Sorcery Is FULLY Released With the 1.0 Update

Today we have extremely exciting news for fans of the physics based VR fighting game Blade And Sorcery. It has finally been fully released with the latest 1.0 Update!

So what does this mean? Well, it means that Blade And Sorcery is now a very different game from what it was before this update, and is less of a purely sandbox focused experience with the addition of the long anticipated Crystal Hunt game mode.

With the 1.0 Blade And Sorcery Update you can go on a Crystal Hunt of your own!

With the full release of Blade And Sorcery you can now embark on a dangerous quest to gather as many crystals as you can and unlock the magical power of an ancient civilization.

It won’t be easy though, you’ll have to use your fighting skills and magical abilities to defeat the many factions that also want to claim the power of these crystals for themselves.

The new Blade And Sorcery Crystal Hunt game mode brings RPG elements to Blade And Sorcery.

With the Crystal Hunt game mode Blade and Sorcery isn’t just a sandbox game now, but a full fledged VR RPG! A pretty damn good one too. Collecting crystals gives you upgrade points to increase your magical or combat skills, and you can unlock new skill trees by collecting special crystals that give you new magical powers.

The inventory system has also been expanded, and there’s even a stats page in the inventory screen as well.

Check out this inventory in Blade & Sorcery.

This inventory system means that you can collect and store loot to sell at your good buddy “The Baron’s” store.

The more loot you collect and sell then the more money you’ll have for new weapons, equipment, healing items, and armor. Like any good RPG, deciding where to invest your hard earned cash first is always a tough decision.

Buying items from The Baron in Blade And Sorcery.

Of course you can always get more by fighting your way through the various procedurally generated levels. This is the same procedural generation introduced during one of Blade & Sorcery’s last big updates in the “dungeon” mode.

There are a ton of new weapons and armors, and enemy factions and equipment are separated into tiers which increase in difficulty as you get more power and more wealth and progress through the game.

There’s even Blade And Sorcery Lore now! With notes you can find throughout the dungeons, and even a friendly NPC in your friendly shopkeeper “The Baron.”

There is a lot of Blade And Sorcery lore to uncover.

This Blade And Sorcery update has been the most exciting of them all, and the full release of Blade And Sorcery is certainly a big deal in the Virtual Reality gaming community. Blade & Sorcery has long been a beloved game for its fantastic physics based melee combat and wide variety of community made mods.

Though, unfortunately, this massive update has yet to come to the standalone Meta Quest version of the game, Blade And Sorcery: Nomad, though it is planned for the future.

For now it is a bright day for VR gaming, and experiencing this massive Blade And Sorcery update has been extremely rewarding and exciting.

If you haven’t gotten the game yet though the price has increased to 30$ to reflect the increased amount of content in the game. If you already owned Blade And Sorcery on the Steam or Oculus stores though the update is completely free.

This is a fantastic time to get into Blade And Sorcery, especially if you aren’t a huge fan of sandbox experiences (though the sandbox is still very much available) and want a fantastic Virtual Reality RPG to sink your teeth into. For more on this update check out the update notes from the developers at WarpFrog.

Half-Life 2 VR Mod Review And Setup Guide

Half-Life 2 is one of the most well known and respected video games of all time. Just like the original Half Life it is widely considered to be a classic that not only showcased some impressive technology for the time in the Source Engine, but also was another tightly designed and extremely well thought out experience that is full of memorable moments and superb gameplay.

Most players that have tried it can come to the conclusion that Half-Life 2 is a fun and good game. We already know that, so that’s not what I'm here to talk to you about. The question here is: As much as we've all loved Half-Life 2 on the flat screen, does that mean it is also fun in Virtual Reality?

The Gravity Gun is even better in Half-Life 2 VR

Half-Life 2 Is Amazing In Virtual Reality

Yes... yes it is. Seriously this game is somehow even better in Virtual Reality, and you can play it for free in SteamVR as long as you own a copy of the original Half-Life 2. This is crazy. I'd like to thank everyone who put time in to work on this. It is absolutely amazing and I've never loved a flatscreen to VR mod more in my entire life.

Though you, the reader, might want a little more detail than just my word that Half Life 2 VR is absolutely awesome and amazing and you should try it right now. So let's talk specifics. How does the addition of VR make Half-Life 2 better?

In any discussion of a flatscreen game being ported into Virtual Reality there are very obvious aspects that differ immediately between Virtual Reality and flatscreen gaming.

The most immediately apparent of these is the switch from a desktop monitor to two very little monitors shoved right in front of both of your eyes and cast slightly askew so that you have the illusion of being inside of a completely 3D space with the illusion of depth. Basically the magic that makes VR gaming so much more immersive than flatscreen gaming.

Aiming in Half-Life 2 VR feels so much less constrained when using your physical hands in Virtual Reality

Now you might think that this is where the Half Life 2 VR mod wouldn't be very impressive. Sure the mod makes it so that your head is exactly where Gordon Freeman's head is, basically putting you immediately into his shoes and making you feel like you really are present inside the whirlwind of combine gunfighting, headcrab zombie chopping, and antlion wrangling chaos around you.

Still, Half-Life 2 is about two decades old now, and concerning how far computer graphics have come, two decades is quite a long time. The source engine was impressive for its time, but does it really hold up twenty years later?

While you'd think that taking such a up close look at textures and technology that is so old would make it feel like you're living inside an eyesore, the look of the game still holds up very well. If you look really closely at the textures that make up your environment or other NPCs, then yea you can see that they are lower resolution than you're used to.

Oh, and being able to look so closely at those NPCs talk is sometimes a little uncanny, but Half Life 2 still looks better in Virtual Reality than a lot of modern games made for VR platforms.

The Half Life 2 VR Mod looks excellent as well. Even better than the original Half-Life 2 because of the more personal point of view

At the end of the day this comes down to good environmental design. While the technology is older, good design is timeless.

The various aesthetics of the maps that you explore and fight through in the Half-Life 2 VR mod still hold up as well as they did all those years ago, and taking a closer and more personal look at things just makes them even better to look at and experience. Though while I mentioned the NPCs can be uncanny to look at when they're talking, boy are they great when you're fighting.

Strapping a device to your head that displays the action directly into your eyes and tracks your head like you really are there standing exactly where your Gordan Freeman in the game is makes the combat feel so much more immersive. You really do feel like you're standing in a hallway in Nova Prospekt gunning down incoming combine prison guards almost as quickly as they can spawn in.

The Half-Life 2 VR Mod Feels As Good As It Looks

Even the scope on the crossbow functions excellently in the Half Life 2 VR Mod

Combined with the excellent hand controls that the Half Life 2 VR mod brings to the table, the full force of the VR effect comes crashing in on you in Half-Life 2 VR. You feel like you're really there, like you really can reach out and touch that soldier standing just feet away from you. Well, actually you can reach out and touch them.

That's the second half of the puzzle that makes Half Life 2 such an enjoyable Virtual Reality experience, the hand controls. They are absolutely superb. I've played plenty of recently released titles that were made for VR which had worse hand controls than those in this free Half-Life 2 VR mod.

Though while the hands generally track really well and are responsive, they're not perfect. There are instances where your hands might get caught on the walls or floor around you, mostly I noticed this when physically crouching. The system that detects what object your hand is close enough to to grab was also a little finicky sometimes, but the fact that it works at all is still amazing. You can just reach an empty hand out to an object and hold down the grip to grab it, and the physics fun only gets better when the Gravity Gun comes into play.

With the VR mod you're also much freer when playing with the physics and just in general since you can use your physical hands in any way you'd like. You're not constrained to grabbing or aiming directly in front of you like you were in the original game.

There’s a fully functional hand grabbing system as well. It works amazingly well in Half-Life 2 VR

So now you can shoot from different angles, shoot from cover, or even blind fire around corners or above obstacles if you want to. While you don't have to play the mod like a more cover based shooter than Half Life 2 was intended to be, you certainly can if you like. Your weapons point where your hands point, and that not only feels amazing, but even expands the game and gives you as a player more options in how you want to play it.

Speaking of those weapons, they all feel fantastic. The entire arsenal of Half-Life 2 looks and feels amazing in this game. From the humble pistol to the combine assault rifle, each weapon has unique reloading actions that you can do with your actual, real hands. This isn't one of those flatscreen to VR ports where you just hit a button to reload your primary weapon. Nope, in the Half Life 2 VR mod you have to eject the old mag, grab another one from behind your back, and slam it home.

Weapons like the SMG or Pistol even have to chamber another round if you fire it completely dry before reloading. All of the weapons really come to life in the Half-Life 2 VR mod.

Even throwable weapons like the grenade feel great, and throwing that feels natural has been hard for many VR games to pull off. Basically you start your throw, and just pull the trigger when you would release, and a grenade is spawned from your hand going on the trajectory of the throwing motion you were just making. It feels so natural once you get the hang of it.

Tossing a grenade is easy in Half Life 2 VR

You even reload the RPG by putting another rocket in the tube. The shotgun is actually even a little overpowered because now you can pump it as quickly as your hand can move, meaning you can fire it a lot faster than you ever could as flatscreen Gordon. Now your reloading speed is dependent on how fast you, the player, can reload.

Oh, and since there aren't a bunch of number keys to use anymore, you now select weapons by just pushing in the stick on your dominant hand and then moving your hand over the weapon you want on the selection menu. It did take a little getting used to, but with some practice I could pull out a new weapon extremely quickly.

Eventually knowing where the weapon I wanted was on the selection wheel was just muscle memory. There are a ton of weapons, and so accidentally equipping one that you didn't want to occasionally does happen (mostly when panicking and getting shot a lot), but this beats hitting a button to cycle through every weapon in your arsenal any day.

Selecting weapons is fast and straightforward with this weapon selection wheel. Just move your hand over the weapon you want and let go

As for negative things, there are a few bugs, mostly I noticed some objects popping in and out of existence when you look at them from certain angles. The only bugs that were really annoying were the few times my hands were caught behind walls or objects, and for the record that was very rare and only happened once or twice.

The only part of the gameplay itself that is annoying is that when you dump a magazine you don't get the leftover ammunition in it back automatically, you have to pick it up manually instead. Now this isn't the worst thing ever, and is realistic if nothing else. I just would have liked an option to make it so that dumped magazine ammunition is automatically collected from the ground.

That's really about it. There are a ton of comfort and other settings that you can change in the game as you like, like adding a laser pointer to your guns if you aren't the best at aiming, or making it so that you actually have to physically grab and climb up ladders to use them. There are really a ton of comfort and utility options you can set in the game.

The Half Life 2 VR Mod Is Free And Runs Directly Through SteamVR

This mod is fantastic, and if all of this hasn't convinced you to try it, maybe the fact that it is free will.

The Half-Life 2 VR Mod is totally free! You just have to own Half-Life 2

If you own a copy of Half Life 2 just download the mod for free on Steam and run it, you don't even need to have the original Half Life 2 installed. There's no setup process, just play it like any other Steam VR game. If you are on a standalone device like a Meta Quest 3 or 2 then you can still play the Half Life 2 VR mod if you stream it from your PC to your headset.

So thanks to Valve for making a fantastic game two decades ago, and most of all thanks to the dedicated modders who created this absolutely fantastic VR mod. I have absolutely no idea how they pulled it off but if I didn't know better I would have thought that Half-Life 2 was actually made as a Virtual Reality game first and not the other way around.

So yea, give this mod a try and thank me later.

Latest Bootstrap Island Update Adds Building And Inventory

Now for a game that is really shaping up to be a fantastic VR Survival game and is definitely a Virtual Reality experience to try right now, Bootstrap Island.

This VR survival game has you in a Robinson Crusoe sort of situation. You are stranded on an island after being the only survivor of a nasty shipwreck. It’s a roguelike game that challenges you to explore the island as far as you can without perishing of dehydration, starvation, or being eaten by the many dangerous animals that come out at night.

Fighting off menacing beasts in the middle of the night is a core part of what makes Bootstrap Island such an intense Roguelike experience.

Bootstrap Island Gets Great, Consistent Updates

When Bootstrap Island first released it felt very bare bones, and had a ton of bugs. So many that reviewing or recommending it felt like it may have been unwise until we could see the development teams’ commitment to fine tuning a great game. Bootstrap Island has always had fantastic visuals and sound, but there was clearly some polishing that needed to be done on even the most basic interactions and mechanics.

Well, since the release of Bootstrap Island into early access some months ago the updates have been strong and consistent. Trying this VR game again hasn’t been a bug free experience, but lacked the consistent crashes and physics engine issues that the game previously had.

The satchel inside of a chest in Bootstrap Island, courtesy of the developer’s Youtube channel.

Most notably in this latest update two new items have been added that really show what direction this game is going to go, and reinforce my belief that Bootstrap Island will become a must play game for Virtual Reality survival game enjoyers.

One is a satchel, which if you unlock and then find within a chest in the game can carry a bunch of items. One of the early game hardships of Bootstrap Island is that you don’t have an inventory to speak of other than your hands. Well over several runs now you can actually carry quite a few things and give yourself a lot more options as you go deeper into the island.

Second and most notable is the addition of a book which lets you craft structures on the island. Currently the only craftable buildings using this book are a fence and a gate for this fence, which offers some defense against wild animals at night, but the intricacies of even this fledgling crafting system show what a commitment the team working on Bootstrap Island has to creating a realistic and finely tuned survival experience.

Building a fence in Bootstrap Island, courtesy of the developer’s Youtube channel.

A lot of VR survival games that heavily feature building are content to simply have to bring over the items needed to build something, select where you want to build it, and then maybe whack it with a hammer a few times.

Not Bootstrap Island, in this game you must drive each stake into the ground and then tie them together with a naturally occurring plant called cordage root. Just like building a fire, or loading a pistol, each step to build even a simple fence feels just like how building a fence in real life would feel, and that is the core of why Bootstrap Island is shaping up to be a fantastic VR game.

Another VR Extraction Shooter Is Coming - Astro Hunters VR

You might be interested to hear that Ghosts Of Tabor might be getting a little bit of competition soon. Currently this Escape From Tarkov inspired Virtual Reality Game has been the only example of its kind, and from its exclusivity as the only VR extraction shooter has been wildly popular.

However now it seems that other game developers have picked up on this fact and are seeing if they can get a slice of that sweet sweet Virtual Reality extraction shooter pie. Enter Astro Hunters VR.

Fighting an alien for his loot in Astro Hunters VR. A new VR Extraction Shooter planned to be released soon.

If you’re a big enough fan of the extraction shooter PVPVE genre then you might have heard of The Cycle: Frontier, a flatscreen PVPVE extraction shooter that had its servers shut down due to it simply not being very popular.

Well, Astro Hunters VR seems to be kind of like what The Cycle was. You’re a space man or space woman in a sweet futuristic vacuum suit. You buy equipment to use, and then find a quest to undertake before getting into a capsule to blast off down to a planet to fight, loot, try to complete your quest, and hopefully return alive.

I’ve taken a look at the Volcano planet, which is explorable in the publicly available free demo that is free during this year’s Steam Next Fest. I have to say that one of the most impressive things about this demo is the scenery and setting.

Other VR games like Red Matter and Red Matter 2 have shown that the vast reaches of space can make for extremely fantastic spectacles to view from a first person point of view in VR, and that’s where Astro Hunters VR really shines.

The scenery in Astro Hunters VR is pretty nice.

Landing on the planet and looking around at it is pretty awesome. From the epic skybox to the alien terrain and the creatures that mill around. There is clearly a lot of creativity behind the portrayal of Astro Hunter VR’s alien worlds. Though the visual fidelity could use a little work in some places, and a lot of NPCs and objects will pop into existence not very far away from you.

Still, there are all sorts of creepy crawlies, giant turtles with huge triangular mouths, sky jellyfish, and so many more types of enemies and alien animals roaming the planet.

Fighting off alien turtles in Astro Hunters VR.

There are a ton of things to do, like mine materials such as crystals and ore using various tools, and collect loot from containers spread across the map. Mostly though like any extraction shooter of PVPVE game, Astro Hunters VR has you focused on fighting, collecting stuff, and trying to survive to extract.

Unfortunately it is in the fighting and surviving that the demo reveals that this Virtual Reality game still needs a lot of work. Those many different animal designs I mentioned earlier? Well they all seem to have very similar behavior, mill around unless a player comes too close. If a player does then the NPC just runs closer and attacks as soon as they are in range. They’re kind of dumb.

Walking around camps of aliens feels like avoiding enemies in World Of Warcraft. You can plainly be in their sight, yet they won’t see you. Oh, and the shooting doesn’t feel great and lacks punch. The same goes for when you get hit. The gunplay is extremely basic and obviously needs a ton of work at the moment.

Mining a crystal in Astro Hunters VR, an upcoming VR PVPVE extraction shooter.

While the Astro Hunters VR demo shows that the game still needs a lot of work until it is ready for release, there is some promise here.

The design is ambitious in quite a few ways, like making extraction capsules come back to pick up players every three minutes or so, while the location of the capsule and the time it arrives is globally visible. So everyone knows where and when the extraction arrives.

This could lead to an epidemic of extract camping, but at the same time could also lead to protracted combat over extraction zones, practically guaranteeing there is no free lunch in Astro Hunters VR.

The demo is available from June 10, 2024 to June 17, 2024 on Steam. You’d think that would mean that there is a demo on the Meta Quest as well, but I couldn’t find it in the Meta store. Regardless it seems that Astro Hunters VR plans to release on both platforms.

Hopefully this will be the start of more competition in the VR PVPVE and VR Extraction Shooter genres.