There are some special events coming that VR fans should be aware of, especially if you’re interested in the Oculus and ESL-sponsored VR League.
Echo Combat
Starting today at 10:30 a.m. PDT is another open beta for Echo Combat. This is the newest game in development from Ready at Dawn. Many players who participated in the first open beta have been nagging the developers for another opportunity to play the game. This weekend’s open beta is in celebration of the 1-year anniversary of the release of Echo Arena and Lone Echo, both of which have been highly successful titles.
Echo Arena has been an immensely popular VR League title. Lone Echo is a single player game that has won awards such as “Best VR Experience” at IGN’s Best of 2017 Awards. Echo Combat has the same zero-gravity movement model as other games in the Echo universe. Players have weapons and teams of three work together to travel through the map and deliver the payload successfully – or to stop this from happening, depending on which team you’re on. Check out this review to read about more features of the game.
It is expected that Echo Combat will be released at some point this fall and Oculus has stated that there will be some sort of VR League ladder-style competition following release, but no further details have been shared.
The Echo Combat open beta will only last for 47.5 hours so be sure to join in the fun this weekend if you can. If you use a fitness watch to track your heart rate, calories, etc., be sure to wear that when you play. I burned an astonishing amount of calories (981 calories in a 3-hour period) during the previous open beta.
The Echo Combat open beta ends at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Sunday, July 22. If you aren’t able to play this weekend, the developers have said not to fret too much because there will be other opportunities to participate in betas up until the game’s release later this year.
Sprint Vector
Another opportunity that is coming soon is Mr. E’s Master League: Sprint Vector Speedrunning Tournament! This tournament is open to anyone who plays Sprint Vector, regardless of their VR platform – Rift, Vive or PSVR. Racers simply need to race on the specified courses and submit their times. Winners will be determined in two ways. Prizes will be awarded for the best times and random prizes will also be awarded.
Sprint Vector was a new title to the VR League lineup for season 2. Contestants have been battling it out on race tracks for several weeks now and earning points toward standings that will determine who is in the finals. One of the top contestants, Katiedead, normally streams the competitions so if you’d like to see how fast these guys are, check out her Twitch channel.
Mr. E’s Master League begins on Monday, July 23, but you’ll have a week to race and submit your time. After the qualifiers end on July 30, the top ten racers (based on the times submitted) will advance to the finals that will take place August 3-5.
The prizes for this event are terrific and range from Sprint Vector swag packs to an Intel i7 core processor. Since you could win even if you’re not very fast, be sure to participate regardless!
