Resolution Games, the developer behind titles like Angry Birds: VR: Isle of Pigs, Bait! and Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale, announced earlier this year that its next project was that of Blaston, which was slated to be a new multiplayer shooter. After a few months worth of trailers and new pieces of information arriving, Blaston has now finally started to make its way to VR headsets today.
Starting right now, Blaston is now available for purchase on the Oculus Store, solely for Oculus Quest. The game only retails for $9.99, which is a pretty solid price compared to many other VR titles on the market.
If you’re unfamiliar with what Blaston is, it’s essentially a 1v1 shooter where you can take on friends or other combatants in a closed-off arena. Each player is equipped with a variety of different weapons and has to rain fire at the opposing player to take them down. While that might sound very basic in practice, what makes Blaston unique is that matches play out in slow-motion. This means that you can dodge incoming fire or block it with other items you may have at your disposal. There is just as much strategy involved in Blaston as there is having a knack for being a good shot.
“PvP fighting games have been with us forever. With Blaston, it’s great to bring a new variant to this genre that includes so many elements of our childhood favorites for next-gen gaming,” explained Resolution Games’ CCO Mathieu Castelli in some accompanying comments to coincide with today’s launch. “In virtual reality games like Blaston, you are in there living the experience. And if tailored just right for close combat, there’s a very personal presence; the sort of feeling you can only experience when you stare your opponent in the eye. Touches like this make Blaston’s duels really intense — and all that much more fun!”
You can get an idea of how Blaston plays in the trailer right here if you haven’t seen it before:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wXoEthM4Kw]
While today is officially the beginning for Blaston and its potential players around the globe, Resolution Games has made clear that the title’s launch iteration is by no means its final form. Like many other titles nowadays, Blaston is set to continually receive new updates in the future that will keep players coming back over and over again.
“There are so many things we are looking forward to doing with Blaston that will keep the gameplay feeling fresh, challenging, and competitive,” said Resolution CEO Tommy Palm. “We have a substantial product roadmap for Blaston that includes new content, additional arenas, new features, and even new gameplay mechanics. Today’s launch is just the beginning. The players are such an integral part of our ongoing creation process here at Resolution Games. We look forward to hearing their thoughts as we make major updates and add to Blaston on an ongoing basis.”
Of course, when it comes to Blaston’s use as a fitness application, there is definitely a lot to be excited about here for those looking to get their heart pumping. While matches within Blaston will play out in a slow fashion, Resolution has pitched the title as one where you “never stay still.” So even though you might not be moving your arms around as much as a title like Beat Saber or FitXR, you’ll surely be ducking, dipping, dodging, and sliding back and forth all over your play area while in the game. And because of that, this seems like it could be a great candidate to help you stay in shape.
While Blaston is only available on Oculus Quest right now, Resolution Games has assured us that it will be coming to Steam in the future as well. When it does come to this platform, it will be compatible with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality devices. A tentative release window on Steam hasn’t been given yet outside of Resolution saying that it’ll arrive “in the coming months.”
Stay tuned here to VRFI as we’ll also have more coverage on Blaston hitting the site in the near future. Until then, to get more information about the game, you can head over to the official Blaston website.
