The Exercise is Real with Sprint Vector

At the GDC, we all got to see some incredible games and technology on display but one that piqued my interest has to be the Sprint Vector game. This is offered to us as an Adrenaline Platformer and it definitely seems to fit the bill, but that’s not what interested me. What interested me was that it is a game based on running. Ratings will not be given for this game as it has not been released just yet for wide playing experience.

What is Sprint Vector?

Sprint Vector is a game that’s nearly all about running but not completely. It would be a lot easier to play if that was all the game was about. Instead, you also have moments where you need to quickly climb areas and also moments where you need to glide into the next area. It’s a time based activity, so the adrenaline will definitely be pumping through most people’s veins while they play this.

Graphics and Visuals

The graphics and visuals feel like a combination between Team Fortress 2 styling, Tron’s visual glow, and Mirrors Edge’s traveling. That’s a lot of different combinations, but the game developers pulled it off very well. The game runs fluidly and, unlike a lot of adrenaline paced games, it’s actually quite difficult to find yourself lost. The platformer part comes into play as you jump to other platforms while running, gliding, or climbing.

Hardware Requirements

This was only a demo provided by the developers at the GDC and has not been released yet. However, the hardware used at the GDC was also not that impressive in terms of VR playing pc’s. Therefore, I cannot imagine that a game like this is heavy on the space or graphical card. Instead, I see it needs to have a lot of processing power and RAM as everything is fast paced and the game requires some serious finite control.

Fitness

You are moving your entire torso the entire time with even your legs moving, but the legs only move because you feel as though you need to in this game. There are no controls for the legs, but I can’t imagine that there will not be a future modification that will allow the use of legs. With that said, each map roughly takes around 2 minutes to complete so you’re looking at burst fitness rather than endurance fitness.

Overall Gameplay

The overall gameplay is rather smooth and it was very difficult to see where the game had hiccups or problems. I would imagine that the problems they encountered were so large that it only made sense to spend a huge portion of their time on solving bugs.

This is one of the first locomotion based games that I’ve seen come out for the VR that is truly impressive. Usually, locomotion is a gimmick that doesn’t really add anything to the game but this game is based around that locomotion. Even if this was just a demo at GDC, I would still give the game a 5/5 rating.