Ready Player One: OASIS beta
Video Credit to: vrgamecritic via YouTube
There are now 4 games for the OASIS beta: Smash, Rise of the Gunters, Battle for the OASIS, and Gauntlet. Vive expects to release more VR experiences for Ready Player One in the future. Smash is the newest game of the 4 and is a PvP game that equips players with paddles to score on an opposing challenger while they hit their ball back at you through a long platform.
Fitness Potential
Smash is a gaming session that focuses on timing, coordination, and anticipation of where the ball is headed after it’s been hit by both players. The game uses the upper body to strike their paddle towards the other side and supports room scale side steps and lunges for guarding your side. Gauntlet is a bow shooter, ROTG is an FPS, Battle for the OASIS is an action shooter as well; so they will each involve upper body activity with fast reactions to IOI Sixers and creepy dungeon ghouls.
Play this game if you’re a fan of: Sparc and In Death.
Developer/Publisher: Directive Games Limited, Steel Wool Studios, Drifter Entertainment, 2Bears Studio/Vive Studios
Release Date: April 17, 2018 (Vive March 2018 Release)
Compatible with: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, with tracked controllers
Price: Free
Link: Ready Player One: OASIS beta
BAAM SQUAD
Fire up some beefy voxel zombies at Santana’s Sweets Factory. BAAM SQUAD is a single player, up to 4 multiplayer, and co-op shooter where players/agents, join forces against zombies as they fight swarms of zombies and get so good that they upgrade over 10 weapons. Of these weapons is a Sci-Fi laser gun, which we hope goes pew-pew. BAAM Squad is in early access.
Fitness Potential
There’s lots of room in the Sweets Factory to scurry away and hide but the real workout comes in when there’s ducking, dodging, and attacking zombies. If you must hide or avoid getting bitten try to stabilize yourself behind a structure or another person with a simple squat or a deep squat depending on what you’re hiding from.
Play this game if you’re a fan of: Exterminate the World and Virtual Ninja VR.
Developer/Publisher: 5minlab
Release Date: April 20, 2018
Compatible with: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, with tracked controllers
Price: $14.99
Link: BAAM SQUAD
Infinite Vector
Video Credit to: Portal Virtual Reality via YouTube
Move quickly through time and use whatever weapons or nearby objects you can get your hands on while bad guys are shooting at you in slow motion. Players take part in missions to fulfill a vendetta as a time-traveling voxel assassin that’s on a mission to make the future right. This sounds a lot like a voxel John Wick that time travels.
Fitness Potential
Moving around in room scale will give you a great core and leg workout when you have to squat to duck or side lunge out of the way of bullets or towards them when they get caught in mid-air and thrown back. When throwing arrows, shooting, and other methods of mayhem players will be using their shoulders, chest, back, and arms the most.
Play this game if you’re a fan of: Superhot VR and Sairento.
Developer/Publisher: The Burning Red Design
Release Date: April 16, 2018
Compatible with: HTC Vive, with tracked controllers
Price: $9.99
Link: Infinite Vector
Hit The Hive
Hit The Hive is a game that pits you against robots in space. Use your laser gun to zap flying drones that are swarming and shooting their projectiles at you. With a see-through shield plan your attack and make your way around the dark planet. This is an early access game.
Fitness Potential
The gameplay videos show that this game has some spaced out attacks from waves of flying and crawling robots. Shooting at them and using your shield to block attacks will keep your upper body active but how active is not known. There are some low hanging robots that take to the floor, so to get some lower body activity squat down or do a power stance to shoot at them.
Play this game if you’re a fan of: Space Pirate Trainer.
Developer/Publisher: VOID VR
Release Date: April 18, 2018
Compatible with: HTC Vive, with tracked controllers
Price: $8.99
Link: Hit The Hive
Show Me What You Got
Juggle zany objects including mini bombs for a hyped up crowd and a panel of game show judges. This is a skill-based juggling competition where players get 3 chances to show the judges what they’re made of in 4 settings.
Fitness Potential
Juggling is a skill that requires timing, coordination, and a sense of humor to make it seem effortless. Tossing and juggling bowling pins and other fun items like fruit and tacos in the air will be a light to mid-range upper body exercise with novice to intermediate difficulty levels. There doesn’t seem to be any legwork done in this game, except to allow the player to step around in room scale as they juggle.
Play this game if you’re a fan of: Zombie Grenades Practice and Rescuties.
Developer/Publisher: Blacksmith Studios/David and Goliath International Corporation
Release Date: April 19, 2018
Compatible with: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, with tracked controllers
Price: $8.99 to $11.99
Link: Show Me What You Got