With VR looming on the horizon, we are starting to see the types of experiences that we can expect, once we get the headsets on. So far the best type of experiences seem to be the ones that put the player in a cockpit, or some other stationary position. Games like Elite: Dangerous and Eve: Valkyrie have shown this to be an effective way to immerse the player into a world without them having to move around. This makes a game viable on multiple types of headsets as well, since you don’t have to physically move around an environment.

Battlezone is the perfect franchise to introduce people to the world of VR. The original arcade game, made by Atari, created a sense of immersion unlike any other game at the time. Players would put their face up to a screen, that resembled a periscope, and blast other tanks into pieces. It was the first game that I remember playing that used 3D graphics to represent real world objects and it was very effective in what it was trying to accomplish.

Jump forward 36 years and the franchise is now being worked on by independent UK developer Rebellion. They are no stranger to making great games using pre-existing licenses like Aliens vs Predator or ports like James Bond, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. They started off working on a lot of simulation style games, but have more  recently been praised for hits like Zombie Army and the Sniper Elite games, that blend realism with a more artistic flair. This new franchise allows them to take their new style and breathe fresh life into an old arcade classic.

This new game will feature a procedurally generated “Hex” map that will contain multiple environments and mission types in fresh combinations, every time a player starts a new campaign. This will allow for multiple playthroughs, with each one being a different experience. This is a great methodology that developers have taken on, over the years, that allows for cool “water cooler” conversations about the exciting experiences that were created. The only problem that I have with a campaign that is set up this way is it doesn’t guarantee that everyone will have these same experiences at regular intervals. I think it would be a much better design decision to have a scripted campaign and a separate challenge mode that offers the procedural content. This way you could have an online leaderboard related to the campaign, similar to the leaderboard on an arcade game, while you also maintain the excitement that comes with the randomness of procedurally generated content.

Rebellion plans on having Battlezone be a launch title for Playstation VR and they are hoping that it will offer an experience that is much deeper than the other titles that will be releasing during the same time. In a press release by Rebellion, CEO and Creative Director Jason Kingsley had this to say:

“I think VR has an unfair reputation for just offering cool bitesize experiences, but we want to come out firing and deliver the kind of substantial content early adopters are crying out for.

“Obviously we’re hoping that Battlezone will be one of the first PlayStation VR games players buy, but we’re also designing it to be the one they return to time and time again… once VR has taken over the world of course!”

When you get a chance you should go here, where you can play a free, browser-based version of Battlezone, so you can experience the classic.

I am pretty excited to see what Rebellion has in store for this classic franchise. I am a huge fan of the original game and a huge fan of games like Elite: Dangerous. This new game looks to combine what makes the two games so entertaining. Check out the new trailer and see what you think.