E3: Awesome Multiplayer VR Game Echo Arena Out Today, And It's Completely Free
Echo Arena is a new take on competitive multiplayer in virtual reality: it's a five-on-five, zero-gravity sport that's a lot like rugby. It's out today for free on the Oculus Rift store here.
Echo Arena uses room-scale VR, so you have a lot of freedom of movement in the game. You can move by grabbing objects and throwing yourself off them, by using your exosuit's main jets, or by using the more deliberate, directional jets on your suit's gloves.
The goal is to grab a disc and score it in the other team's goal; you have the ability, however, to punch opposing players. This stuns them for a few seconds and forces them to drop the disk, if they have it.
We were able to check the game out at E3 2017 and came away enthusiastic. It's a great example of how VR can make competitive multiplayer even better, and it's the one of the first games that actually feels like a real sport.
Alongside Echo Arena, there's also a narrative, single-player game in the same universe that launches today. Called Lone Echo, it's somewhat similar to Adr1ft. According to a press release, "It tells the single-player story of a cybernetic AI stationed on a mining station in the outer rings of Saturn working to solve a deadly deep-space mystery." Lone Echo costs $40, and it's also exclusive to the Rift.