After the Fall

I think we dropped the baton like the sixties didn't happen

There's a certain breed of executive out there who's convinced that the 'future of the games industry' revolves around sales models and accessibility. The kind who split hairs about how much a game should cost, the shape of it's post-sales monetisation schemes and selling games to people through direct, preferably subscription-based, online fronts that limit manufacturing costs. And, of course, they are right that these are preeminent issues of the gaming market that need to be discussed and figured out, although not always to the ends that they seek. However, I'm more of a direct consumer of games, with little love for the industrious side of our little industry; instead I find myself interested in the creative side of our 'industry future'. For in my eyes, what value is there in reworking the sales model of a game that's a pale update to an 18 year-old series? >cough< COD >cough<. Thus, whereas Google wants me thinking about the platforms I game on, I think about the construction of the game, which leaves me still somewhat insistent that VR has a Requiem to come.

We've heard precious little from the exciting frontier of VR gaming, despite it seeming very clear how it would be the fertile ground for the gaming future not so long ago. How long back was it that everyone was getting in on the market with either fully realised VR games or VR reworkings of old titles? Heck, I'm sure it wouldn't surprise you in the least to know that even Skyrim got a VR version released. All other huge leaps in the game-creation-process tend to be a tad more technical and so can become a little lost in translation. Raytracing? I suppose that effects real-time reflections or something? Sure, that's a little cool for a few minutes. 4K 60FPS? Still not really sold on the fact that 4K makes things better enough to warrant several hundred extra pounds to be honest. More teraflops? That still, and always will, sounds like a made up thing that the tech sector dreamed up in an industry-wide group snapchat to troll us normies. But when I think of VR, that's when my eyes really flash with visions of the future, when I wring my hands together and drool with anticipation, when I Stand tall and proclaim "Kono Giorno Giovanna niwa yume ga aru". (Wait, only half of that last statement made sense. I said I'm who now?)

The problem with VR, as I see it, is that so many of the VR titles made specifically for the platform are experience pieces that really aren't substantial enough to warrant people to go out and buy a machine to test them for themselves. (That and the prohibitive cost of any decent version of the hardware) Maybe you'll get to climb a mountain, or swim with sharks or... reject your humanity and become a VR Chat degenerate, descend into a bad game with Worse Company; but is any of that really worth your time or money? Recent years have given a few Shining Diamonds that stood out from the crowd, but you still can tell the herculean effort that went into making these titles far exceeds the work that would go into a normal title, thus it makes sense why so few studios take up the challenge. Yet whenever one does I would be remiss not to give them the time of day, and so when I see 'After the Fall' promising to deliver VR customers that classic co-op FPS action content that they've been missing out on, I see the potential.

Made by Vertigo Games, a studio with some priors in the VR sector, 'After the Fall' takes a frighteningly simple concept and threatens to modernize it under the scope of a VR title. We all know Co-op zombie shooter games afterall, the sorts of games that pride themselves around carnage thrown at the screen and wall-to-wall chaotic action in the most exciting moments. Games that champion multiplayer corporation with Echoes of the apocalypse sprinkled in there for flavouring. Titles like Left 4 Dead, Back 4 Blood and... well those two mainly. How much can the VR space add to the frantic action of those types of games in order to forge a true Gold Experience? Immersion. That added layer of dynamic and accurate player-avatar movement-tracking fits right at home with the in-your-face insanity of zombie horde shooter games.

'After the Fall' takes place within the alternate 1980's of Los Angeles (because every game has to be set in the same 2 US cities, apparently) and is said to take place 20 years after the end of the world; which almost makes it sound like a side-game from the 'Remnant' series. Wait, hang on; so The World ended in the sixties? Is this some sort of anti-hippie propaganda? Perhaps that's the hidden piece of lore to flesh out this game, because otherwise I suspect we're looking at a gameplay-focused romp with as little context as possible. As long as there's space for zombies of all different types to launch themselves at you, they'll have all the story they need because we honestly don't need anymore than that. (L4D certainly thrived just fine on that alone) Although speaking of; this will be a game to feature special types of undead and even big bosses, crossing that gap from average Zombie game to one that at least promises to have some sort of potential difficulty curve. (I appreciate the effort, big props.)

Even just looking at little glimpses of gameplay I can really see the ways in which Vertigo have grabbed ahold of this VR opportunity to try and push this somewhat familiar formula forward. In one shot you can see zombies crawling on the ceilings in an almost Xenomorph-esque fashion, taking up the sort of space that might only be caught in your peripheral vision, because that's the sort of cone of vision now open to the level designers through a VR headset. Gun mounted flashlights can open up the possibility of dark and tighter spaces that require quick movements in order to see around and faster moving enemies than what is typically seen in the VR scene helps keep the pressure up so that the average player won't fell like a total waste of space when he Bites the Dust. (Somehow even when you get helplessly swarmed by unassailable hoards of merely walking zombies, it still becomes the most embarrassing moment of your life.)

Of course, bringing all of this to the VR space is going to come with it's setbacks, and in this game's case the most obvious example is in the graphical fidelity. Looking at some of the character models for the enemies it's clear to see that we're looking at rough textures and rendering, but that's really what you have to deal with when making games for the most affordable pieces of hardware. Resolution is taxing and only the Index, as far as I'm aware, has a resolution capability surpassing 1080p, but giving how those headsets are still closer to 4 digits than most would like, it makes sense for Vertigo to aim for more sensible specs. And even if the raw graphical potential won't bring me to Heaven's Door in ecstasy, I can still respect the artistic intent behind it, because it's not so often we get to see a zombie apocalypse take place in a world so fallen. I like the '20 years of decay' style this game has going for it, give me S.T.A.L.K.E.R vibes, which I appreciate. (Although the colour grading is looking a little monochrome, as I'm sure you notice. Blue is gonna get boring real quick.)

Truly ground-breaking VR titles that fully take advantage of their unique platform to make their game are sure to be what grants eventual value to the VR market. But the games which pull that off, your Half Life: Alyx and Boneworks sorts of games, don't come around every other week. I think that we'll need an entirely separate industry of dedicated and learned VR developers to reach a good point with the VR market, and things are certainly trending in that direction. Until that time, however, games like this one which take the familiar and identify a few ways in which VR could maybe do it better will take up the space between now and then. But I feel it, in my bones I do, that one day VR games are going to reach a point where their sheer value proposition, immersion and engagement is going to hit the gaming public like a Sheer Heart Attack, and titles like 'After The Fall' will be the rungs on the ladder to get there. If there's but one question I have for myself to end on, it's why on earth did I choose to make no less than 12 stupid JOJO references in this blog.  Because that's just how excited this promising future makes it- is my excuse.