Game: From Other Suns
Developer: Gunfire Games
Publisher: Gunfire Games
Reviewed: Oculus Rift
Gunfire Games most recent title release is From Other Suns, where the developers have taken a roguelike that blends management simulation with first-person shooter experiences and it’s an incredible ride.
VR is still extremely new and while more and more adopters jump on the bandwagon to see what all the fuss is about, we can definitely see From Other Suns being one of those titles recommended to be included in that first handful of purchases. As mentioned, this video game comes from the development team Gunfire Games, who has previously brought out Dead & Buried and Chronos which were well-received VR titles of their own.
To start things off, the video game narrative puts players deep into uncharted space where it becomes a race for our crew to reach Earth in order to stop an alien force. However, the journey to Earth is where the game really shines as players are forced to not only jump between managing their ship but also board enemy vessels to collect resources.
The game starts off by giving players a quick little rundown of how the basics mechanics work. You’ll find how to bring up menus, holstering weapons, and just how to move within the game. Gamers can opt to go full immersion by moving around with your Oculus Touch joysticks or use a teleportation method, though we should point out that the teleportation method is a bit different. While some video games will fire players into a new area from teleportation, instead within From Other Suns, players will see their character physically move around with the joystick controls and will only teleport players to that position after they come to a complete stop.
Going through your ship you’ll come across NPC crew members which will heed your every command during a battle. Your main point of interest within the ship is the command center and that gives a great view out into space along with vital displays.
At the command center, players can view the star chart to determine the next big jump into space, communications with outside ships, among other important notifications and menus. You’ll head here when the occasional enemy pirate comes your way making grand demands.
If it comes to battle then players can start to send out a variety of attacks against the ship all the while keeping track of your ship vitals. When something of importance breaks down, players can pull up a new menu alerting a nearby NPC to make the repairs.
Once the battle comes to an end, you’ll likely have to walk around your ship to repair any breaches yourself through the use of a versatile repair gun. In my opinion, being in command to slaughter the opposing ship can be a bit weak just on its own and thankfully its complimented with some first-person shooter action.
When you’re able to board an enemy ship, players can stock up on some resources and weaponry to teleport to the opposing ship. Here you’ll likely battle against a number of enemies as you track down keys to unlock doors, hack consoles and steal resources.
Of course, the same thing can happen to your own ship so there’s a bit of strategy as you juggle managing your ship, commanding your crew, gathering resources, taking down anyone to board your craft, and of course, progressing the narrative to reach Earth.
The development team Gunfire Games have crafted From Other Suns to be enjoyed as singleplayer campaign, however, it’s heavily encouraged that players jump online and connect to one another. From there, your crew is replaced with other players, pinning strangers to work together as they battle against alien forces and greedy space pirates.
This is ultimately the route to take as the singleplayer experience can become a bit difficult as you progress through the title. Speaking of which, you’ll likely end up dying a few times and while you may have to scavenge for a few new items, resources such as weapons are bountiful to come across.
While on the subject of weaponry, finding guns and using them with their various effects is a blast, no pun intended. One thing that did take me a minute to understand is just how to recharge weapons after you wasted the last clip into a pirate who clearly doesn’t want you on their ship.
To offer a tip for those who may have the same issue, weapons are recharged on one of the several stations of the ship. They appear similar to where you would normally store a weapon on your ship and though it could be possible I missed that part of the tutorial when initially starting the game, I feel like it was one of the areas of the game that wasn’t necessarily explained.
Immersion was right on point with From Other Suns. The sound effects, voice acting, and of course visuals was right on par with my expectations. With that said the artistic views of the game felt cold even if the game is based on deep space.
Ships, regardless of upgrades, still don’t offer anything very creative or personalized. It would have been nice to see some crew bunkers while exploring an enemy ship with some personal interactive artifacts, something that may have given a bit of life or moral views to the foe, though I imagine being a procedural generated title this element may have been difficult to add.
Overall, From Other Suns is one video game title we can recommend picking up for the Oculus Touch and much like how I mentioned earlier in this review, this is a title I can see being included in lists of various must-have video games for the Oculus Rift with the Oculus Touch controls. Gamers can purchase From Other Suns today on the Oculus store for $39.99.
Full Disclosure: A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for purposes of this review.
