Ever wanted to scale a massive mountain without the risk of plummeting to your death when a faulty carabiner gives way? Ever watched Cliffhanger and though that looks like a good laugh, shame about all the shooting and heartache? Ever seen a really big tree and been overcome by an urge to scramble up into its mighty boughs, but struggle to reconcile the possibility of getting stuck and needing the fire brigade to get you down? If any of these are you, or if you just want to experience VR fun on a grand scale then you might want to check out new Oculus Rift title, The Climb.
The game has been developed by Crytek with the power of its CryEngine game engine, which recently brought us Ryse: Son Of Rome. The developers are probably better known for shooter action in Homefront: The Revolution and Evolve, so The Climb is a fairly significant departure. However, you’ve only got to take a look at the rendering and sweeping vistas to see some of the trademark qualities of the previous games.
Release date
The sports sim launched recently on the Rift store and it’s easily the big talking title of virtual reality gaming right now. It’s an exclusive title to the Oculus Rift, so there’s going to be a lot of you not able to play this game with the slow creeping arrival of the VR headset in the UK and the need for a very powerful PC with specific minimum spec to take into account. However, as a concept it does showcase the power of the impending VR revolution in terms of what it can add to the world of computer gaming.
Gameplay
The Climb is essentially a mountain climbing game with full 360 x 360 degree virtual reality head control, so when they say don’t look down, you’ll be able to completely ignore them and not worry about the consequences from the comfort of your living room (unless you’ve installed Mortal Kombat-style spikes to up the ante a little). At launch, the game will support Xbox ONE controller movement, but when the Oculus Touch controllers arrive later this year you’ll be able to use your hands to reach for the ledges on the ascent.
With the Xbox ONE controller gameplay style, you use your head and body movement to control where your hands are going and then press the action buttons to take each grab closer to the summit. With the Touch in play, your hands become a part of the virtual reality environment and you’ll be able to use the two controllers like you’re actually climbing. Both controller options present a gaming scenario that is designed to give you a sample of the reality of climbing, while still giving you button controls and the comfort of terra ferma to take away a little of the fear factor.
You can see the game in action in the launch video below, which gives you a run through of some of the gameplay action contained in the game. There are three main environments to climb in, ranging from the souring snow-capped scree of Alps to the lush South-East Asian island paradise, Bay, and the arid escarpments of Canyon. Alps is obviously modelled on the Swiss Alps, while Bay takes its cue from Halong Bay in Vietnam and Canyon is inspired by the Grand Canyon in the US.
As you’d expect with such a new gaming mechanic and the addition of virtual reality to contend with, The Climb starts out with a basic tutorial to get to grips with it all. This will guide you through the concept of having to physically lean forward to reach a grip or be able to see the next hand hold around a jutting out rock formation. Once you’ve mastered the basics you should be green lit to tackle some of the easier climbs, but if you want to take things to the next level there’s also an advanced tutorial to help you master some of the trickier techniques needed to climb the more difficult climbs.
If that isn’t enough to get you ready for the more competitive elements of the game, there also a training wall to try your virtual hands at. It’s an endless climb with a minimalist design that keeps getting tougher the higher you climb, a bit like an inverted re-imagining of Tetris.
Game modes
There are then three main game modes to choose from: Free Solo, Boulder and Tourist. Free Solo is essentially the main game mode with three ascents – easy, medium and difficult – in each location to try out your newfound climbing skills on. There are multiple routes to choose on each to mix things up a bit, along with secret routes to find and explore and a whole lot of Easter Eggs to hunt down.
Your competitive times will be posted on The Climb leaderboards, so there should be a fair amount of healthy competition from gamers to be the king of the mountain. You’ll also be able to download ghost climbs from friends and other players to either test yourself against or learn from. Things are made even more interesting with the need to manage both your chalk and energy levels as sweat and fatigue can strike as you climb to make things difficult for you.
The Boulder game mode is designed to be a real challenge with two tough stages in each of the three stages. The no ropes and equipment equivalent of rock climbing is pretty intense all by itself, but the courses pack in a lot of difficulty too with hard to reach grip placements and the added challenge of no chalk to help with you hand grip.
The final game mode, Tourist, takes things down a notch to more relaxing adventure. It’s performed on the same courses as the Free Solo game mode, but without the pressure of time trials, scores or achievements to worry about. Here it’s just you, the mountain and the stunning views, so it’s a chance to focus on the beauty of the locations and the epic climbs that have been created for you.
Graphics
Visually, The Climb is one of the best looking virtual reality games that we’ve seen, which is driven by the power of CryEngine. You can see some of the incredible detail and beautiful location rendering in the gameplay trailer below, and it’s pretty clear that the developers have created a climbing game with the graphics quality equivalent to the stunning Ryse: Son Of Rome.
The climbs themselves have got a lot of impressive texture variation to take on as the rock formations change as you ascend. This all comes together in the very cool virtual reality gaming system of the Oculus Rift, so if you just want to hand and look around at the incredible scenery that Crytek has crafted, it’s all just a turn of the head away. Just make sure you don’t lose your grip in the process.
First impressions
The Climb is an interesting concept, but it’s not a lot like many other more popular games, so it’s difficult to see many FPS or drive fans coming on board. However, it does give you the opportunity to experience the world of climbing in stunning detail from the comfort of your living room. With a few game modes to tackle and interest of virtual reality, it could be one to try out in the very least.
