Overkill’s The Walking Dead Powered By StarVR
Starbreeze Studios, an independent creator, based in LA and Stockholm, is one of the oldest indie publisher and distributor of computer and video games, showcased its newest project, OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead @ E3.
A co-op virtual reality gaming experience based on the hugely popular and cult-favorite “The Walking Dead” comic series created by Robert Kirkman. Packed with completely new characters and story-lines!
Bo Andersson Klint, CEO, Starbreeze AB
“The collaboration between Starbreeze Studios and our partner Skybound Interactive will deliver something uniquely exciting for our millions of fans. We’re two independents joining forces to create the ultimate survival horror game. With Robert on the team, we will bring The Walking Dead into the world of first-person shooter co-op games.” says Bo Andersson Klint, CEO, Starbreeze AB. He continues, “It will be gameplay focused, ferocious and bring chaos to the traditional industry model – from us developers straight to you. This time it’s big – don’t walk alone.”
Robert Kirkman, CEO, Skybound Entertainment
“From day one on this project it’s been clear to me that this is the Walking Dead co-op action game fans have been waiting for. I can’t wait for people to learn just what OVERKILL has been cooking up for this game. Skybound is always about breaking new ground and trying to find something unexpected in all endeavors and this game continues that tradition in grand style.” says Robert Kirkman, CEO, Skybound Entertainment.
Pay Day II is another notorious game title by Starbreeze Studio that has sold more than 8 million copies!
At E3 demo, we were asked to sit inside a wheelchair, to live the experience as a man who had his legs cutoff in order to survive in the The Walking Dead virtual environment.
Two people from the The Walking Dead team stood behind me to make the VR experience more realistic and immersive, one would monitor my field of view inside the game, another would shake my wheel chair and hand me a rifle simulator at the perfect timing, it was very impressive and thoughtful, definitely enhanced the overall experience!
The only goal for the player is to survive in the game. Whether you are a pregnant woman, an 8 year old child, Navy Seal or a fireman you face a unique challenge that no other gamer has experienced.
The fresh blood-stained wall and deemed lights created high tension and creepy feelings!
When inside the game, I realized my wheel chair was being pushed by a woman from behind, and a man was leading the way as we tried to escape from zombies coming from all directions.
Playing as a character in an evolving world, you will have to make the same moral changing decisions that characters are forced to make in the Walking Dead Universe, the kill or be killed decisions that eliminates social constrictions as they know it. How will your decisions change the life of a survivor with their own unique story, history and motivations.
The game purposely ended with me being alone and completely out of rifle rounds and without any other weapon, as I was stuck in the wheelchair, I was truly helpless, my palm was sweating, and as zombies slowing crawled towards me, I couldn’t help it but screamed like a little girl… END OF STORY
Just how immersive and scary the experience was? You may ask. One of the highlight of E3 occurred at The Walking Dead demo while I was waiting for my demo, a man was at the exact scene where he was out of rifle rounds and surrounded by zombie, he took a different approach than me, he swung his plastic rifle gaming simulator around him to fight the zombies, The Walking Dead crew had to grab his arm and took the gun away from him to calm him down… That was how immersive it was! It was cool and hilarious at the same time! The dude seemed truly convinced by the realistic and fully immersive VR experience.
At the demo, we were handed StarVR headset, a VR project by Starbreeze Studio, where InfinitEye’s hardware expertise and capabilities are combined with Starbreeze Studio’s gaming and entertainment software development skills. The project places Starbreeze in a unique position to develop virtual reality experiences with an integrated vision. The StarVR headset was impressive!
StarVR headset is with a 210° field of view, with horizontal field of view, covering more than 75% of the entire human vision because beyond 180° the user will be fully immersed in the scene around him, at 210° the immersion is in full effect. The user can move his eyes in any directions he will always be surrounded by the virtual world.
STARVR Headset Electronic & Specifications
Dual 5.5’’Displays
2560×1440 – 2.5K per eye •
5K total Panoramic definition •
UNIQUE 210° WIDE FIELD OF VIEW
Custom Fresnel-based Optics
Crystal-clear image across the entire field of view
210-degree Horizontal FOV
130-degree Vertical FOV
POSITION TRACKING
Real-time 6 Degrees of Freedom
360° Submillimeter Optical Tracking
IMU and Optical sensor fusion for a
low-latency experience
Overkill: The Walking Dead was one of the most impressive demos from E3. We were just walking by the booth and thought we should give it a try, it was a pleasant and horrific surprise! The way The Walking Dead team tells the virtual horror story has completely changed the way I used to view horror games, it’s bound to be a VR game changer.
When we spoke to The Walking Dead team, they told us that the game is set for official launch in 2016, and the releasing platform has yet to be announced in the near future. “Get ready when Washington falls in 2016!”
