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VR is full of amazing concepts and incredible one-of-a-kind experiences, but it’s also got a fair few titles that simply didn’t turn out the way people wanted them to. Developer Black Box VR Lab wants to make sure this doesn’t happen with Crunch Element, a Breach-and-Clear action game for VR systems, and that’s a wise move given that videos of gameplay from the title have gone viral on Reddit and elsewhere on the Internet. Think of it as Rainbow Six Seige in VR with destructible environments and plenty of neon and lasers thrown in for good measure.
Players who want to sign up can throw their name in the hat by filling out this form, which will be available until July 28th. Players who can take part in the private player test will be notified on August 1st with an email containing a Steam key for the test. But be forewarned, Black Box VR Lab is stating that this is more like a “pre-pre-alpha” type of test than the usual beta test that you might sign up for.
For note, this is early player testing designed to test out fundamental base-level stuff. To define this, the developer goes into detail in a vlog posted to the game’s YouTube channel. This phase of testing includes making sure that things like gun recoil and weight feel right, working through how projectiles and explosions feel in the world, making sure enemy NPCs interact with players and with each other correctly, testing basic AI routines, and some other major basic things that gamers often take for granted when just playing a game.
For the test, players will be able to utilize 3 different weapons, select from a handful of different levels (known as compounds), and take part in the single-player wave defense mode of the game. Since this test is designed to help further develop fundamental base systems in the game, players will be encouraged to pay close attention to the way weapons work, how physics in the game react, and ensure that all basic world interactions are solid in order to continue building out what’s planned in the game.
The developers are excited about the passion that the community has shown so far, including the game’s Discord server, which has been a great tool for many different developers to directly interact with the core community that’s looking to make the game’s experience the best one possible.
Throughout this testing process, bugs will be fixed and some new features might be added, but it’ll probably be a while before it reaches the traditional “beta” state that game testing goes through.
The developers have a significant roadmap planned out, including tons of weapons, compounds, game modes and other ideas that have not been dropped yet. VR games, in particular, live and die by the fundamental mechanics and the way that players interact with the virtual experience.
The planning stages for early access are going to be focused on the single-player component for now, and multiplayer is expected to be added sometime into that phase of development.
While this isn’t a “normal” beta, per say, it is a fantastic opportunity to jump onto one of the
3v3 breach and clear multiplayer experience is the eventual goal to provide to players as the beta becomes more developed.