New VR game Elsewhere Electric: Technology meets teamwork in the underground!

New VR game Elsewhere Electric: Technology meets teamwork in the underground!

The digital adventure is becoming more and more innovative, and that is exactly what the new game "Elsewhere Electric" shows. It offers a fresh concept for an asymmetrical multiplayer experience, in which two players have to work together in different ways. The idea is to put a disused system back into operation deep underground, with one player immerse yourself in the world of Virtual Reality, while the other acts with a smartphone. Heise.de reports of the various roles that every player takes over: The smartphone user becomes the head of operations and gives instructions while the VR-user acts as a technician on site.

This distribution of roles offers an exciting area experience. Dark rooms with cryptic terminals and uncanny living beings reinforce the exciting character of the game. But the view of the smartphone user interface shows some weaknesses. The confusing design of the interface could quickly impair the fun and cause frustration. The challenges are to transmit codes, to restore power supply and light and to open doors. The codes are compiled from difficult to describe symbols. Communication plays a central role here - but after a while, the experience feels more like work than after relaxation.

The gaming experience on the test bench

When the testers judged the gameplay over two hours, it was clear that playing is difficult without a liquid game. The complicated UI design on the smartphone interface hinders the game flow, which is why the test was finally broken off. A change of roles also did not improve, and compared to other asymmetrical VR games such as "Acron: Attack of the Squirrels" or "Black Has Cooperative" was not quite enough to convince the testers.

But the anticipation for the game was definitely given after the first tests in spring. "Elsewhere Electric" is now available in the Horizon Store for Meta Quest and on Steam for PC-VR glasses, and even a free Companion app for Android and iOS is at the start. However, the test results show that there is still room for improvements.

asymmetrical gameplay - a trend?

In the world of VR games, the asymmetrical gameplay is a hot iron. While "Elsewhere Electric" cleverly combines the roles of smartphone and VR users, Sony experiment with its own approach. The company has published a patent for asymmetrical VR mechanics, which enables viewers to take part in a VR experience without using a VR headset. This concept gives the viewers the opportunity to actively influence the game, which creates a completely new interactive approach. VR Playground emphasizes that spectators can design the experience of the VR user through their decisions on the screen-an exciting idea!

This system could lead to viewers becoming an equivalent part of the game. They can vote by objects and thus influence the action. While the patent is currently only one concept idea, it remains to be seen whether and when we will experience this interactivity in reality.

So if you are interested in the future of the gameplay, you should take a closer look. Both "Elsewhere Electric" and the latest developments by Sony show that the multiplayer room in the VR world is just starting to get exciting. It remains to be seen how the technologies will develop and whether they will soon lead us to new dimensions of the game.