The Steam Next Fest is underway until next Monday 28th February, giving you plenty of time to delve into some of the awesome virtual reality (VR) videogames coming to PC VR headsets. One that gmw3 has certainly been looking forward to is Incuvo’s Green Hell VR, the immersive port of Creepy Jar’s popular survival adventure.
With Incuvo having already ported the likes of Blair Witch onto VR headsets there has been a lot of interest regarding Green Hell VR. It’s a far bigger beast than the horror title, an open-world experience set in the Amazonian rainforest, a huge, inhospitable jungle where most of its inhabitants are trying to kill/eat you.
The demo introduces you to the first 30-40 minutes of the campaign depending on how quickly you decide to follow the prompts, teaching you the basics of inventory management, healing, crafting a fire and such. If you’re already well acquainted with the original Green Hell the main difference you’ll notice are the controls, healing requires actually wrapping a leaf around your arm whilst lighting a fire requires finding flint to create a spark with your machete.
Those that are already well acquainted with VR controls should find the mechanics instantly familiar. Incuvo has stuck with VR norms that are intuitive, picking a useful item up can be put instantly in your backpack over your shoulder. Your notepad is on your chest for easy access, selecting items to craft or giving you information about items you’ve discovered.
The ability to physically interact with everything highlights how much Invuco has rebuilt for VR players, with minimal button presses – although there is the occasional one like pressing the button on the walkie talkie.
While the demo doesn’t feature any dangerous animals or locals to fight what I really wanted to get from the teaser was a true sense of being in a dense jungle. Where plants just seem to grow on top of one another and where one miss-step could lead to me becoming lost in this amazing world. So of course the first thing I did was look for the closest unidentified mushroom and eat it, you know, just to see what happens! As it turned out the first random shroom I found was edible so no harsh effect there (which was kinda disappointing).
Ultimately, I now really want to spend more time in Green Hell VR and see if I could actually survive a virtual Amazon. Incuvo plans on releasing this immersive adventure for PC VR and Meta Quest platforms this spring, so there isn’t too long to wait.
