I've taken an early look at a cool demo from Maze Theory that I found over on App Lab for the Meta Quest 2, 3 or Pro called The Infinite Inside.
Virtual reality gaming has come a long way since its inception, and with headsets like the Meta Quest 3 the possibilities have become even more exciting through the addition of full color passthrough Mixed Reality games.. Usually we see that most games either stick to being 100 percent mixed reality or virtual reality but, why not both? In this demo, that's exactly what we get.
The Infinite Inside is only a short demo of what's planned for later this year, but as soon as I was done playing it, I could already see the potential of this title and it left me wanting and hoping for more.
At its core, The Infinite Inside is set to be a first-person adventure game that takes players on a journey through a series of intricate mazes that are coupled with a silent narrative that starts to unfold as players navigate through the game's puzzles and environments. Players are tasked with finding their way through these mazes using node-based teleportation mechanics to collect puzzle pieces and then bring them back into their own reality to engineer a solution that allows progression further into the game.
These puzzles are challenging but fair, requiring players to solve a spatial jigsaw
of pieces, afterward placing them into a structure that has burst forth from the player's own floor. I never get tired of seeing these virtual objects springing up in my own environment, and The Infinite Inside's mixed reality elements look great and definitely add an extra layer of immersion to the game.
One of the first things that I always look for in a VR title is the overall look and sound design and the developers of The Infinite Inside seem to be building a visual and auditory feast for the senses. The game's environments are beautifully rendered with a nice art style and level of detail as well as excellent use of lighting that truly adds to the immersion players might feel while inhabiting this game's worlds. The sound design is equally impressive, and the use of 3D audio coupled with ambient sounds and relaxing music serves to enhance the overall experience further.
Even though this is just an early Alpha release, The Infinite Inside already runs quite smoothly on Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro with no noticeable lag or performance issues. The game's controls are one area that could still use a bit of polish though because I did find myself reaching for puzzle pieces a few times only to have my in-game hands fail to grip them. Overall, these interactions weren’t completely bad but after a few times it was noticeable. So when it comes to in-game movement, The Infinite Inside takes full advantage of Meta Quest 3's room-scale capabilities. In this one, players can physically move around in the game's mixed reality sections, adding a nice level of presence as you walk around and interact with the virtual objects that now inhabit your own living space. Once in the VR portions, however, the game falls back onto a familiar feeling node-based teleportation system where players simply reach out grabbing waypoints to pull themselves forward.
This style of teleportation movement is great for players who might be new to VR, or who suffer from motion sickness while playing virtual reality games, but what about those of us who don't? Hopefully by the time this game reaches a full release, Maze Theory will consider the addition of smooth locomotion options because, as someone who prefers to play games like this usually with full locomotion enabled, the teleporting is the only thing that I found that was slightly immersion breaking during my play session.
Even though currently this game is just a short demonstration of what's to come, The Infinite Inside has a lot of potential. With its immersive gameplay, stunning visuals, and impressive audio, combined with the mechanics of switching between both mixed and virtual realities, it is shaping up to offer gaming experience that's unlike many others out there currently.
We'll be seeing how The Infinite Inside comes together when it releases later this year.
If you have a Meta Quest 2, 3 or Pro you can get a glimpse of the demo now from SideQuest or App Lab, and if you're using PSVR2 or a Steam based PC VR headset you can add this one to your wishlist for its planned arrival later this year.
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