Vertigo 2 (2023), the Half-Life-inspired sci-fi adventure, is getting what the developer describes as the game’s “only content update” in the soon-to-launch ‘Bottomless Update’, which ought to keep you busy well after the credit roll.
Slated to release on November 10th, the Bottomless Update is set to include three new features which developer Zach Tsiakalis-Brown says is primarily focused on bringing to the game a ton of replayability. This includes:
Mutators – major gameplay modifications that can be mixed and matched. Some mutators make the game harder, some make it easier, and some are just silly.
Alternate Playable Characters – replay the campaign as Brian, Officer 13, or Nani. Each of them have major unique abilities and attributes that change up the experience of playing through the game a second, third, or fourth time.
The Level Editor – complete freedom to build your own levels or play the ones the community has shared. A flexible and intuitive in-VR level editor makes this easy, no SDK or modding experience required.
The update is also set to feature bug fixes, balance adjustments, QOL changes, and performance improvements.
Launched on SteamVR headsets back in March, Vertigo 2 is both bigger and weirder than the original at around 10 hours of campaign gameplay, returning you to the robot and alien-infested science facility for another bout with a universe full of new worlds and lifeforms. We liked it so much in our review we called it one of PC’s greatest VR games since Half-Life: Alyx (2020).
Vertigo 2 is also set to launch sometime later this year on PSVR 2, however the exact launch date is still uncertain, as it was delayed from its original October 24th date to “later this year”. We’re staying tuned to the game’s PSVR 2 publisher Perp Games in the meantime to learn more when the time comes.
Vertigo 2 is arguably one of the best games of 2023, but it’s only available on PC VR headsets. Developer Zach Tsiakalis-Brown said earlier this year that he thought a PSVR 2 port would definitely be a good possibility, and now that Half-Life-style sci-fi shooter is in the wild, PSVR 2 support is apparently still in the cards for the solo dev.
Reacting to Twitter user Timo Schmidt, Tsiakalis-Brown confirmed that PSVR 2 support is still on the horizon, as he recalls an earlier tweet from January saying he “would love to port to psvr in the future. It’s definitely a possibility!”
As many have noted in the recent past, PlayStation 5’s rendering ability is pretty much on par with a mid-range PC, which has allowed for a big bump in graphics over legacy hardware, such as PS4/PS4 Pro.
That bump lets developers create even more immersive and graphically intense games than we’ve ever seen on PS platform, likeHorizon Call of the Mountain (2023),or the remastered version of Song in the Smoke, the latter of which rivals even the PC VR version of the game.
Still, developing for PSVR 2 isn’t so cut and dry. Outside of actually getting it to work on Sony’s latest VR headset, which is a much more precise target than creating a PC VR game in general, Tsiakalis-Brown admits he’s never gone through the certification process to publish a game on the PlayStation Store. Up until now, all of the developer’s games have been PC VR only.
Nathan Rowe, the solo dev behind VR art app SculptrVR (2016), had some sage advice to overcoming the process:
It is possible to do solo. It nearly killed me, though. My advice is to ask Sony for help early. File tickets! They get read and responded to!
And what good is Vertigo 2 without Vertigo Remastered (2020)? Tsiakalis-Brown says releasing both games for PSVR 2 would be a “great way to expose [the series to] a bigger audience!”
While the solo dev hasn’t published a post-launch release schedule, the order of operations is fairly clear. First the game’s upcoming sandbox DLC, which will allow users to create and share their own content based on Vertigo 2 assets and worlds, then … who knows!
Vertigo 2 (2023), the sci-fi VR shooter adventure from Zach Tsiakalis-Brown, readily invites comparisons to Valve’s indomitable Half-Life: Alyx, but now the developer is taking another note out of Valve’s playbook by offering a way to create your own Vertigo-based levels and modes in an upcoming sandbox DLC.
Tsiakalis-Brown announced the level editor today in a tweet:
Tsiakalis-Brown says it will be a free update, and have Steam Workshop support, which means you’ll be able to share your creations much in the same way we’ve seen Half-Life: Alyx mods in the past.
The editor is said to be an in-VR affair, inviting comparisons to the Sandbox DLC released for Vertigo Remastered (2020 ), which includes what Tsiakalis-Brown called at the time “a vast expansion that brings new game modes, new weapons, and a level editor and workshop.”
“Let your creativity run wild and share custom levels with the world, or re-experience the campaign with remixed combat and a brand new arsenal,” the Vertigo Remastered DLC’s description reads.
You can follow along as Tsiakalis-Brown builds the sandbox DLC on Twitch here for more. He says he won’t stream the entirety of the sandbox’s development, although notes it’s “already looking better than the Vertigo Remastered sandbox.”
The long-awaited sequel to Vertigo is here, bringing with it another dose of its distinctly Half-Life-esque flair and patently strange yet captivating universe. Does Vertigo 2 outdo the original? No need to leave you in suspense since you already read the headline. Quick answer: Yes. For the long answer, read on.
Vertigo 2 Details:
Available On: SteamVR Release Date: March 31st, 2023 Price: $30 Developer: Zach Tsiakalis-Brown Publisher: Zulubo Productions Reviewed On: Quest 2 via PC Link
Gameplay
Like the first in the series, you’re again tasked with linearly fighting your way home through a robot and alien-infested science facility, however the sequel puts a host of new worlds and lifeforms between you and your version of Earth. You really don’t need to play the original Vertigo though to get lost in the weird and expansive narrative of Vertigo 2, although I would suggest it—if only for natural access to the narrative and about four more hours of blasting.
Even if you played Vertigo Remastered in 2020 like me though, you may still have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on in the sequel. The franchise’s brand of absurdist sci-fi kitch gets a new layer of narrative density this time around, one that may be too thick and convoluted for most. Whether you choose to engage with it or not really doesn’t change the fact that the underlying game is undoubtedly a triumph over the original, and many other such VR shooters to boot.
I wouldn’t hesitate to call it PC VR’s best game of 2023 so far, which is doubly impressive since it was basically made by a single person, Zach Tsiakalis-Brown. Seriously, for the magnitude of the experience, Vertigo 2’s credit screen is the shortest I’ve ever seen.
Courtesy Zulubo Productions
Granted, we don’t factor in a team’s size or budget—only the end product—but it bears mentioning just the same that this game, which is so solid and clever, was built by a very (very) small team without the sort of AAA budget we’ve seen squandered on experiences half this good.
While paying tribute to some of gaming’s greats, Vertigo 2 is a VR native through and through. Its 14 collectible weapons feature unique reload mechanics, all of which were designed with VR users in mind. The user-friendly emphasis on weapons means you won’t be faffing with doing real world actions like racking gun slides or manipulating charge handles, which are better suited for realistic combat sims with a much slower pace of gameplay. It’s not long until you find out a room of weirdos will magically zap into existence, hell-bent on setting you back to the last save point; realism simply isn’t a concern here.
Reloading typically requires you to eject a spent magazine (or pod of some sort) with a controller button press, grab a fresh magazine from your left hip holster, and insert the magazine into the mag well. Usually, you’ll only have three such magazines immediately at your disposal, as automatically regenerating ammo takes time. There’s a little counter where a magazine should be.
This means that although you’ll find yourself sticking to a number of more effective weapons along your adventure, both large-scale fights and boss battles will have you relying on weaker guns like your starter pistol as you wait for your favorites to become operational. Additionally, auto-recharging ammo means you won’t need to constantly hoover up loot around the level, save the odd health syringe or bomb you’ll find stashed around periodically.
Developing the muscle memory to rapidly reload, shoot, and change to a new weapon takes time, which can definitely add in a measure of unforeseen difficulty in a fire fight. Still, the wheel-style gun inventory system is accessible enough to eventually let you build that skill and put it to good use as the mixture and number of baddies increases.
Thankfully, you can upgrade a number of guns in your arsenal, which somewhat like Half-Life: Alyx is only accessible in one-off synthesizer points that you encounter on your one-way trip through the game’s 18 chapters.
It’s a tried-and-true method of forcing you to explore levels completely, because modding stations might be underwater, in a cave passageway that leads to nowhere, or hidden behind a bunch of filing cabinets. It’s not a terribly deep upgrade system, but it’s enough to keep those starter guns relevant as you progress through the arsenal of bigger and badder weapons.
Like the first in the series, Vertigo 2 is all about big and wild boss fights, of which there are 10 new encounters. I won’t spoil any of them for you, although they’re mostly what you’d expect, i.e. bespoke battles in medium-size arenas that require you to use the environment and your most powerful weapons to your advantage. Although pretty standard fare, bosses were both distinct and varied enough to keep your interest, and have attack patterns that you’ll have to decrypt, likely after a death or two.
Courtesy Zulubo Productions
Vertigo however goes a step further by tossing in a very wide assortment of baddies that mix and match as you traverse the multiverse. What’s more, you’ll need to intimately acquant yourself with all of their weak points as you head for the game’s end, as you’ll encounter a miasma of all of the multiverse’s baddies all at once.
One thing Vertigo 2 lacks is a wide set of puzzles. The quality of the ones there is good, although I really wish there were more. Still, it’s more about shooting, bosses, enemy vairety, and a weird story, and that’s fine by me.
The game’s lengthy and frankly astoundingly varied campaign took me around 10 hours to complete on the normal difficulty, although you could spend longer exploring every nook and cranny for weapon upgrades and easter eggs, or with a higher difficulty so enemies are more difficult to defeat.
Immersion
The game’s infectious cartoon style is back on display, this time offering up much more fine-tuned environments that are massive in size and variability. While humanoid character models are a little stiff (and maybe overly avatar-y), enemy models and animations are all really well done, which accounts for 99 percent of your encounters anyway.
Courtesy Zulubo Productions
Outside of its excellent, sweeping musical score, one of my favorite bits about Vertigo 2 is the constant change in player expectations.
Once you think you know what the deal is with Vertigo 2, you’ll find an alien trying to rent you a boat, or a war between robots where you have to choose sides, and an interdimensional space opera that gets thicc. Level design slowly becomes equally unpredictable, as you’ll be whisked away at any moment to a new world, a new mission, and ultimately a new revelation about why you’re stuck in such an odd universe. It’s all stupid wacky, and I love it.
You may find yourself challenged with having to ostensibly sweep out a five-floor facility looking for a single puzzle piece, but have the mission completely changed halfway through. In another instance, you scurry up to what must be another boss battle, only to find the thing eaten by something much larger and terrifying. And it does it all without ever breaking the fourth wall. Your mission might be straight forward, or it might be completely derailed at any moment.
Meanwhile, Vertigo 2 unabashedly pays tribute to the Half-Life series, and many others in the process. You’ll find VR-ified health regen stations throughout most of the science-y levels mixed in with mobile versions of the wall-mounted syringes—definitely Half-Life inspired. Stick it in your arm, juice up, and keep going. You’ll immediately attune yourself to its audible beep too.
That said, character voiceovers range from professional to mediocre, which means you’ll probably need the subtitles on at all times so you don’t miss a word. Unfortunately, I found this out after the first cutscene which definitely required subtitles to be anywhere near understandable, since it’s between an alien with a thick Spanish accent and another one with its own Yoda-esque idiolect.
As a side note, the game also includes a number of recording options for when you want to capture in-game video, including a third-person view and smoothed first-person view for a more polished and stabile capture. Basically, all VR games should have those options considering how useful they are to recording in-game footage and screenshots. There’s even a smartphone that is basically just hotkeyed to Steam’s F12 screengrab function, making in-game shots in VR so much easier. Here’s my Insta-friendly selfie, starter pistol in hand.
Image captured by Road to VR
Comfort
Vertigo 2 is a big and varied place, and it includes a number of things you should look out for if you’re sensitive to VR-induced motion sickness. Seasoned VR users and people not adversely affected by artificial locomotion shouldn’t have a problem playing through some of the most challenging bits from a comfort standpoint, as there are periodic bits of forced movement that may or may not jibe with your comfort level.
You’ll be forced to spring through the air on jumping pads, go on fast-moving vehicles that aren’t controlled by the player character, and strafe around at a near constant whilst shooting, which introduces lateral movement that some might feel uncomfortable with.
The game does however make full use of a hybrid locomotion system, which includes smooth locomotion and teleportation presented as viable movement options during gameplay. Provided you don’t want to use teleportation, users can also toggle a jump button in the menu settings, although this is not advisable if you’re at all sensitive.
If you’re like us, you’ve probably been hotly awaiting the release of Vertigo 2 for a few years now. And as we approach the March launch date of the Half-Life-inspired PC VR adventure, Zulubo Productions has tossed out a new behind-the-scenes video showing off more of its branching narrative and gameplay, in addition to a ton of new screenshots to whet your appetite.
With less than two months to go until its March 30th release on SteamVR headsets, developer Zach Tsiakalis-Brown has released a new explainer video that delves into gameplay mechanics of their upcoming Half-Life-like (aka ‘Half-Like’) adventure.
You can catch the latest trailer, hosted by Vertigo 2 voice actor Gianni Matragrano, above and below this article. In it, we get a good look at a number of never-before-seen areas and bosses, in addition to some behind-the-scenes stuff.
Zulubo tossed out a ton of new images too, which you can see below:
Vertigo 2 has been hotly anticipated since the release of the original Vertigo in 2016, although many may better recognize the game from its refinement Vertigo Remastered, which came out in 2020.
In case you haven’t watched the explainer video (above and below), or played the free demo on Steam, here’s the setup: Vertigo 2 returns you to an underground facility that’s teeming with aliens and security robots. Deep in the reaches of Quantum Reactor VII, you make your way towards the center of the reactor, along the way trying to determine which faction will be an ally, and which will be your foe.
Featuring a branching story, developer Zach Tsiakalis-Brown says we can expect a pretty substantial campaign, including 18 chapters, or what Tsiakalis-Brown calles “many times as much content as Vertigo 1.”
“This kind of [Half-Like] game is marked by building a believable, interactive world telling a story through a continuous first-person viewpoint and indulging in plenty of spectacular set pieces,” Matragrano says in the video. “The setting will be familiar, primarily taking place in an underground science facility with a chronic case of loose inter-universal aliens.”
Matragrano says a third of the game takes place in “more exotic environments, including the open ocean, flora-filled caverns, and an entire underground city.”
You can wishlist the game on Steam here. Vertigo 2 is launching on SteamVR headsets on March 30th, which includes PC VR headsets like Valve Index and Rift S, as well as PC-linked standalones such as Quest 2, Vive XR Elite, and Pico 4.
