Whitewater VR: Excessive Kayaking Journey is a VR sport developed utilizing Unreal Engine 5 with reasonable visuals and physics.
The VR title goals to recreate the whitewater kayaking expertise in digital actuality as precisely as potential. Essentially the most placing options of the sport are its detailed environments, reasonable simulation of rapids and kayak physics.
Solo developer Ádám Horváth describes the title as follows:
Get able to paddle by a number of the world’s wildest, and most difficult rapids in breathtaking VR. With beautiful graphics, reasonable physics, and heart-pumping motion, you may race in opposition to the clock as you navigate by wild waters stuffed with obstacles and surprises.
There isn’t a multiplayer mode, however there will likely be on-line leaderboards.
There are 5 hand-crafted environments which can be described as follows
- Tropical Jungle (Youtube trailer): Embark on an expedition into the guts of a tropical jungle, the place historic ruins lie hidden amidst lush foliage and meandering rivers. Paddle by dense canopies, uncover long-forgotten temples, and encounter the mysteries of a misplaced civilization.
- Alpine Valley: Enterprise deep into lush valleys and blooming wilderness, and sort out exhilarating mountain rapids as springtime involves life on this stage. Really feel the spray of crystal-clear waters and the heat of the solar in your face as you navigate this immersive, adrenaline-pumping journey.
- Spring Mountain (Youtube trailer): Because the snow melts and spring blooms within the mountains, paddle by crystal-clear streams, glide previous towering peaks, and navigate by exhilarating rapids as springtime involves life on this stage. Expertise the fun of high-altitude kayaking like by no means earlier than.
- Japanese Iceland (Youtube trailer): Dive right into a digital world the place the beautiful landscapes of Iceland turn out to be your playground. Really feel the push of the arctic wind and the fun of conquering untamed waters. Get able to expertise Iceland’s breathtaking magnificence in an entire new means.
- Desert Canyon (Youtube trailer): Put together to discover towering rock formations, navigate difficult rapids, and uncover the hidden wonders within the coronary heart of the canyon’s wild magnificence. Brace your self for an intense journey as you navigate the fiery landscapes of the pink canyon, the place crimson cliffs and thrilling rapids await.
Whitewater VR launches quickly in early entry
I contacted Horváth to search out out when Whitewater VR will likely be launched. He replied that in response to present plans, the VR sport will likely be launched in early entry on Steam within the spring of 2024.
If you wish to take a look at Whitewater VR earlier than then, you are able to do so subsequent week. Horváth tells me {that a} playable demo of the Spring Mountain setting will likely be launched on Steam on February fifth.
The developer is presently specializing in the PC VR model, however is investigating whether or not a launch for Ps VR 2 and Meta Quest 3 could be an choice. Horváth demonstrated a Quest 3 model of Whitewater VR on Reddit two months in the past, however that was only a efficiency take a look at run.
You possibly can add Whitewater VR: Excessive Kayaking Journey to your wishlist on Steam. After the Early Entry launch, Horváth plans to repair bugs, develop new sport modes, and work on multiplayer assist (1v1) and new content material.
Along with Whitewater VR, there’s a comparable sport known as Kayak VR: Mirage, which was launched for SteamVR in 2022 and Ps VR 2 in 2023. Growth stalled final 12 months, however the workforce says it’s nonetheless engaged on a multiplayer mode, new environments, and a simulation of arms, arms, and torso.