Built-for-VR shooter Forefront leaves Early Access and launches in full tomorrow. Here’s everything you need to know about the game’s new map, gadgets, weapons, and more.
Forefront, a 32-player Battlefield-style VR FPS, launches in full on April 23. Ahead of the release, Mike and I were invited to playtest the game’s new weapons, gadgets, and attachments with 30 other content creators, journalists, and game devs all vying for dominance of the new map, Clearwater.
What followed was an hour of sprawling FPS warfare that hearkened back to the golden era of massive multiplayer Battlefield. We laughed, we cried, we bled, and lived to tell you about it.
What’s New
Since launching in Early Access, Triangle Factory has been polishing, balancing, and refining Forefront’s weapons, systems, and gameplay, plus adding new content with every update. The full release carries on with this tradition, bringing new weapons, like the combat bow, a new drone gadget, and general improvements to vehicle handling and controls. The new map, Clearwater, is a massive valley with mountains on all sides, pockmarked by military outposts and small bases. In addition, the PC VR build’s real time shadows offer a big visual bump.
These updates make a great shooter experience even better. When I reviewed Forefront when it launched in Early Access last November, I described it as “exciting and tense, [with] VR gunplay [that’s] tactile and satisfying.”
Gameplay captured by UploadVR
Born on the Battlefield
Mike and I jumped into our playtest with UploadVR’s old friend, Henry Stockdale, a squad that seemed hopelessly outgunned by (among others) many VR FPS veterans and shooter streamers. We held our own, but never won. “Why are we still here?” I wondered aloud. “Just to suffer?”
If you got that reference, you’re probably familiar with most of what Forefront has to offer. If not, here’s the breakdown.
You’ll join a team of 16 other players, in squads of 4, and fight your way along the map, attempting to capture outposts and wear down the opposition. You can choose your class, comprised of Assault, Medic, Engineer, and Recon types, each bringing its own unique weapons to the fray. These infantry units also carry their own perks and abilities that influence the battle. You’ll be able to fly helicopters, drive tanks and troop transports, quadbikes and other vehicles, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. It’s Battlefield, in VR.
Gameplay captured by UploadVR
What was most striking about this new update, beyond the fact that weapons seem far more balanced than in my earlier play sessions and that vehicles control better and feel more impactful to the outcome of the battle, was that the new map feels extremely well-crafted.
There’s an interesting verticality to the Clearwater map that makes battles feel incredibly dynamic. A small town sits at the bottom of a valley. We drop into it from the surrounding mountains to capture a point, and then climb our way out through a hail of bullets. An outpost sits atop a high peak, with ziplines to carry us screaming up to the summit (if we don’t get shot on the way). Helicopters thump in the clouds raining down destruction, before a well-timed anti-aircraft missile slams into its side, wiping the enemy team.
Mission Accomplished
For the type of game that Forefront aims to be, everything is pretty much perfect. For me, this is no surprise. I loved the game when I reviewed it last year, and the fundamentals of Forefront haven’t changed since then. My play session didn’t reveal anything I didn’t expect, just that this very good VR FPS is even better than it was six months ago; more refined, better looking, more balanced.
Forefront is available now in Early Access on Quest, Steam, and Pico, with the full launch coming tomorrow. Version 1.0 will cost $27.99. A PlayStation VR2 release has been announced, though no release date has been revealed.
