VR Horror Game INTO THE RADIUS Coming To Early Access November 6th

I don’t normally get excited about VR games. I don’t know if I can handle another “hilariously zany” combat simulator, “hilariously zany” office job simulator, “hilariously zany” sandwich-making simulator, etc. Now, the fad has come and gone. and thank God. What’s left are the leftover Kickstarter projects slowly limping their way over the finish line, and passion projects. I suspect we will always see a trickle of VR titles make their way onto storefronts, as developers try their hardest to crack the key of what makes a perfect VR game. With Into the Radius, CM Games is trying to hit a double grand slam by not only making a solid VR game, but also that one great Stalker Game Eastern European devs have been trying to make for the last 20 years.

I actually hadn’t heard of Into the Radius before their email found its way into my inbox this morning. Apparently it has a trailer going all the way back to February, which is linked above. They promise more trailers soon, but what I saw was interesting enough to inspire me to write this quick article on it. If you’re wondering what the game is about, I’ll just let the press release do the talking:

Inspired by the seminal sci-fi novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Into the Radius combines Eldritch horror storytelling with open-world Virtual Reality exploration and realistic weapon handling. Life and death intertwine inside the Radius, lurking somewhere in the middle of everything is the answer to a question you can’t quite remember. Through the flickering memories of your tarnished life as a former resident of Pechorsk and now UNSPC specialist, your only means of survival is to stalk the strange and threatening zone and complete the missions assigned to you.

So yeah, that one Stalker game everyone has been trying to make for 20 years. Not that I’m down on Stalker games. Stalker is one of my favorite genres, right next to Dark Souls. As for why we’re talking about Into the Radius today, the people at CM Games recently unveiled when we hungry masses can actually get their hands on it. Also from the press release:

CM Games, the developer behind the upcoming darkly atmospheric virtual reality game, announced during this year’s EuroVR Conference After Party that ‘Into the Radius‘ will be headed into Steam Early Access on November 6th. The Early Access version of the game will be available to HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, or Windows Mixed Reality VR gamers. The early access release will give players access to several hours’ worth of content while helping support the game as it continues to complete its story and gameplay features ahead of its full release in Q1 2020.

CM Games has also revealed that they have developed an Into the Radius themed VRChat world as a companion Virtual Reality experience. This will allow VRChat players to connect with Into the Radius’ development team and get a small taste of what they can expect with the upcoming game.

That second part surprises me a bit, since from what I understand VRChat is more a place where Ugandan Knuckles asks you, “Do you know de whey?” while a bunch of 12-year-olds howl racistly in the background. But hey, if you want to risk it, follow the link here. As for me, I’m looking forward to seeing what Into the Radius has in store for us soon. Check it out November 6th on all the relevant VR stuff.