If you’re into VR and you haven’t heard of Survios, that’s about to change (even if you don’t read this article). After making a huge splash in the VR world last year, Survios’ Raw Data is at E3 in full force. Even in Early Access, Raw Data sold $1 million in just one month, becoming the first VR title to eclipse that number at that pace. Playing it now, it’s easy to see why.
Raw Data feels like a throwback to old light-gun arcade games, and this experience is amplified by VR in several ways, and the over all level of polish on display magnifies that even further. I’d almost go so far as to say that Raw Data would be worth its asking price if it released today, which means it will certainly be worth it come September when Raw Data exits early access.
The playable game mode at E3 2017 was a two-player, wave-survival first person shooter, and it was fun. Raw Data is how you always imagined those old arcade games such as Area 51 would be in real life. You zip around the map hiding behind cover, shooting enemies as they arrive, all with the goal of protecting your data upload to get dirt on a shady corporation.
What’s even more impressive about Raw Data‘s E3 performance is that it is only a tiny sample of the eventual finished product. When Raw Data releases in September, it will add a 5v5 PvP mode that will be beta-tested over the summer (you can enroll in the beta here). In addition, you could only play as one of the game’s three heroes, and they’re going to add a fourth before the game is complete.
Survios reps told me that they don’t much care for VR games that just have you walk around and look at a different world – they want to make games that have you interact with the world and be a part of it. They have accomplished that with Raw Data, which I can call the first VR game that’s actually caught my attention.
It’s currently available on the HTC Vive and Oculus, and it will be coming to PSVR for its September release. In the mean time, July will mark the 0.7 update, and Survios also has another VR title in the works called Sprint Vector VR – essentially a foot racing obstacle course game that I was really bad at. It felt like I was attached to every wall I hit by a dozen carabiners, but that’s my own fault.
