Developer Stress Level Zero has officially announced Bonelab for Meta Quest 2 and PC VR. The follow-up to its popular VR predecessor, the action sandbox game Boneworks. Previously known under the development moniker of Project 4, the new game will be a direct continuation of the first game and will feature similar gameplay, enemies, and environments.
The news was announced by developer Stress Level Zero at the 2022 Meta Quest Gaming Showcase on April 20, 2022. The studio has spent the last two years improving its celebrated physics engine, the 1 Marrow Interaction Engine, to allow weapons and other objects in the environment to behave in a more realistic fashion within the new Bonelab.
Stress Level Zero claims that Bonelab’s body remapping system will ensure that player movements in the game feel authentic no matter the difference between the in-game customizable avatar’s proportions and the player's real-life body. The game will also give players haptic feedback, synchronizing self contact and hand proximity ensuring that the visuals match what the player feels making for new levels of VR immersion.
The Bonelab announcement trailer showcases the game mechanics, new enemy types, and environments players will get to explore. It also teases that the original game’s "arena" and "trials" modes will be making a return. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed at the end of the video that there is a crate emblazoned with the predecessor game Boneworks name and logo behind a locked door, possibly teasing the inclusion of the first installment in the VR franchise.
For players new to the franchise, Bonelab will be a sequel to the 2019 virtual reality game Boneworks ,which takes its influences from Valve games such as Portal and Half-Life. Boneworks' gameplay mainly consists of puzzle-solving akin to its Valve counterparts with combat gradually coming into play as the game progresses. In the game, players must battle through and escape from a virtual city. All the objects within the environments could be manipulated by the player according to the object's real-life size and weight, so small objects such as cups or hammers could be easily picked up with one hand while larger objects like crates or axes take more effort to be picked up and require both hands.
As with a large proportion of VR games, it wasn't without its issues. The original Boneworks was built using the Unity engine and suffered some bugs such as players' limbs becoming stuck in various objects. Despite these issues, the game received mostly positive criticism with many critics praising its incredible engine for VR adventuring and its "old-school" feel.
Bonelab will be released later this year for PC-compatible VR headsets and Meta Oculus 2.
Source: Oculus