Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope is a 2017 first-person shooter game for virtual reality (VR) developed by Croteam VR and published by Devolver Digital. One or two players fight waves of enemies, including bosses, across five thematic planets. The enemies approach from a 180° field and the player can use dual-wielded weapons while moving across a limited space. To develop The Last Hope and experiment with other VR implementations, Croteam VR was established as a specialised division of Croteam. Devolver Digital announced the game at E3 in June 2016 and launched it in early access that October. After several updates, it was released in September 2017 for Microsoft Windows with compatibility for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR headsets. The Last Hope received mostly positive reviews, with post-release reception lauding the game's gameplay and visuals while criticising difficulty spikes and issues with the online multiplayer mode.

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
Cover art featuring the playable characters, Serious Sam (right) and Serious Sammy
Developer(s)Croteam VR
Publisher(s)Devolver Digital
Director(s)Davor Hunski[1]
Designer(s)
  • Davor Hunski
  • Mario Kotlar[1]
Programmer(s)
  • Alen Ladavac
  • Davor Hunski[1]
Artist(s)Davor Hunski[1]
Writer(s)
Composer(s)Damjan Mravunac[1]
SeriesSerious Sam
EngineSerious Engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release20 September 2017
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
A Beheaded Kamikaze approaches the player, who brandishes two pistols

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope is a first-person shooter played in virtual reality (VR) from a standing or seated position. There are twenty levels, four set on each of the five thematic planets. The player is mostly stationary and can only move around in a limited space. Enemies with varying attack patterns approach in waves from various positions in a 180° field, eventually reaching bosses. The player uses various weapons—including ranged weapons (such as pistols, shotguns, and rocket launchers), chainsaws for melee, and hybrid weapons like power swords—and can wield up to two at a time. They can evade enemy attacks through physical movement or by using a shield. Good performance in a level grants the player weapon upgrades, additional skills and power-ups, such as increased damage against enemies and time slowdowns. All levels can be played cooperatively with a second player through means like online matchmaking. The "Endless Wave" and "Arena" modes each let the player face off against random sets of enemies across eight levels.[2]

Development and release

Croatian game studio Croteam began experimenting with VR games when it received development units of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.[3] Davor Hunski, later the lead designer of The Last Hope, gained a strong interest in VR and convinced colleagues of developing games for the platform. Croteam subsequently formed a specialised VR division, Croteam VR, led by Hunski.[4] Croteam members also examined existing VR games offered on Steam but were unsatisfied and wanted to "show the world how it's done".[3]

The development team incrementally added VR features to Serious Engine, Croteam's in-house game engine, and added rudimentary support for both VR headsets to their game The Talos Principle.[3][4] Impressed with the immersion this support presented, the team expanded it to Croteam's Serious Sam games. However, they found that the existing control schemes were problematic and induced headaches, requiring them to settle on either using teleportation for movement or creating a mostly stationary game.[3] They considered creating proper movement options the biggest challenge of VR game development.[5] For the stationary approach, the developers created a test level with some enemies and weapons from previous Serious Sam games. This prototype proved popular among Croteam employees and the team decided to pivot towards a releasable game.[6] They re-used further elements and tweaked them for higher graphical fidelity, while creating original environments, enemies, and weapons using tools such as Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, and Autodesk MotionBuilder.[3][7]

Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital announced The Last Hope on 13 June 2016, at that year's E3 game conference.[8][9] For promotional efforts, Croteam commissioned three minigun props, outfitted with a rotating barrel and an integrated HTC Vive controller, that could be used to control the game.[3][10] It was also exhibited at Gamescom in August that year.[11] Oculus VR offered to support the development of The Last Hope with an undisclosed but substantial financial contribution in exchange for temporary exclusivity of the game on the Oculus Rift via the Oculus Store. According to level and game designer Mario Kotlar, the development team turned down this offer because they disliked exclusivity deals and because they believed that "truly good games will sell by themselves".[12][13]

The game was made available in early access for Microsoft Windows on 17 October 2016 with support for the HTC Vive.[14][15] As Croteam's first early access game and first VR title, The Last Hope was to be a testbed for potential further VR games.[4][6] Support for the Oculus Rift was added when its motion controller system, Oculus Touch, was released in December that year.[16][17] To ensure compatibility with the Oculus Rift's tracking system, levels with 360° movement were not implemented.[18] Throughout the early access phase, which was to last six months, Croteam looked to shape the game according to player feedback.[6][14] Cooperative gameplay, a feature that had never been planned, was added in December 2016 due to high demand.[4][19] Further features, such as new levels and weapons, were added through major updates in April and June 2017.[20][21] For the latter, the team suffered a setback when, during a football match at the April 2017 Reboot Develop game conference, developers Hunski and Davor Tomičić suffered injuries, of whom Hunski had to undergo surgery. They returned to the Croteam offices sometime thereafter to finish their work while on painkillers.[22] Skill trees and power-ups were added in a July 2017 update.[21][23]

The soundtrack for The Last Hope, composed by Damjan Mravunac, was released via YouTube in July 2017.[6][24] The game left early access on 20 September 2017 with a last major update.[25] Croteam also developed Serious Sam VR: Arcade, a version of The Last Hope for location-based entertainment facilities, such as video arcades.[26] The Last Hope was among the first games supported by Variable Rate Supersampling (VRSS)—a technology developed by Nvidia to improve the image quality of VR games using supersampling—when it was introduced in January 2020.[27][28]

Reception

During its early access period, Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope was subject to a mixed reception. Jason Bohn of Hardcore Gamer lauded the game's gunplay and tense atmosphere but noted that, although common series elements were present, it did not feel like a "true entry" in the franchise.[29] David Jagneaux of UploadVR welcomed the intensity of the gameplay and the sense of power presented by dual-wielding virtual guns.[30] Alec Meer of Rock, Paper, Shotgun opined that the Serious Sam series' simple gameplay style was ideal for VR and that The Last Hope, therefore, formed one of the better VR shooters at the time, especially with the dual-wielding functionality.[15] In contrast, Kevin Joyce of VRFocus labelled The Last Hope as "derivative" and "essentially another stand-and-shoot affair just like the many that already litter the HTC Vive software library".[31]

Upon release, Tal Blevins reviewed The Last Hope for UploadVR, praising the game's pace and stratagem. He also commended the visuals and variety of weapons and enemies. However, he criticised large disparities between the difficulty levels and faulted poor matchmaking and server errors in the multiplayer component.[2] PC Gamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun each included The Last Hope in their lists of best VR games in April 2020.[32][33]

References
  1. Croteam VR (20 September 2017). Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope (Microsoft Windows). Devolver Digital. Scene: Credits.
  2. Blevins, Tal (8 October 2017). "Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope Review — Serious Action, Serious Fun". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  3. "PART II – Serious Sam VR". Autodesk. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  4. "SSVR: The Last Hope Gets a Release Date as Lead Designer, Davor Hunski, Recaps Early Access – Part 1". Croteam. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  5. "Inside Croteam, the game studio going all-in on virtual reality". Asus. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  6. This is Real – Croteam. HTC Vive. 11 October 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020 – via YouTube.
  7. "PART I – Serious Sam VR". Autodesk. 17 October 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. Paget, Mat (13 June 2016). "Serious Sam Coming to VR With Explosive Action and Gore". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. Elderkin, Beth (13 June 2016). "Serious Sam Explodes Onto VR this Summer". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  10. Jagneaux, David (6 September 2016). "Here's Why Croteam Made an Actual Minigun Prototype for 'Serious Sam VR'". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  11. Dayus, Oscar (23 August 2016). "Gamescom 2016 – Serious Sam is back, with one of the best VR games out there". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  12. Feltham, Jamie (13 June 2016). "Serious Sam VR Dev: Oculus Offered a "Shitton of Money" for Timed Rift Exclusivity". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  13. Feltham, Jamie (14 June 2016). "Oculus Denies Seeking Exclusivity for Serious Sam, Croteam Responds". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  14. Estrada, Marcus (17 October 2016). "Serious Sam Goes VR in 'The Last Hope'". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  15. Meer, Alec (19 October 2016). "Serious Sam VR Is VR At Its Most Stupid & Most Brilliant". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  16. Keefer, John (4 October 2016). "Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope coming to Steam Early Access later this month". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  17. "SSVR is now available for Oculus Rift with the Touch controllers". Croteam. 8 December 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  18. Fanelli, Jason (24 June 2016). "Hands-On – 'Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope' is Everything You Want From The Bombastic Franchise". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  19. Singletary, James (17 December 2016). "Serious Sam VR Adds Co-Op and Two New Difficulties in New Update". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  20. Cunningham, James (26 April 2017). "Another New Planet Released in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope's Valtos Update". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  21. Winterhalter, Ryan (31 July 2017). "New Serious Sam VR Update Adds Skills and Power-Ups". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  22. "SSVR: The Last Hope Lead Designer, Davor Hunski, Recaps Early Access – Part 2". Croteam. 9 October 2017. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  23. Sykes, Tom (30 July 2017). "Serious Sam VR update adds skills and power-ups". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  24. "Freshen up with these fine Serious Sam tunes available NOW on YouTube and other streaming platforms". Croteam. 11 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  25. Graham, Peter (20 September 2017). "Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope Leaves Early Access, New Levels And Gameplay Features Added". VRFocus. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  26. "Serious Sam VR: Arcade". Croteam. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  27. Heaney, David (6 January 2020). "CES 2020: NVIDIA Increases VR Sharpness For RTX Cards With Variable Rate Supersampling". UploadVR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  28. Lang, Ben (6 January 2020). "Latest NVIDIA GPUs Get Foveated Supersampling Feature for Sharper VR Games". Road to VR. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
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