Bringing the thrilling sensation of extreme free solo rock climbing home to players everywhere, Crytek has announced that its debut virtual reality game, The Climb, is out now.
Launching on Oculus Rift, The Climb invites players into breathtaking virtual worlds to scale sheer cliff faces and explore rock-climbing playgrounds inspired by real-life locations. To coincide with the game’s launch, Crytek has also shared details of The Climb’s third setting, Canyon, which joins Alps and the Asian-themed Bay location.
The newly revealed environment takes inspiration from the landscapes of the Grand Canyon and draws upon wider natural and cultural cues from across the USA, combining iconic elements to create an immersive blend of sights, sounds and adrenaline-pumping challenges. By night, fireworks from a music festival and howling coyotes accompany breathtaking ascents, while daylight reveals endless vistas marked by winding rivers, mysterious mine shafts and jets performing dramatic formation flyovers. The heat will be on as players feel the scale of the environment, the vertigo of the height and the challenge of the competition to achieve the best times on leaderboards.
Complementing the main free solo rock climbing experience, The Climb features tutorials and a procedurally generated endless climbing wall to practice on, plus six intense bouldering routes to beat. Players can also use Tourist mode to explore each expansive environment with simplified game mechanics, perfect for discovering new routes, enjoying the scenery, and demonstrating VR to friends and family for the first time. Finally, the game’s asynchronous multiplayer mode allows gamers to compete against other players' ascents and send challenges to their friends.
To complete The Climb’s host of vertical challenges, players will have to master different grip types, balance speed against stamina, and discover routes and shortcuts. 99 achievements are up for grabs, as players unlock custom watches, gloves and wristbands, while amazing visual payoffs act as a reward for accomplishing each ascent and demonstrating the jaw-dropping power of CRYENGINE and VR.
Executive Producer for The Climb, Elijah Dorman Freeman, said, “From the moment we started prototyping The Climb, we knew VR and rock climbing were a dream combination. The intense feeling of engaging in the world's most extreme sport high above the ground is only possible in VR, and our team has gone to great lengths to replicate the tension and thrill of free solo climbing. With CRYENGINE and the Rift, we’ve been able to create a game that will challenge players to come back again and again, and build a virtual world like nothing they’ve seen or experienced before.” The Climb is out now exclusively for Oculus Rift and launches with a price of $49.99 on Oculus Home.
To see more of The Climb in action, visit www.theclimbgame.com.