Category: New

Announced at E3 this summer and described as their “most ambitious VR game to date”, After the Fall is an upcoming action FPS from Vertigo Games. We went hands-on with a pre-alpha version of the game and here’s our preview based on that experience.

What we know

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles with influences from an alternate version of the eighties, After the Fall immediately made us think of Escape from New York meets Escape from LA. There are a lot more (undead) creatures to shoot in this VR shooter though, where you battle for the survival of the city and mankind as a whole.

The game’s designed with multiplayer in mind as well, and features a shared world in which players can fight together – essentially bridging the gap in gameplay between Vertigo’s own Arizona Sunshine and the Location Based version of that same game, which we checked out previously.

After the Fall is currently confirmed for release on PC-based VR units in 2020, with no official word yet on whether it will come to Playstation VR as well.

What we saw

During Gamescom, we were able to go hands on with a pre-alpha version of the game. We played a combat-filled level that ended with a Gears of War-type boss fight against a gigantic alien. Although the final game will support up to four players simultaneously, our demo was a two player experience in which Vertigo’s Nick Witsel joined in as a second player to help guide us through the game.

What we thought

Supporting full locomotion, After the Fall is one of those games where you’re happy that the Oculus controllers have a gamepad to help you navigate. The action is fast paced, with hordes of zombies swarming you as you try to survive while also keeping an eye on your ammo count and the supplies they drop. Should you run out of ammo then there’s always a melee option left, but your odds greatly decrease when using that against a whole horde of undead.

After the Fall, at least in the level we played, has a lot more verticality to it than Arizona Sunshine does. We quickly traversed a multi-storey building that was (as post-apocalyptic buildings generally go) dimly lit, taking out enemies with a variety of weapons as we went along. This is where Vertigo shows off their VR expertise, as influences from games like Arizona Sunshine shine through in their new project as well. Movement and combat feel fluid, and the controls were responsive, even when the action got frantic.

The final boss fight was technically very impressive, with a huge hulking creature appearing on screen, clearly in need of tons and tons of bullets to the face. It was a scene that established After the Fall as a new shooter from Vertigo that’s built on the foundations of their previous work, but ramps up the intensity. We can’t wait to see more than what we did in a 15 minute demo, but we’ll have to wait until next year.