Award-winning Brighton-based developer FuturLab – and the recipient of a rare 10/10 here at Push Square – is readying its next game for release this summer: Tiny Trax for PlayStation VR. The virtual reality slot racer aims to build the dream Scalextric around your head, allowing you to immerse yourself in 12 different tracks built around three different themes.
With online multiplayer for up to four people, and a soundtrack composed by Killzone and Horizon: Zero Dawn’s own Joris de Man, the title will be playable as part of Sony’s booth at E3 2017 next month. “We’re delighted to announce Tiny Trax – it’s a game that will appeal to players of all ages, allowing them to dive straight in and recreate the thrill of slot racing in immersive virtual environments,” boss James Marsden said.
We reckon this one looks like a real winner: great concept, brilliant presentation, and – given the developer’s pedigree – uber-tight gameplay to boot. We can’t wait to try it out for ourselves later this year.
Comments 17
This looks really fun.
Awesome to see FuturLab back, especially after they had to cancel a project due the mechanics not coming together.
@adf86 I didn't know that.
What's with the random people making stupid expressions in the background?
Also, they never gave us a sense of what the game would look like from the user's perspective. Too busy showing us people gawking at cars racing around.
FuturLab is a really solid developer, though. The Velocity games are incredible.
@Ralizah "they never gave us a sense of what the game would look like from the user's perspective"
That's what I was wondering. From my very limited 15 minutes with PSVR I've decided it's best served by FP perspective experiences. I could see it working if you play as a person sitting in front of a track just like you would at home w/ a slot racer, but they don't show that in the trailer that I can tell.
@rjejr playing a scary game can be scary (great sentence eh?)
But playing a driving game in first person was much more scary to me and so far the only instance of NOOOOOOPE. and walking away. I kind of hope this isn't first person.
And from the demos I played, one of the best ones was thumper, which is 3rd person. So it CAN work.
@ztpayne7 I really doubt this will be first person, I mean how are you going to fit inside a teeny tiny RC race car?
It will probably play more like a pinball game, we'll be above the track looking down on it. Maybe we'll have a choice of 6 views, but I dont' think 1 will be form inside the car. But it would have been nice if they put some of the game in the trailer.
@ztpayne7
I thought, the playroom mini platform game also gave a hint of decent third person possibilities.
@get2sammyb Well they never said specifically but on twitter they did seem to hint that a new IP they were making just wasn't coming together, then they said last year that a new idea they had would be a VR game and here we are.
@rjejr @Ralizah The cutout people are meant to represent the person playing. The idea of the game is that the race tracks will be all around you, and you'll be looking at them like you would a real Scalextric track if you were sat in the middle of it.
@get2sammyb Gotcha. So it's really more for slot car enthusiasts...
Well, it seems like an interesting idea. If VR was meant for anything, it's taking familiar concepts and giving you new ways to interact with them.
@rjejr Nah. Microsoft really has nothing that appeals to me on any level these days. While I'm not a huge fan of where Sony seems to be taking the Playstation brand, I still enjoy quite a few first and third party Sony exclusives.
@Ralizah I wouldn't say it's for enthusiasts at all, no. Looks very arcadey and over-the-top to me.
@get2sammyb Sit in the middle of it? Sounds like we'll either need a spinning chair, in which case we'll be strangled to death by all of those PSVR cords, or the game engine will follow the cars around, sort of defeating the purpose of VR.
I figured they'd just make it like we were standing next to a table so we could walk around the table if we'd like.
See, this is why videos, especially PSVR games, should show game play, even if it doesn't do it justice. Well unless it's Wii Music, nobody wants to see that gameplay.
@rjejr I couldn't tell you until I play it. I'm sure the people making the game and testing it every day have designed around the potential problems you list...
Also, can you not start sub-conversations in completely disconnected threads. There's an Xbox forum thread for you to talk about that — it doesn't belong in here.
Can this game played without vr? I like futurelab games but I don't have psvr anymore. Also the music somehow remind me of sonic 2D games.
@get2sammyb Yeah OK, I'll give ya that one.
This trailer is making the job : it represents what we are going to experience (ergo sitting in the middle of a little race track, like a kid in his room !). Concept looks great, althought I'm a little concerned about gameplay, cause... Like in the real world toy, the cars are sticking to a line and are not really driven (means you can accelerate but you can't "go left" or else).
BUT I'm gonna trust the dev team on this one. Velocity is still one my favorite VITA games.
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