Into the Dead: Crimson Heights expands the series into VR

If you’re looking for a virtual reality title with a serious hook, you’ll might want to take a peek at Into the Dead: Crimson Heights.

Into the Dead… and the headset

We’ve seen bunch of virtual reality titles over the years, but none of them exactly like PikPok’s upcoming Into the Dead spinoff. There’s a good reason for that too, as it uses something called “Hyper Reality”. Wondering what that is? Keep reading.

First though, a little bit about what Into the Dead: Crimson Heights is exactly. That would be something of a prequel, for the well known original, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days. In fact, this new VR experience takes place just before the aforementioned title, in the opening days of the zombie outbreak in Walton City.

The similarities stop there though, as this game is in first-person instead of the original’s side-scrolling presentation. We suppose that was kind of obvious given the medium, though it’s what else it does that’s extra cool. And yes, that’s where Hyper Reality comes into play.

If you’re not familiar, and we weren’t, Hyper Reality more or less factors a player’s surroundings into the action. The tech builds a world that’s familiar, by scanning around them via the cameras on their Meta VR headset. From there, it builds a world that mixes that reality with the game’s universe.

And if the trailer is anything to go by, the result is one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a while.

Into the Dead: Crimson Heights expands on the Walton City zombie outbreak that was first depicted in the highly successful PC title Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days. Set during the first hours of the outbreak, Into the Dead: Crimson Heights is a fresh entry in the successful zombie franchise and a bold exploration into what technology can deliver.
 
Mario Wynands, CEO at PikPok, said: “At PikPok, we are constantly looking at fun and engaging ways to provide new and unique gaming experiences. So with that very much in mind, we are excited to finally reveal Into the Dead: Crimson Heights, which combines tense stealth, tactical exploration and thrilling combat in a unique, body-driven experience.”

PikPok press release

Hyper Meta Reality

So, what did you think of that trailer? We were kind of knocked out over by it, and that’s saying a decent amount. We don’t cover a heck of a lot of VR games anymore, if you hadn’t noticed. If Hyper Reality works out the way that PikPok is imagining though, we’re thinking that Into the Dead: Crimson Heights could be a marquee title for the format. Though that’s also not to say that there isn’t a caveat to that statement.

That would be, as of right now, that Hyper Reality will only be implemented if you’re playing via a Meta headset. So if you want to try the game with the gimmick in play, that’d be the way to go. Though that’s also not to say that Into the Dead: Crimson Heights will be limited to only Meta’s headsets as a platform.

Players who are cool with engaging with the game in a straight-up VR mode, will be able to do so via Steam VR. We’re going to assume that would mean pre-crafted levels from the developer, or perhaps something randomized, though we’re not really sure at this point.

Either way, prospective players can look for both versions of the title to launch some time next year. If you’re interested, stay tuned, as there’ll be more to come via Gamescom this August.