Arken Age: Everything We Know

It's been an excellent year for virtual reality games. We've seen the heavy hitters step into the spotlight, turning dreams into reality—stuff that seemed as wild just a few years ago. Undoubtedly, much of this rise has been due to the launch of the PSVR2 in February 2023. Most games leverage the headset's new features, unlocking a trove of mind-blowing VR experiences.  

Vitruvius VR is not being left out of the action. You may know the studio from Mervils: A VR Adventure and Shadow Legend VR. Now, these VR wizards are conjuring up something new and wicked – Arken Age, which is set to offer plenty of headlining features. Want to know more? Stick with us as we unpack Arken Age – Everything we know.

What Is Arken Age?

Arken Age is a single-player VR action adventure in a terraformed fantasy world, Bio-Chasm. The world is the Grand Arborist's creation, which he uses to harvest Arkine energy. But he mysteriously disappears. You step into the action as a biological alien weapon to get to the bottom of his disappearance. 

The game is a full-body VR game where players can utilize the full locomotion feature to climb, jump, and swim freely through the world. There's a heavy emphasis on exploration, with 25 areas ready for you to venture into. Plus, the world is full of items to collect and other alien life forms to forge alliances with. But be wary; danger lurks at every corner. Thankfully, the game places combat at the heart of its sleeve. You'll be engaging in insane and immersive battles, but we'll delve into that a little later.

Story

The storyline centres on the disappearance of the arborist, whose “every transmission sent to him has been met with abject silence.” This sets the stage for your quest through the wilds of Bio-Chasm, a world that doesn't exactly roll out the red carpet for visitors. At the core of the story is a tale of corruption and greed, where the usurper Hyperion and his troop of soldiers are commandeering the front. Journey through this world and learn more about the Nara alien race while taking up arms against your adversaries. 

Gameplay

As an action-adventure game, you'll have plenty of action in Arken Age. The game focuses on physics-based combat wrapped in fast-paced action. And it doesn't spare the gore, either. Aside from shooting your adversaries, you can also crush and dismember them. The most exciting feature is the weapon customization—a whopping 30 in total. Starting with three ranged and melee weapons, you've got the Tempered Cutter for some serious dismemberment action, the Astral Ballista, a chargeable bow ready to rain arrows, and the Hyperion God Axe, basically Thor's Hammer, but in axe form. Throw it away and recall it. 

Players will also scavenge the world for scrap and sell it for cash. Then you purchase new items, including shields, ammo, healthy syringes, grenades, and weapon blueprints. Speaking of blueprints, you can craft new weapons with the prints you acquire. Scavenge for more prints, and you can build powerful weapons because the journey gets treacherous as you progress. Players can also create syringes or “smelt scrap metal into Hyperion Alloy” like a space blacksmith.

Plus, the boss encounters are simply extraordinary, as the studio promises. According to Vitruvius VR, each boss fight is ‘specifically designed for VR”. So, get ready to immerse yourself in a battle of epic proportions. Every boss has more than one stage. And to be victorious, you'll need to deploy clone-range melee tactics, long-range guns, and retractable pickaxes. The former looks particularly cool coming from a three-fingered alien.

The game will be a ten-hour campaign. However, devs have also included an endless combat mode. Players can “infinitely deploy Hyperion squadrons to the Bio-Chasm,” thanks to the Reinforcement Console. 

Development

The upcoming title is being brought to life by Vitruvius VR. This is not the studio's first rodeo, having previously developed VR games in 2016 and 2019. PlayStation Universe labelled Shadow Name as one of the better fantasy VR titles available on PSVR. So, it is safe to assume that the upcoming title will hit the ball out of the park, given the studio's type of experience.

One of the developers revealed on Reddit that the studio has been working on the project for the last three years.

“The game has been designed with everything we have learned in VR over the past 8 years, and we hope it's something you guys will really enjoy.”

The studio's greatest focus is realistic physics-based combat, which, from the trailer, appears to be one for the books. Plus, the game looks quite promising so far. There are plenty of visual depths, and the encounters are pretty unique. 

Trailer

Without a trailer, you couldn't imagine the depths we are talking about. Thankfully, Vitruvius has released a trailer showcasing the jam-packed action. Witness the incredible weapon inventory, unique VR-native interactions, and more. You can see for yourself in the video embedded above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Arken Age will be coming to PSVR2 and PCVR. The developers have not yet provided a precise release date. Players can wishlist the game on Steam. You can also sign up for the final round of beta testing set for December or early January.

As far as editions, we can't say for sure whether the developers will launch any. We'll have to keep you posted on this one. 

If this game floats your boat, you can keep up with the devs on the official Discord handle here. The studio is open to feedback to tailor the game to suit players' preferences. So don't shy away from airing what you'd love to see in the upcoming title. If anything exciting drops before launch day, we'll be sure to give you the exclusive scoop right here on gaming.net.

So there you have it. Will you pick up a copy of Arken Age once it launches on PSVR 2 and PCVR? What features of the game stand out the most for you? Let us know in the comments below or on our socials here.