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Eagle Flight is a virtual realitysimulation video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in late 2016. Players must have a virtual reality headset, such as the Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, or HTC Vive, in order to play the game.

The game is set fifty years after humanity's extinction, focusing on a post-apocalyptic version of Paris. Players assume control of an eagle, which must travel around the city and defeat rival animals in order to build its nest on five different landmarks. Gameplay revolves around players tilting their heads to control the movement of the eagle, and using sonar waves to defeat enemies. The game also features a six-player competitive multiplayer Capture the Flag-styled mode, and a cooperative multiplayer mode called Free Flight, which allows the player to explore the city with five other players.

Development of the game began in October 2014 after the completion of Far Cry 4. The game was greenlit in mid-2015, through Ubisoft's own idea-pitching platform, Fun House. The game was originally set in Notre Dame de Paris, but the scale was later expanded to include the entire city. To reduce the possibility of players suffering from motion sickness, the team researched extensively and read NASA's articles and documents on the subject. Inon Zur served as the game's composer; the soundtracks were described as 'soaring and uplifting'.

Announced at PlayStation Experience 2015, the game was the first virtual reality game developed by Ubisoft. It received mixed to positive reviews upon its release, with critics praising the game's controls, gameplay, and the competitive multiplayer mode, but criticizing the single-player mode and city's design.

Setting[edit]

In the near future, fifty years after humanity's extinction, wildlife in Paris is flourishing. Nature has reclaimed the land, and the city has become home to various animals and plants. As an eagle inhabiting the city, the player must explore it, venturing to different landmarks to build a nest. According to Ubisoft, the goal of the game is to '[build a] nest on Paris' tallest landmark and conquer the skies'.^[1]

Gameplay[edit]

Eagle Flight is a first-person, simulation game, which tasks players to assume control of an eagle. As the bird moves forward continuously,^[2] its direction is controlled by the player's head movement. For instance, if the player tilts their head to the left, the eagle will turn in that direction.^[3] The player also uses a controller to slow down or speed up the eagle's flight speed.

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of Paris in the near future, the game's backstory is revealed to the player by a narrator.^[2] The single-player mode consists of five different districts. Each district has one chapter, which tasks players to build nests on landmarks after defeating the rival wildlife guarding them. Earlier chapters require players to explore the landmark;^[1] later chapters usually end with a race challenge where players must pass through numerous rings while evading attacks from enemies, such as falcons, crows, vultures, and bats.^[4] The eagle can also use sonic waves to kill its enemies. In addition to completing story missions, players can also explore the world, collect collectibles such as feathers and fish, and attempt numerous challenges found in the game's world. Players are graded according to their performance in these challenges.^[5] If the player crashes into a building, the challenge restarts.^[2]

The game also features a three-versus-three Capture the Flag-style competitive multiplayer mode.^[6] In this mode, two teams of players are tasked to grab a rabbit corpse and carry it back to their nests. Teamwork is emphasized, as players must work cooperatively to fend off their opponents and transport the carcass back to their nest. In this mode, players can attack their opponents using sonic waves, and defend themselves by using a temporal shield that is capable of deflecting attacks, or simply dodge or fly through tight spaces to evade attacks.^[7] The game also features the Free Flight mode, which allows players to explore the city with five other players.^[1]

Development[edit]

—Olivier Palmieri, project lead of Eagle Flight

The game's development began in October 2014, after team lead Olivier Palmieri completed his work on Far Cry 4, another Ubisoft game. He, along with several other Ubisoft co-workers at Ubisoft Montreal, pitched the game's prototype to Ubisoft's own Fun House division, an idea-pitching platform, at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015 and Gamescom 2015. The project received enough buzz that it was officially greenlit.^[8]

The first prototype was originally named Inside Notre Dame, and tasked players to explore Notre Dame de Paris in first-person. The scale was later expanded to include the whole of Paris.^[9] According to Fun House's Patrick Plourde, the team chose Paris as the game's setting as most team members came from the city, and the complex and intricate street layouts of Paris allowed the team to create a more diverse flying experience. The team intentionally avoided using science fiction as they felt it is an overused setting.^[10]

According to Palmieri, the main design philosophy behind the game was that it had to be comfortable, intuitive, and accessible. To learn about motion sickness, the team read NASA's documents on stroboscopic treatments, as well as information regarding the vestibulo-ocular reflex. The team later decided to use head movement as the game's primary control. Despite initial concerns that head movement would be a very clumsy way to control the character, they were impressed by its precision after extensive playtesting, with Palmieri saying that the results 'went beyond [their] expectations'.^[9] The team felt that head tracking control was one of the simplest and most accessible ways for non-gamers to enjoy the game, as head movement is inborn and a player would not need to move their arms or learn how to use a traditional controller.^[8] In addition, this method of control is the most direct and natural because of its close proximity with the brain.^[9]

The team experimented with numerous methods to prevent players from suffering motion sickness while playing the game. They eventually discovered that having the player see the eagle's beak prevented them from feeling nauseous^[11] as it is a fixed reference point that allows players to anchor their perspective.^[9] The team also investigated causes of motion sickness, and concluded that reduced peripheral vision, by having a dynamic vision-blocking system, can also help solve the problem. To ensure that the brain would not feel queasiness, the team tried to create a consistent experience to ensure that instances of seeing but not feeling motion would not occur. The team programmed the game so the screen fades-to-black instantly if the player collides with other objects.^[9]

Inon Zur, who had previously worked on the original soundtracks of Dragon Age: Origins and Fallout 4, served as the game's composer. Zur's soundtrack was described as 'soaring and uplifting'. In addition to employing an orchestra to perform the music, Zur also included primitive sounds and high-pitch vocal music to further enhance one of the game's themes: the nature of beauty.^[12]

The game was officially revealed at Sony Interactive Entertainment's PlayStation Experience 2016 conference.^[13] The game was released for the Oculus Rift on October 18, 2016, and for PlayStation VR and HTC Vive on November 8, 2016, and December 20, 2016, respectively.^[14] It is the first virtual reality game Ubisoft has released.

Reception[edit]

Eagle Flight received 'favorable' reviews, according to review aggregatorMetacritic.^[15][16]

Chris Carter of Destructoid praised the game's accessible controls and intense multiplayer mode. He also appreciated the game's simplistic nature, and was pleased that Ubisoft did not turn it into a spin-off of one of their open world games. However, he criticized the city design, which he considered empty and repetitive, and had issues related to Uplay.^[17]

Jimmy Thang of GameSpot praised the game's comfortable control scheme and complex multiplayer, but was disappointed by the shallow single-player mode and the general lack of content.^[2]

IGN's Brian Albert also praised the intuitive control scheme, particularly praising the game's accessibly. He found the concept of the game 'weird' but 'well executed', opining that it is a fresh venture into virtual reality. His main concern was the lack of content.^[18]

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References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcVaranini, Giancarlo (October 14, 2016). 'Eagle Flight: Everything You Need To Know'. UbiBlog. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
2. ^ ^abcdeThang, Jimmy (October 18, 2016). 'Eagle Flight Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
3. ^Nunneley, Stephany (December 6, 2016). 'Ubisoft's VR game Eagle Flight features dogfights, six-player multiplayer'. VG247. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
4. ^'Eagle Flight 101 Trailer'. Ubisoft. October 14, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
5. ^Rosenberg, Adam (October 19, 2016). ''Eagle Flight' is the best virtual reality game to date'. Mashable. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
6. ^Dunsmore, Kevin (June 24, 2016). 'E3 2016: Eagle Flight Doesn't Quite Stick the Landing'. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
7. ^Fahey, Mike (October 21, 2016). 'Eagle Flight Is The VR Experience I Was Hoping For'. Kotaku. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
8. ^ ^abWawro, Alex (March 16, 2016). ''For me, VR is the new Wii,' says Ubisoft's Eagle Flight dev'. Gamasutra. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
9. ^ ^abcdeWawro, Alex (November 3, 2016). 'Eagle Flight dev shares lessons learned about making comfy VR games'. Gamasutra. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
10. ^Takahashi, Dean (December 10, 2015). 'How Ubisoft will turn you into an eagle over Paris in its first VR game'. VentureBeat. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
11. ^Crecente, Brian (March 16, 2016). 'Capture the kill with eagles in Ubisoft's amazing first VR game'. Polygon. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
12. ^Makuch, Eddie (October 16, 2016). 'Eagle Flight: Behind the Music'. GameSpot. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
13. ^Phillips, Tom (December 5, 2015). 'Ubisoft developing PlayStation VR game Eagle Flight'. Eurogamer. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
14. ^Cork, Jeff (August 18, 2016). 'Ubisoft Announces Release Dates For Three VR Games, Including Star Trek: Bridge Crew'. Game Informer. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
15. ^ ^ab'Eagle Flight for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
16. ^ ^ab'Eagle Flight for PlayStation 4 Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
17. ^ ^abCarter, Chris (October 18, 2016). 'Review: Eagle Flight'. Destructoid. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
18. ^ ^abAlbert, Brian (November 14, 2016). 'Eagle Flight Review'. IGN. Retrieved November 14, 2016.

External links[edit]

BestFlight Games for Oculus Rift SWindows Central2020

Flight VR games, whether immersive simulations or action-packed arcade experiences, need powerful graphical fidelity to produce a fast-paced, nausea-free experience. Thankfully, the Rift S sports powerful lenses and packed pixel density, making it an excellent platform to step into the cockpit for hours on end. Soar from your living room 10,000 feet up or even into space with any of these Rift S-compatible games.

Featured Favorite: X-Plane 11

This long-running Microsoft Flight Simulator rival caters to plane fanatics with true-to-life 3D cockpits you can fully control with Oculus Touch haptic feedback. Novices can skip the pilot training and simply enjoy navigating through the realistic simmed weather to see world landmarks generated via real-time mapping, before landing (or crashing) at your destination. This game truly gives you a roadmap for learning to fly a modern plane, beyond just tilting a HOTAS joystick.

The final frontier: Elite Dangerous

Most flight games trend towards peaceful realism or a series of missions with rigid objectives. Elite Dangerous, on the other hand, offers a dynamic open-world galaxy where you'll roleplay as an alien hunter, galactic pirate, or bounty hunter. Soaring through the true-to-scale recreation of the Milky Way and battling CPUs is fun on its own. However, you can buy the Commander Deluxe edition on Oculus or Steam to unlock the ongoing multiplayer events and choose your side in an interstellar war shaped by players' choices.

Google Universe: SpaceEngine

SpaceEngine is an early-access Steam title that takes real NASA probe data to recreate the entire known universe. The game lets you pilot a spaceship (or teleport) around a universe-sized map filled with black holes, galaxies, and other objects that match real star charts. While it's nothing like Elite Dangerous gameplay-wise, it does support a robust modding community that makes famous sci-fi spaceships for you to pilot.

Navigate a violent galaxy: Everspace

This roguelike arcade flyer wrings tons of stressful action out of a simple story premise. You're an amnesiac piecing together your memory while navigating from one war-torn star system to the next. Plus, you're being pursued continuously by all-powerful aliens that always seem to find you. Everspace offers more crafting, dogfighting, and mindless explosions than most of the sims on this list, which you may see as compelling or generic depending on your tastes.

TIE Fighter reimagined: House of the Dying Sun

As an amoral fleet commander destroying your dying empire's foes, you'll switch between classic cockpit-style dogfighting and an overhead tactical view where you can issue orders to your AI troops. Be prepared to replay the 14 campaign missions on higher difficulties with new weapons and deadlier opponents to get the most bang for your buck.

Entry-level sim + minigames: Ultrawings

Evoking a classic Pilotwings experience, Ultrawings mixes entry-level simming—use Touch controllers to manipulate dashboard controls or a HOTAS with roll, yaw, and pitch—with cartoonish visuals and gameplay. Flying through ring courses, shooting balloons, and racing AIs will make learning to fly less intimidating and more casually fun than other more 'serious' games.

Modern (aerial) warfare: VTOL VR

Unlike sims designed initially for screens and point-and-click menuing, VTOL is a VR-native experience with universally acclaimed Touch controls for operating the cockpit. Play the story mode for futuristic plane warfare, then dive into the custom content for more single-player missions highlighted by varied foes (tanks, missiles, etc.) and challenging scenarios like fueling in midair.

Ditch the plane: RUSH

Wear a virtual wingsuit and enjoy the sensation of soaring downwards around mountainous obstacles, with no cockpit to provide a feeling of safety. Beyond the frantically fun multiplayer, you can challenge time or score leaderboards, or just coast down one of four mountain maps and enjoy the view.

Pilot's license training: DCS (Digital Combat Simulator) World

Technically a free-to-play digital battlefield, DCS World lets you try out historic planes from famous war eras like WWII or Vietnam, on maps like Normandy or the Persian Gulf. The catch is that each plane, designed to have perfect gameplay fidelity with the real aircraft, will cost as much as a full-priced game, so choose which plane you'll sim carefully: you may know how to fly a real one by the time you're done.

Race in ruined Paris: Eagle Flight

Explore post-apocalyptic Paris as a majestic eagle in free flight mode, or take on opponents in multiplayer territory matches and dogfight gameplay. Most of the fun of Eagle Flight comes from playing against opponents online, compared to a more feature-limited single-player mode.

If we're making some suggestions

Flight VR games are designed with specific audiences in mind, from hardcore would-be pilots to Rogue Squadron fans that enjoy loud (scientifically implausible) space explosions. With that in mind, we highly recommend X-Plane 11 as an incredibly immersive, yet challenging pilot simulator, while also stressing that it's not for younger or time-strapped gamers with no patience for mastering complicated controls.

On the opposite end, RUSH just lets you dive straight into the sensation of dangerous flying by moving your hands or tilting your head, and is more likely something your friends could enjoy easily at a party.

Or, if you're looking for a more complete but less technical experience, you undoubtedly get the most varied and compelling gameplay from Elite Dangerous. Several games on this list give you an 'Oh my god, I'm in space' sense of wonder. However, Elite lets you do more than look. You can actually have a major impact on the worlds around you inside an arcade-style cockpit that will let you naturally dive into the action for hours at a time.

Keep your Oculus Rift S controllers powered with these great batteries

The Oculus Rift S controllers don't come with a built-in rechargeable battery like a smartphone, so what are you supposed to use? We've got the definitive list of best batteries for your Oculus Rift S controller!