Mixed Reality FPS ‘Spatial Ops’ Takes Aim for Meta Quest With Single-Player Campaign and Multiplayer Arena, Out Now
Spatial Ops from Resolution Games is a first-person shooter unlike any you’ve played before. By leveraging the mixed reality capabilities of the Meta Quest platform, portals will open up in your environment as enemies from other dimensions flood your room from all angles across the epic two-hour single-player campaign. And if you really want to put your skills to the test, you can even play co-location PvP multiplayer games against your friends all in the same area in mixed reality combat arenas.
To learn more about Spatial Ops and its development, we chatted with Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games all about it.
Tommy Palm: Yes, at Resolution Games we pride ourselves on pushing the boundaries of what the latest VR/AR/MR technologies can do, and I can honestly say that this is the most ambitious project we’ve worked on at Resolution Games.
As with most of our games, we wanted to create something fun to bring people together while innovating the FPS space that—instead of creating isolation for players and having them hunched over their controllers—invites players to come together, collaborate, get up out of their seats, and MOVE. All of the jumping, crouching, ducking, dodging and sliding you do with your character in other FPS games, now you do with your own body in Spatial Ops! As for inspiration, the team’s vision holder, Niklas Persson, was also the producer for Battlefield 1942 then later went on to start his own laser tag arena. The combination of those two sounded irresistible, and Spatial Ops was born.
TP: The Campaign mode is very robust and a ton of fun to play, providing a 2-hour single player experience where you’ll discover the full story behind a multi-dimensional invasion. It’s set in an 80s action/sci-fi movie-inspired setting as you take on the role of agent throughout seven handcrafted levels with a fully narrated story as portals spawn around you from every angle. You have 17 different types of enemies to defeat, and you are able to develop as a character by unlocking and upgrading your weapons as you set out to save the world. (No big deal). Additionally, players can play arena mode against bots solo, making for hours and hours of additional single player fun.
TP: The Arena mode truly is the epitome of the ultimate mixed reality experience as you dive into a world that merges real and digital worlds into one action-packed arena in your own playspace! You can pick from one of our predesigned maps or create a custom map of your own. And the scale is up to you - you can map out one room or an entire floor to turn your space into a combat zone for competitive or team-based co-located play. In Arena mode, agents can compete with and against friends (and/or bots) as a total of up to 8 players and embark in 1v1 up to 4v4 play in different game modes like Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Domination. Arena mode is local colocation only at the moment.
TP: I think that MR and passthrough technology has been a game-changer for the industry. While full immersion in VR is great for many things, we have noticed that MR allows people a level of comfort in simply being able to see and interact with their surroundings that provides a very powerful experience in its own way. Spatial Ops is one of the first-ever true fully MR experiences that allows for a first person perspective to really move around in your own environment in a big way. This is an enormous leap for the games industry. Others of course exist—like Racket Club, Demeo, etc.—but those are through portals or where the action is seated.
This is next level; Spatial Ops doesn’t just overlay a virtual world onto your reality – it merges them seamlessly, creating an intense, adrenaline-fueled experience like nothing else in gaming. Imagine seeing enemies creep out from behind a wall in your living room, or ducking behind your couch for cover as bullets ping off real furniture, and grenades bounce off objects in your home. In Spatial Ops, there is no clear distinction between the game world and reality — they are one. The immersive experience is further enhanced by the Meta Quest 3's color passthrough and improved spatial tracking, turning your environment into a dynamic battlefield.
Another thing to note is that shooters have also until now been very difficult in VR because the movement can cause motion sickness for some players. But, with Spatial Ops we make your body the controller, which mixed with MR makes it more accessible we feel.
TP:This was truly one of those instances when we were taking off in the plane while it was being built. Meta’s presence platform has been incredible to work with. We’re excited that the tech and tools came together in a way where Spatial Ops could become so much more accessible when it comes to mapping, occlusion, spatial anchors and all the super complex things that need to be there for it to feel so real and (hopefully!) make the impact we’re looking to make not only in the MR space, but also for first person shooters.
One of the main considerations we had to make was ensuring players could enjoy the game even if they didn’t have a large space, while also ensuring people could incorporate their unique layouts and furniture and enhance that with digital objects from our custom map builder. Meta’s room scanning takes this to another level, letting players get up and running with a custom arena mapped game in just a matter of minutes.
TP: The great thing about the benefits that we have realized from making a mixed reality game like Spatial Ops—like comfort levels of moving in MR, being able to use your body as a controller, mixing your real space with the digital, etc.—is that they don’t just apply to Spatial Ops and FPS games. This is just one example of something new that this technology opens the doors for that has never before been possible. We can see all types of games in this environment, and it’s the portability of quality VR/AR/MR headsets that really makes this possible. We also have another built-from-the-ground-up MR game going live this year that is a multisport game called Home Sports. And, we can’t wait to really explore the space in a meaningful way with more genres in the future.
TP: The Campaign mode is great fun, but it really doesn’t get any better than battling it out with a group of friends in Arena mode. Exploring multiple custom maps for your space, having lots of objects to hide behind, or placing spawn zones strategically throughout can dramatically impact the intensity or play style, which makes for endless fun. And since Spatial Ops runs on Meta Quest 3/3S/2/Pro, gather your fellow agents with a headset and dive in… our reality depends on it!
Play Spatial Ops in the Meta Horizon Store. You can also follow Spatial Ops on Discord, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube for the latest updates. Visit www.resolutiongames.com to learn more about our studio!
Spatial Ops is finally out today on Meta Quest and ready for you to embark on an epic reality-bending adventure. Grab it for yourself right now over on the Meta Horizon store.
