In case you missed the news, studio First Contact Entertainment announced last week that Firewall Ultra, the sequel to their hit 2018 PSVR game, Firewall Zero Hour, is being developed and powered by the latest engine from Epic Games, Unreal Engine 5. With the aid of the engine and the impressive hardware packed in the PSVR2, First Contact Entertainment is set to deliver one of the most immersive competitive VR shooters this year. Here’s how they plan on doing that. 

Speaking in a new interview with Epic Games, First Contact Entertainment gave fans an insight into what they can expect with Firewall Ultra, revealing how they’re taking full advantage of the powerhouse that Unreal Engine 5 is, as well as the hardware of the PSVR2.

For starters, the UE5 is allowing the team to bring a new level of graphical fidelity to VR, promising that the title will run at 60FPS, with 4K support and native HDR capabilities, and 3D audio. However, it’s the eye-tracking features built into the PSVR2 that looks to be one of the leading focuses for the team. Not only will foveated rendering allow the game to look and play better but there appear to be loads of eye-tracking elements being introduced to Firewall Ultra. 

There is the weapon select wheel, which is a UI element that allows you to switch weapons by looking at them and the mechanic for aiming grenade throws. Those are really the tip of the iceberg as the entire experience has been designed to leverage eye-tracking in subtle, but helpful ways. From the menus, to some of the detailed nuances of our aiming mechanics, players can harness the immediacy of “looking” to solve gameplay interactions.

We’re very excited by the potential to use eye-tracking in non-obvious ways, ways that just make something that is inherently difficult without other physical feedback and make it feel “natural” in a VR environment. This technology is going to pay huge dividends for not only Firewall Ultra, but all of our future projects as well—such as Solaris Offworld Combat II, which we just teased!

Of course, eye-tracking isn’t the only gameplay improvement that the PSVR2 also brings, as the controllers have been overhauled for PSVR2. The team plans to fully use the haptics and adaptive triggers of the PSVR2 Sense controller to help deliver a more immersive experience. 

We are using all of the controller features (haptics, adaptive triggers, finger-sensing) along with eye-tracking to make weapon handling as immersive, rich, and fluid as possible.

But being the first VR title to use Unreal Engine 5, you may wonder what that means and how it would improve the overall experience. 

For Ultra, we switched the experience to take advantage of deferred rendering techniques, unlocking the use of much more sophisticated shaders. This has allowed us to use a variety of mapping approaches to add details to all of the surfaces in the game. From the weapon you are holding in your hands to every surface your flashlight reflects off, you will notice tiny pocks, scars, scratches, etc.

We don’t consider this merely dressing. When your goal is to create as immersive an experience as possible, the closer we can get to people’s real world experience of light and dark, the richer the experience becomes.

Unreal Engine 5 and the beefier hardware of the PS5 and PSVR2 have allowed the team to implement a real-time lighting system!

For us, the biggest benefit is the fidelity and authenticity of the surfaces of objects. It’s not something that folks are always going to focus on, but especially with real-time lighting, the environment just feels that bit more immersive or concrete. It also reduces some of the strain of geometric detail, allowing the shading to take the strain of surface details.

One of the most immediate things players will notice is the crazy amount of detail that the weapons display. It’s one thing looking at a weapon from the same rear-facing view in a flat game and an entirely different experience when you are literally holding it in your hands.

Here’s a list of improvements that you should expect to see with Firewall Ultra due to the help of Unreal Engine 5 and newer hardware. 

• Deferred rendering technique,
• Detailed, real-time lighting (wait until you try out the flashlights!!!),
• Extensive use of eye-tracking to enhance gameplay,
• Foveated rendering to enhance visual clarity,
• Brand-new concept for ADS (aim down sights) mechanics,
• Adaptive triggers, immersive haptics, and finger detection,
• 4K HDR visuals and 3D sound,
• Stable 60fps

Firewall Ultra Reveal Trailer

While no release date has been set for Firewall Ultra, First Contact Entertainment has stated that PS5 and PSVR2 owner should expect to see it launch sometime this year. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we get an official release date, and when we do, we’ll be sure to let you all know. Till then, stay tuned!