However, the bones of the gameplay product are already set, and those games offer a glimpse of a future fully immersed in gaming.
kicking around
Razil's main priority premier league players The game had to be something that would appeal to the general public, not just players familiar with the mechanics of football.
“Anyone's grandmother could have played this,” says Adam Dickinson, Razil's co-founder and design director. “You don't have to be a player.”
Achieving that reach requires some compromises, particularly in the game's kicking mechanism: players hold standard VR controllers at their sides and “kick” by swinging their arms, attempting to approximate natural leg motion. Let's try our best. The default foot in the game appears to be at a 90 degree angle to the foot, as is the case when standing flat on the ground, which is ideal for making and receiving passes; Holding the trigger button bends the ankle and extends the player's leg straight out, mimicking the ideal position for a hard shot or volley.
Like all game modes, Kicking Drill takes players onto a digital Premier League field. Players are motivated to kick and receive passes at various targets. Easy settings include “aim assist” and similar player assistants that help modulate kick speed and direction, while higher levels are almost entirely devoid of these crutches.
Dickinson told me Razil has already created and tested a version of plp Where players kick with their real feet. However, those versions require additional VR sensors purchased separately from the headset; Etches told me that even VR headsets with “inside-out” tracking cameras directed outward can't yet manage the necessary functions. Many popular dance or spatial VR games use a dozen such sensors to track the entire body, but Dickinson says Razil users will only need a couple. But even that extra cost (about $300, says Etches) seemed too prohibitive for the game's initial launch. However, by this time next year, expect to be able to kick a virtual ball by moving your real legs.
“We can flick a switch and turn it on,” says Dickinson.
In its current format, plpKicking practice is the least realistic. But other features of the game are far more natural.
In my brief time on the youth football pitch as a keeper, I was particularly keen on goalkeeping practice. They do not disappoint. The shots were a combination of Razil-built “shot cannons” (small items that they could place anywhere on the field and program to shoot balls at different speeds and spin rates) and actual 3D renderings of Premier League players. Who appear on the pitch. In various locations such as the penalty spot and long free kicks.