Weta Workshop offers a taste of their upcoming shooter at the Magic Leap’s first L.E.A.P. conference.
Magic Leap’s inaugural L.E.A.P. developer conference officially kicked-off this morning in Los Angeles, bringing together some of the most talent creators in mixed reality (MR) for two days of exciting demonstrations, gripping keynotes, and other intriguing reveals regarding the Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset.
From AR-enabled board games, to augmented theatrical performances using volumetric capture, L.E.A.P. is bursting at the seams with one-of-a-kind mixed reality projects designed to push Magic Leap’s headset to the extreme.
One such offering, Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders, uses Lumin OS planes and meshing API to deliver a high quality MR gaming experience in which the walls literally come to life as a marauding army of mechanical monstrosities begins its invasion of Earth, starting with your room. Guided by your friendly floating side-kick, Gimble, voiced by Rhys Darby, players are tasked with mowing down oncoming waves of evil robots as the iron-clad army pours through several “port holes” into the real-world.
While attending the conference I was fortunate enough to participate in a small demo that revealed a healthy amount of in game elements. I was first introduced to the doctor, voice by Stephen Fry, who warned me of the impending onslaught before disappearing from reality. After picking up a standard ray gun device, a doorway appeared over the real-world wall in front of me, revealing a massive, industrial civilization on the other side.
Before I could take in the scenery, however, I was immediately put on the defensive as several automatons armed with their own deadly weapons began protruding through the doorway and into my reality. From there I was tasked with mowing down wave after wave of enemies as they invaded my faux living room environment in an attempt to surround me.
Thanks to a healthy combination of accurate blasting and dodging, I was able to destroy two well-guarded maintenance bots responsible for producing the disposable metal infantry and effectively save myself from a cold, metal death.
While the technology behind the Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset still has a long way to go, Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders is a shining example of the kind of high quality gaming already possible on the intuitive mixed reality device.
It bears repeating that this was just a small sample of the full launch experience, which developer Weta Workshop promises includes additional weaponry and tools, such as the grapple gun and Wave Blaster 6,000.
Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders is available for free starting today on Magic Leap One Creator Edition headsets.
Image Credit: Magic Leap