Mixed Reality’s Best Laser Tag-style Multiplayer Gets Better Spatial Stability, New Enemies & More

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Spatial Ops (2024) is a bit like laser tag for Quest, letting you set up barriers and squad up with your friends for everything from room-scale to arena-scale mixed reality shootouts. Now, developer Resolution Games released an update today that brings more stability to co-located gameplay, more enemies, support for bHaptics gear, and more.

Called ‘Pulse Protocol’, the update brings a bevy of updates for the Quest version of the game, supporting Quest 2 and above, and a few things for the ‘Campaign Edition’ available on Pico headsets too.

The game’s multiplayer ‘Arena Mode’ on Quest now features an in-game spatial marker system, which the studio says will let you generate, print, and place spatial markers in your environment, and then use them to create maps.

Resolution Games says the markers ensure “reliable, precise alignment of both maps and player positions during matches,” something that can be tricky when matches get hectic and Quest struggles to keep up with spatial awareness.

Pulse Protocol is also bringing more enemy types, including Hatchet Corp soldiers and their Infected counterparts, each with their own unique weapons and tactics like revolver-wielding Guards and RPG-armed Rocketeers.

And if it weren’t high enough stakes, the update also introduces Permanent Death Mode, so you can setup matches with one-team or both-teams permadeath.

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So far, these updates are only available on Quest, however both Quest and Pico headsets are getting a few additional quality of life enhancements. Users with bHaptics kit will be able to link up their TactSuit, TactSleeve and TactVisor to the game for the first time with native support, upping the realism of getting tagged by a stray bullet.

Additionally, Both Quest and Pico versions are getting an in-game achievement tracking system, horizontal grip angle offset for better weapon handling beyond the default grip angle, and a much requested in-game floor level adjustment tool, letting you do quick adjustments without using the system menu. You can check out more on Pulse Protocol here.

In the meantime, you can find Spatial Ops over on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and the ‘Campaign Edition’ over on the Pico Store for Pico 4 and above.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Andrew Jakobs

    I don't really like the passthrough, in campaignmode, as it doesn't really add anything except a grainy surrounding, I whish you could just turn the passthrough off and have a virtual space (pico 4). The game itself is pretty fun.