Telling the story from the perspective of a lone astronaut surviving amongst spacecraft wreckage in outer space, ADR1FT is a first-person experience like no other. Floating through the post-catastrophe ether, and dealing with slight amnesia, the player moves fluidly between exploration and puzzle-solving to unravel what has happened.
Initially, this mesmerizing title was prototyped in another engine, but after seeing the power of Unreal Engine 4, co-creators Adam Orth and Omar Aziz decided to go into full production using Epic’s technology in order to reach the desired level of quality for their ambitious game.
The cinematic experience is intended to delight as much as the gameplay itself. It’s been described as calming and serene, yet there are also moments of panic as players try to find more oxygen before their last breath.
Polygon’s Brian Crecente describes part of the ADR1FT experience as “a deft panic attack simulator. A title that uses the mechanics of oxygen and breathing to create subtle waves of anxiety.” Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo compliments the game’s aesthetics, “The setting is rapturous as the player floats above the Earth. The scene is quiet and beautiful.”
ADR1FT is shipping on multiple platforms, first on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Some wager that the most exciting prospect is VR. The captivating experience lends itself well to a platform that throws users directly into an environment with subtle details that can be discovered by simple head movements and easy controls.
Three One Zero offered a popular hands-on experience with ADR1FT in the Unreal Engine booth at GDC 2015, and on March 26, Epic awarded ADR1FT an Unreal Dev Grant of $15,000 which earned recognition from Road to VR. As editor Paul James notes, ADR1FT is a “made-for-VR title which takes the ‘astronaut-in-peril’ themes seen in films like Gravity into the interactive realm with stunning visuals to boot.”
James also remarked that ADR1FT “promises to do real justice to the term ‘AAA Indie VR Title’ (if indeed such a term makes any sense). The title is of course built on Unreal Engine 4 and looks every bit the next-gen title, leveraging the engine’s out-of-the box support for VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift. ADR1FT looks to bring the isolation and beauty of space to your face later this year.”
The game is set to be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC in the coming months, with fans awaiting more VR news. Visit http://adr1ft.com/ to keep up with details and check them them out on Facebook and Twitter .