Virtual reality has a bad rep.
Generally VR’s critics maintain that it will lead to either complete isolation and detachment from the world or some kind of odd hedonistic, surreal or fetishist exploration. In the middle are all the people who see VR as a bunch of fun, immersive experiences, but ones that rely on singular journeys instead of a social experience. Werewolves Within hopes to change that.
Developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, Werewolves Within is hoping to bring the social aspect of gaming to the forefront of VR. Based off of popular group games like Werewolf and Mafia, Werewolves Within is a game where players are given roles and must deduce others’ identities through dialogue. Actions taken can only be done as a group, by convincing others to follow your cause.
In the case of Mafia and Werewolf, and in turn Werewolves Within, a player (or two) is assigned the role of Werewolf. No one knows who the werewolf is but the player him/herself. Each “day” the villagers come together to decide who the werewolf must be, and put to a vote who should be killed. If the werewolf isn’t caught, each “night” he/she can kill a villager until they’re the only ones left.
Red Storm and Ubisoft used this as the premise of Werewolves Within, as seen below:
After several attacks on townsfolk, the medieval village of Gallowston has had enough. With a special guidebook in hand, players congregate to vote and eliminate any and all possible werewolves hiding disguised in the village. Players utilize specific roles and abilities, and the power of persuasion to assess, deduce and win the round.
What makes this an even more compelling experience is the other roles that players can be assigned. It is unknown what roles will be available in this game besides “The Watcher,” “The Gossip” and a few others, but some games of Werewolf had many possible roles included to give non-werewolf players interesting abilities. Te card game developed by artist Corey Fields on Kickstarter, for example, included such roles as the Seer, who could try to use his or her powers to figure out the identity of the werewolf, or the Lovers, who could either win or lose the game together.
In Werewolves Within, some roles can also change the winning conditions. In IGN’s preview of the game, the “Deviant” role was featured. The Deviant has a deathwish, apparently: it wants to die. And so to win, the Deviant has to “act suspiciously” so that players choose to vote him or her out as the werewolf. If they are sentenced to death, they die. And even though they aren’t the werewolf, they win.
But with a game that works so perfectly with actual people at an actual table, how does Red Storm Entertainment make it into an engaging VR social experience?
There are a number of features being implemented into the game to drive interaction and create a social atmosphere. The avatar that players use is one major component. Werewolves Within has a number of villagers to use who all have various facial expressions and body language that respond to both the players tone of voice and inputs from the players’ controllers. There’s also a “whisper feature” that allows players to physically lean in to someone who sits besides them in the virtual space and have a quiet dialogue that no one else can hear. Most interesting is the “monologue feature,” which allows a player at any time to stand up and “shut everyone up.” Doing this will quiet the group, stall a mob from rabble-rousing, and allow the standing player to make an impassioned plea.
Werewolves Within is looking to redefine multiplayer VR and make “discussion and personality-based” games popular. It also hopes to capture “the essence and competitive spirit of playing around the table through VR technology” and–according to previews–is doing a good job of raising interest.
There’s no one to know for sure until the game launches in the Fall of this year to all major VR platforms. For more information, check out the Ubisoft Blog Werewolves Within page and Werewolves Within website; for a closer look at the game, check out the release trailer below.