VR Dueler ‘Blaston’ Now Available On Oculus Quest, Here’s How To Win

Dominate the arena with this beginner’s guide to VR dueling.

Resolution Games’ (Cookout!: A Sandwich Tale, Angry Birds VR) competitive dueling experience Blaston is now available on the Oculus Quest, offering players one of the most addictive competitive multiplayer games in recent memory. There’s fast-paced gun play, tons of customization, and plenty of physicality.

Unlike a standard FPS or wave-based shooter, Blaston takes inspiration from old-school western standoffs, à la The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, pitting two players against each other in a 1v1 duel to the death. Using a wide assortment of futuristic weaponry, each with their own unique pros and cons, players must lay down fire against their competitor while simultaneously dodging slow-moving projectiles by physically moving throughout their 6×6 ft. play space.

While this may sound like a chaotic shoot-em-up, winning a round in Blaston requires a considerable amount of strategy and timing. It can be a little intimidating at first, which is why we spent the last week exploring the game and chatting with its developers about the best strategies for taking home the win.

Here are five tips & tricks for dominating the arena:

MAKE FULL USE OF YOUR PLAY SPACE

Blaston is all about staying in constant motion. As you fire endless waves of projectiles at your foe, so too will they. When you find yourself staring down the end of a wall of bullets, don’t be afraid to make full use of your play space. You’re given a 6×6 ft space in which to move, use it. Crawl, duck, dip, dive, and dodge to avoid incoming fire.

Just make sure you don’t venture too far out of your allowed area of play. Wander outside the permitted area and you’ll take immediate damage. Do this too much and you may end up taking yourself out. Make a note to check your physical position throughout each round so you know exactly how much space you have to work with and in which direction.

LEARN COOLDOWN TIMES

Each weapon in Blaston features its own cooldown time, aka the time it takes to fire after each shot. Some weapons, such as the ‘Wildcat ‘machine gun, allow you to spray your opponent with projectiles at a rapid pace. The ‘Viper’ heavy pistol, on the other hand, features a slower rate of fire. Take time to memorize the cooldown times of your favorite weapons.

This way when you’re in the heat of battle, you’ll always know exactly when you’re able to fire your weapon as opposed to just trigger mashing your controller. You should also take the time to memorize various projectile speeds. Some bullets will take longer to reach your opponent than others depending on your weapon.

THROW YOUR EMPTY WEAPON

Each weapon in Blaston features a certain amount of bullets. Once you’ve depleted your ammo, you must then replace your empty weapon with a new one. Instead of mindlessly hucking your weapon behind you, however, try throwing it at your opponent.

You can actually deal a tiny bit of damage by using the weapon itself as a projectile. Most likely not enough to win you the round, but enough to potentially distract them long enough for you to get an extra shot off.

HIDE YOUR SHOTS

Dual-wielding weapons allows you to dish out tons of fire in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, most of these projectiles will be moving at a snails pace, allowing your opponent plenty of time to move safely out of harms way. One interesting tactic is to time your shots so that they’re hidden behind one another, offering your opponent less time to react. For example, firing the ‘Nova’ creates a large orb that will travel slowly, but steadily towards your enemy.

Once it’s about halfway to your opponent, you can fire a different weapon through the orb, masking it from your opponent until it’s too late for them to react. Remember, friendly projectiles can travel through one another while enemy projectiles will explode on contact. Use this to your advantage to clean up the battlefield when things become chaotic.

FORCE ENEMY POSITIONING

Speaking with developer Resolution Games, the team was quick to emphasize that Blaston is more of a strategy game than it is a first-person shooter. While it’s true players are firing weapons at one another, the core gameplay experience is built around strafing, ducking, and bending around projectiles within a closed space. Coordinate and time your shots appropriately, and you can actually control the position of your opponent, locking them into a killzone from which they can’t escape.

As mentioned earlier, memorizing the rate of fire of your favorite weapons is crucial. Use large, slow-moving projectiles early to force your opponent into a corner. Once they’re boxed in, you can lay down fire with a faster weapon. It’s sort of like shooting fish in a barrel, only instead of fish, it’s a post-apocalyptic neon gladiator rocking a pink mohawk.

As I said, these are just some tricks we’ve picked up this past week. If you think up any of your own strategies and tactics let us know in the comments below!

Blaston is available now on Oculus Quest for just $9.99, which is a steal considering the amount of content and replayability featured in this neon-fueled dueling experience. Whether you’re a fan of competitive 1v1 battles, strategy-based gunplay, or just enjoy dodging bullets Keanu Reeves-style, Blaston is an absolute must-buy for those with an Oculus Quest headset. The game will also be heading to Steam and select arcades.

“PvP fighting games have been with us forever. With Blaston, it’s great to bring a new variant to this genre that includes so many elements of our childhood favorites for next-gen gaming,” said Mathieu Castelli, Resolution Games’ chief creative officer, in an official release.

“In virtual reality games like Blaston, you are in there living the experience. And if tailored just right for close combat, there’s a very personal presence; the sort of feeling you can only experience when you stare your opponent in the eye. Touches like this make Blaston’s duels really intense — and all that much more fun!”

Image Credit: Resolution Games

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