Boneworks

Boneworks
Developer(s)	Stress Level Zero
Publisher(s)	Stress Level Zero
Director(s)	Brandon Laatsch
Designer(s)	Alex Knoll
Composer(s)	Michael Wyckoff
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	December 10, 2019
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, action-adventure, puzzle-platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multi-player (modded)

Boneworks is a 2019 virtual reality (VR) game developed and published by Stress Level Zero. It was developed using the Unity engine and supports all PC-compatible VR headsets. It was released on Windows on December 10, 2019, sold on Steam.^[1] On February 20, 2020, it was released on the Oculus VR store with a temporarily exclusive sandbox level.

Gameplay[]

Boneworks revolves around having realistic guns and a complicated physics system. In the game, the player must escape and battle their way out of a virtual city, revolving around realistic physics interactions. All objects in the world can be manipulated by the player according to the object's real-life size and weight.^[2][3] Small objects like cups or hammers can be easily picked up one-handed while larger objects like crates or axes take more effort to be picked up.^[3]

Weapons in Boneworks require physical movement, with manual weapon reloading and hefty melee action to replicate how much effort the action would take in real life. Players can also pick up small enemies and throw them or bash them into a wall; enemies can be simultaneously grabbed and shot.^[2]

Levels in the game have many ways to accomplish them, such as stacking boxes to avoid puzzles or climbing ledges to avoid fights.^[2] The game encourages multiple different, creative ways of completing puzzles, including "cheating" or solving them in an unintended way. There are two additional game modes, arena and sandbox, with a variety of maps in addition to the campaign. Different maps in the sandbox mode can be unlocked by finding "modules" to plugging them into the main menu. Other items can be unlocked by finding "bone boxes" that have unlockables, such as enemies and props, in them, and putting them inside a reclamation bin typically found near the end of a level. You can also put guns and melee weapons in the area to use them in the arena or sandbox modes. Multiple variations of guns can be found, such as guns with attachments such as sights, grips, and lasers.

Plot[]

Boneworks starts in an introductory tour designed as a history of VR interaction. The player plays as Arthur Ford, a security director for a fictional company named Monogon. The story mode of the game has the player traversing a digital city developed by Monogon, called MythOS City. MythOS City is built upon the advanced framework engine Boneworks and is sustained by the artificial intelligence operating system, MythOS. The virtual world is built upon "void energy", an unstable, yet very useful energy, recently discovered by the same company.

The game begins with a cutscene of Ford infiltrating Monogon on behalf a rival fictional company called "Gammon", putting a USB drive with their logo into one of the servers of MythOS and causing a terminal lockdown. Ford then barricades himself in a room, then puts on a Sabrelake brand VR headset to enter MythOS. Ford then begins a journey to reset the system clock to end the lockdown caused by the USB. Along the way, he fights sentient AI enemies called nullbodies and holographic security drones hired by Monogon and operated by Sabrelake, a security company. Throughout the game his coworkers contact him via monitors in MythOS, giving information about the situation and eventually telling Ford that they are close to finding his location. Ford eventually makes his way to the Time Tower, where the system clock is housed,and then repairs the Gravity Core, destroying the tower and opening a path to the Voidway.

Upon entering the Voidway, Ford wakes up in a dungeon, which is part of a game called Fantasy Land. He finds numerous clones which mimic the movement of his hands, and he takes advantage of this to escape the dungeon. Ford then finds a clone of himself ruling over other clones as king, who has Ford enter into arena combat, until the king Ford invites him to a one on one fight. Ford sees the king's castle and climbs it to gain entry and fight the king. Ford beats the king and enters a back room of the castle, where he is finally able to enter the void. In real life, Sabrelake agents hired by Monogon break into the room, finding that Ford has become one with the void. The game ends with a cutscene of Ford watching the Sabrelake agents enter the room and kill his physical body, a door slamming on him as Ford is now trapped in the Voidway.

Development[]

Boneworks was shown in a tech demo in 2018,^[4] and the game reached a playable, completable state in October 2019,^[5] and was released on Steam on December 10, 2019.^[6] On February 20, 2020, it was released on the Oculus VR Store, with a temporarily exclusive level.

Reception[]

Boneworks has been compared to Half-Life in its aesthetics and puzzles.^[3] The game was praised for having created an "incredible engine for a captivating VR adventure", and has been called "one of the best VR gun-adventure games on the market". Physics manipulation in Boneworks has been described as entering the "uncanny valley". The game has been criticized for its bugs, where the player's limbs can become stuck in game objects, as well as the content not being paced well and a lack of a good plot.^[3] It has been described as a "VR physics playground".^[11] The game has been described as being "conceived as a combat showcase first and a story-driven epic second – the Narbacular Drop to Valve's Portal.".^[2]

On the release day of Boneworks, it reached the top of Steam's top-selling and top 100 player count lists of that day.^[12]

The game was nominated for "Best VR/AR Game" at the Game Developers Choice Awards.^[13]

References[]