| Golem | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Highwire Games |
| Publisher(s) | Highwire Games |
| Director(s) |
|
| Artist(s) |
|
| Composer(s) | Martin O'Donnell |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 4 |
| Release | November 15, 2019 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player only |
Golem is a video game developed by Highwire Games for the PlayStation 4 video game console, specifically for the PlayStation VR virtual reality headset. It was released on November 15, 2019.
Golem is the debut game from independent studio Highwire Games. [1] Based in Seattle, the studio was founded in 2015 by former Bungie employees Martin O'Donnell and Jaime Griesemer, alongside Jared Noftle, co-founder of Airtight Games. [2] [3] Vic Deleon, another former Bungie employee, left 343 Industries to join the development team as world art director and Travis Brady of Valve joined as character art director. [2]
Golem was developed for the PlayStation 4 and makes use of the PlayStation VR virtual reality headset. [1] The game was developed using Unreal Engine 4. [2] Highwire approached Epic Games' Seattle-based studio for assistance on developing the virtual reality game. [2]
O'Donnell, who serves as the game's composer, launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a "musical prequel" to Golem, titled Echoes of the First Dreamer. [4]
Golem was first announced in December 2015 at the PlayStation Experience. [1] The game was scheduled to launch on 13 March 2018, [5] but had since been delayed for further polishing. On 19 August, Highwire games confirmed a new Fall 2019 release window. [6]
The game received mixed reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, with an average of 59/100 based on 19 reviews. [7]
Golem was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" at the 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, [8] and won the award for "Best Dialogue for an Indie Game" at the 2020 G.A.N.G. Awards, whereas its other nomination was for "Best Sound Design for an Indie Game". [9] [10]
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment, education and business. Other distinct types of VR-style technology include augmented reality and mixed reality, sometimes referred to as extended reality or XR, although definitions are currently changing due to the nascence of the industry.
Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry.
Martin O'Donnell is an American composer, audio director, and sound designer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, Halo, and Destiny. O'Donnell collaborated with his musical colleague Michael Salvatori for many of the scores; he has also directed voice talent and sound design for the Halo trilogy. O'Donnell was Bungie's audio lead until April 11, 2014.
Jason Jones is an American video game developer and programmer who co-founded the video game studio Bungie with Alex Seropian in 1991. Jones began programming on Apple computers in high school, assembling a multiplayer game called Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. While attending the University of Chicago, Jones met Seropian and the two formed a partnership to publish Minotaur.
London Studio is a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2002, it is a first-party studio for PlayStation Studios. The studio was most known for developing the SingStar series, as well as games for PlayStation's external peripherals including the EyeToy camera and the PlayStation VR virtual reality headset. The studio has created more than 60 titles since it was established.
nDreams is a company that develops and publishes video games. Based in Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, it was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh.
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington, and a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones's game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Originally based in Chicago, Illinois, the company concentrated on Macintosh games during its early years and created two successful video game franchises called Marathon and Myth. An offshoot studio, Bungie West, produced Oni, published in 2001 and owned by Take-Two Interactive, which held a 19.9% ownership stake at the time.
Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. It was the first virtual reality headset to provide a realistic experience at an accessible price, utilizing novel technology to increase quality and reduce cost by orders of magnitude compared to earlier systems. The first headset in the line was the Oculus Rift DK1, released on March 28, 2013. The last was the Oculus Rift S, discontinued in April 2021.
The PlayStation Camera is a motion sensor and camera accessory for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Eye for the PlayStation 3, which was released in 2007. It is also the motion sensor used to track the PlayStation VR virtual reality headset.
The Virtuix Omni is an omnidirectional treadmill simulator for virtual reality games and other applications. It uses a platform to simulate locomotion i.e. the motion of walking, requiring both special shoes or shoe covers and a surface that reduces friction. It works in conjunction with the HTC Vive, and allows a Vive user to physically walk within a limited number of supported games.
Superhot is an independent first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed and published by Superhot Team. Though the game follows traditional first-person shooter gameplay mechanics, with the player attempting to take out enemy targets using guns and other weapons, time within the game progresses at normal speed only when the player moves; this creates the opportunity for the player to assess their situation in slow motion and respond appropriately, making the gameplay similar to strategy video games. The game is presented in a minimalist art style, with enemies in red and weapons in black, in contrast to the otherwise white and grey environment.
Reality Labs, originally Oculus VR, is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon Worlds. In June 2022, several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives that were previously a part of Meta AI were transitioned to Reality Labs. This also includes Meta's fundamental AI Research laboratory FAIR which is now part of the Reality Labs - Research (RLR) division.
The PlayStation VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016.
A virtual reality headset is a head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR headsets typically include a stereoscopic display, stereo sound, and sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes for tracking the pose of the user's head to match the orientation of the virtual camera with the user's eye positions in the real world.
Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives, commonly referred to as simply Job Simulator, is a virtual reality simulation video game developed and published by Owlchemy Labs for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3, in which players participate in comical approximations of real-world jobs. A sequel, Vacation Simulator, was released in 2019.
Foveated rendering is a rendering technique which uses an eye tracker integrated with a virtual reality headset to reduce the rendering workload by greatly reducing the image quality in the peripheral vision.
A virtual reality game or VR games is a video game played on virtual reality (VR) hardware. Most VR games are based on player immersion, typically through head-mounted display unit or headset with stereoscopic displays and one or more controllers.
Trover Saves the Universe is a 2019 action platform game developed and published by Squanch Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Oculus Quest. Envisioned as a comedy game, the title features an optional virtual reality component. Justin Roiland, who was the founder of Squanch Games and the co-creator of Rick and Morty, provided voice work for many characters in this game. It received generally positive reviews upon release.
Oculus Rift CV1, also known simply as Oculus Rift, is a virtual reality headset developed by Oculus VR, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, known at the time as Facebook Inc. It was announced in January 2016, and released in March the same year. The device constituted the first commercial release in the Oculus Rift lineup.
The PlayStation VR2 is a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 5 home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment released on February 22, 2023.