The Climb is German software developer Crytek’s first foray into games for the Oculus VR ecosystem. The game isn’t out yet, but along with the full release of Oculus, it won’t be long. While no date has been set, The Climb is widely expected to either accompany the release of the hardware or come shortly after.

The Climb is built around rock climbing. It utilises all the power of Oculus to deliver as realistic an experience as possible.

Crytek is renowned for creating amazing environments, so it’s no surprise that it would tackle a challenge like this. The Crysis game series was excellent and the CryEngine powers many other quality games.
Crytek said it’s aiming for an immersive experience rather than photorealism. From the looks of some videos that I saw online, it did the right thing. The use of light and colour is excellent. The beautiful Asian settings aren’t bad either. Up close, the details and realism look very convincing. Further away, detail resolves itself exactly as you would expect, with little details making a huge difference to immersion. Even in 2D, the game looks fantastic.

The Climb is inspired by the real life Halong Bay in Vietnam, a haven for free climbers. It is also a Word Heritage site and offers some of the most stunning scenery in the world. What better place to base a game where environment is everything?

Crytek is confident that The Climb will be immersive enough to give a real sense of rock climbing. With Oculus still receiving final tweaks before its release and The Climb set to be out around the same time, we don’t have long to wait to find out.

Jesmond Darmanin is a technology enthusiast who has his own blog at www.itnewsblog.com.