Worms meets mixed reality: Trying out the tactical game "Table Troopers"
Table Troopers brings the gameplay of Worms to VR headsets. We tried out the brand-new German game on Meta Quest.
Table Troopers offers convivial skirmishes Ă la Worms in your own living room.
(Image: Cosmorama)
The Worms series is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Over time, it has found a home on numerous platforms, but a VR adaptation has been missing until now.
With Table Troopers, Hamburg-based studio Cosmorama is venturing into mixed reality with an adaptation of the well-known game concept, demonstrating how VR headsets can add a whole new dimension. Meta also recognized the potential and contributed to the financing through a support program.
Table Troopers is available today in Early Access for Meta Quest 3, 3S, 2, and Pro. We tried out the mixed reality game on Quest 3 in both solo and multiplayer modes.
Social presence and easy operation
From the very first minute, you can tell that Table Troopers was developed for mixed reality. The colorful battlefields appear as 3D landscapes on a circular table in your own gaming environment. In online multiplayer mode, the other players sit at the table as meta-avatars, allowing you to observe their moves and reactions in real time. This creates the feeling of a board game night in your own living room.
However, mixed reality is not mandatory. Those who prefer virtual reality can hide the real environment at any time and switch to an unobtrusive virtual space.
Table Troopers places great emphasis on accessibility. The game is played with simple hand movements, such as moving your own game pieces on the battlefield or firing weapons. The trajectory of the projectiles is determined by a gesture similar to cocking and releasing a slingshot: an intuitive movement that is immediately understandable.
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The controls are kept so simple that the game can be played with just one controller and one button. The hand tracking already seen in the trailer is not yet supported, but will be added to the final version at the end of the year.
We deliberately tested Table Troopers with someone who had little experience with virtual reality, and they found it easy to get to grips with after just a short time.
Very similar to 3D Worms
In terms of gameplay and tactics, Table Troopers offers almost everything you would expect from an unofficial Worms spin-off: you move your troops into advantageous positions, collect supply crates falling from the sky containing weapons and useful items, and try to wipe your opponents off the playing field with a variety of weapons and special abilities, such as air strikes. And we mean that literally: in our test, characters were sometimes swept off the edge of the virtual table and lay motionless on the floor. Destructible environments, changing wind conditions, and a physics-based game world are also part of the game and, in true Worms fashion, ensure unpredictable and often wonderfully chaotic battles.
In addition to multiplayer mode with up to two friends or random online opponents, Table Troopers also offers content for solo players: a three-hour campaign and skirmishes against the AI. Further chapters are planned for the future, as well as a "trial mode" in which skill under time pressure is key.
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When fighting AI opponents or human players, numerous game parameters can be adjusted to suit your preferences, such as the strength of the targeting aid, the difficulty level of the bots, the game and move duration, the size of the weapon arsenal, and the frequency of supply crates dropping.
In the final version, we would like to see an easier perspective selection with a zoom function, at least in VR mode. Currently, you have to manually adjust the virtual table and move your upper body to keep the battlefield in view at all times. The characters could also use a little more charm and responsiveness, but the studio is already working on that.
Table Troopers is available in the Horizon Store starting tonight. The price is $10. The game is available in several languages, including German.
(mho)
