In the Winter of 2018/2019, House of Secrets got to work on a special project that was right up our alley: developing VR games based on the music and music videos of a great rock band: MUSE.
We made two out of three VR games that went on tour with the band in promotion of their new album ‘Simulation Theory’. VIP guests to the venues worldwide got to experience the songs in a totally new way: interactive, immersive and in 360 degrees.
The games will travel along to all stops of the Simulation Theory World Tour of 2019.
Spaceship Defender
‘Spaceship Defender’ is a shooter game, where the player finds themselves in the cockpit of a spaceship. When the ship is thrown out of warp speed due to an unknown emergency, the player is tasked to investigate the cause.
Taking a look on the deck of the ship, it’s obvious what the cause is: an onslaught of furry critters!
The player has no choice but to eradicate these ferocious pests and buy some time until the warp drive is ready for use again.
The critters that are attacking the ship will be familiar to MUSE fans from the music video for ‘Pressure’ that came out earlier, the same song that is propelling the player forward during the game.
Retrograde Racer
In the aptly named racing game ‘Retrograde Racer’, the player takes a seat behind the wheel of a flashy sports car, driving it through a futuristic landscape filled with robo-skeletons, lifesize lightshards and neon-lit skyscrapers. On the pulsing beat of the soundtrack, the player picks up boosts and points, that tally up to a highscore, true to the arcade-game as a medium.
Taking inspiration from multiple Muse videos, this game is soundtracked by “The Dark Side.”Read more about this project in an interview with the band members, here: https://www.microsoft.com/inculture/musicxtech/muse-vr-games-simulation-theory-tour/