MixRift has released Crit Attack, a free mixed reality arcade shooter.
Wave Shooter Game is the third game from the mixed reality startup and it’s a lot of fun.
I put on my Meta Quest 3 headset and played a prototype of the game in a coffee shop. It was really cool to see a chunk of the coffee shop wall fall away to reveal the attacking animals. I had a gun in both hands and had to fire as quickly as possible to kill the animals before they got to me.
Bobby Voicu, MixRift’s CEO, said in an interview that the game is designed so that three generations of family members – grandparents, parents and children – can all play something together. The game is available starting today on PlayStation VR 2, Meta Quest, and Steam.
Just in time for the holiday season, the game is easy and free to play and is compatible with Meta Quest 3, 3S, Pro and 2.
The game makes money through in-app purchases like upgrades and extra lives that you can use to get the most out of your play sessions. However, players can also reap these benefits by playing the game longer.
Your mission is to defend your living room or office from swarming monsters. The combination of game mechanics (arcade wave shooter), graphics and easy pickings make Crit Attack unique in the Meta Store with its focus on story-driven, multiplayer and long sessions. Between waves, you can enhance your weapons to deal more damage or withstand more attacks. Over time, you will get better and better weapons.
With increasing market feedback for more ‘family-friendly’, less intense or graphically violent games, and today’s influx of nostalgia for games and entertainment from the 80s and 90s, Crit Attack is a simple, casual game that anyone can intuitively understand. Voicu said use and play.
“As we listened to our audience, we discovered a nostalgia trend driven by TV series like ‘Stranger Things’ or pixelated graphics games like Stardew Valley and Minecraft,” Voicu said. “This allows the whole family to enjoy our games: those who first played our games in arcades, those who played on early consoles, and finally Gen Z and Alpha, who can use MR devices for competitive and fun gaming.”
The launch of Crit Attack highlights the company’s vision to drive mass MR adoption and make games accessible to everyone by developing games that are easy to play and deeply immersive. It’s the perfect gift the whole family will enjoy. Voicu says there’s no better way to spend Christmas than uniting and fighting waves of monsters.
MR Shooter has a “friendlier” look and feel. Arcade wave shooters are often paired with the kind of graphics that the whole family can play. The monsters are cute and annoying rather than scary, and they appear in waves, making it a very fun experience for people of all ages.
It is an accessible, simple and easy user experience. I picked it up and played within seconds, shooting an enemy, putting my hand down, then bringing the gun back to reload. Just aim the crosshairs at the monster and pull the trigger.
It inspires that kind of “one more time” experience. The wave arcade shooter mechanic makes the game ideal for short gaming sessions where players want to experience “one more time” based on user feedback as they figure out what they need to do to destroy more waves of monsters.
And unlike many VR titles, the time required to play is short. In other words, it’s a more casual experience that can be played for sessions of 30 minutes or less.
There is also a Hall of Fame leaderboard. By tracking performance globally, we showcase the world’s best players and create the beginnings of a real gaming community.
There are many different strategies to play. Inside VR, you can initially shoot animals up close by moving close to a portal on the wall. Then, as it gets stronger, you can back away from the wall and have more time to remove it, Voicu said. When you sit down, they come at you faster because it’s an easier position to shoot them down. When you encounter bosses they will deal more damage to you.
At a certain number of waves, the battle switches to an endless gunfight.
“We basically develop prototypes to make sure the game mechanics are interesting. If people come and like the actual game mechanics without us putting in maintenance mechanisms, then the game deserves further development,” Voicu said. “We continued development on this game because players messaged us that they really wanted to play the final game.”
birth
Boyku began to believe in mixed reality after recently seeing a demo showing a crack in the ceiling and a hole in the wall. In his head he knew it was real, but at that moment he was startled because it seemed so real.
Voicu said MixRift believes in the power of MR to transform the gaming experience, making it more interactive, accessible and enjoyable for players around the world. The company’s games are designed to be intuitive and integrate seamlessly into players’ daily lives, ensuring every adventure is just another reality.
The company’s developers have a background in mobile games, where rapid development was key. Voicu sold its mobile gaming company and later moved into VR. Voicu said the company has been developing the Crit Attack game for several months. The team was ready to release an early version, but after receiving feedback they decided to rework the art to make it more family friendly.
MixRift’s unique approach focuses on game mechanics, developing and releasing games that resonate with audiences and releasing them quickly rather than investing years into a single title, Voicu said.
“While demand for MR experiences continues to grow, largely driven by tech giants like Meta and Apple, it is clear that there is a distinct shortage of high-quality MR games,” Voicu said. “We are perfectly positioned to solve this problem because our flexibility allows us to explore unique game mechanics built specifically for MR. “We’re not just making games, we’re pushing boundaries to create new kinds of interactive experiences and changing the way we use this technology in our everyday lives.”
Since its inception, MixRift has been at the forefront of the MR/XR revolution, pushing the boundaries of seamless integration between the physical and digital realms, creating ‘wow’ moments for gamers, Voicu said.
The company worked with six developers to create the game. They are spread across many parts of Europe.
In August, MixRift raised $1.6 million primarily to accelerate its game development efforts. The company’s additional games Hell Horde (MR Survival) and Fractured (MR 3D Puzzle) are available for Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest. MixRift has an ambitious roadmap that includes new and exciting game titles for the first quarter of 2025.
In the long term, Voicu expects mixed reality glasses to hit the market that look like regular glasses. That’s when he expects the huge mixed reality gaming market to take off.
“I believe we are very close to seeing the first glasses, such as heads-up display glasses, within the next three years,” he said. “I think this will be really attractive to game developers.”
