Tranquil Cove

Ok, I played this game just when it launched, so these are my "first impressions", don't take it as a complete review, and take into consideration that being an early access title, I evaluated it in its crude state. [b]Note: played on Linux with Valve Index, not Windows.[/b] [h1]What is this game about?[/h1] I got it blind -- didn't know anything about the game, I just saw the very cheap price and decided to take a chance. It seems to be a short survival horror game, not much unlike Slenderman. It is said it will have a story with three chapters (one map per chapter). Currently there is no story and only one map for you to play on. [h1]What's good[/h1] - The map they've made is a good one. A night map in a rural area, with some scattered houses. Good weather environment (rain), well made terrain if a bit primitive. The river waters look like sand, not water. The size of the map is small. - Your hands are visible and don't penetrate objects. Instead, they behave much like in Half-Life: Alyx and this is a big element for immersion, few games have it. Very noteworthy. - The configuration options are done via the TV in a bedroom, it's an immersive way to do it. - The monster is creepy and well made too. - Environmental sound in general is well made, although minimal because it's a bare environment (e.g. no birds chirping because it's night, and the likes). [h1]Configuration options[/h1] - Currently, it seems there is only one option and it's the level of detail. There is no smooth turning option, game uses snap turning. - You can also select three levels of difficulty when starting. - There are no comfort options and the only mode of locomotion is smooth locomotion (which is the one I prefer anyways). - Speed: Your character moves at unnaturally fast speeds, even though it would be adequate for a more arcadey game, in the case of a survival horror it is not immersive, it seems like you're driving sonic around. Or maybe add it as a configuration option. [h1]What can be improved[/h1] - More configuration options, specially comfort options. - More populated/detailed environment. - More noise/ambients. - Doors sometimes move in a weird way - Objects are not interactible. The physical hands are so good that the fact that they can't move anything other than doors is contrastingly bad. There are many half-opened drawers and you can't do anything to them. There are cupboards, fridges, closets, etc. and they are just immobile objects. - Even the doors you open by clicking on them instead of grabbing and pushing or pulling. - You can't turn off the camera you're carrying. This does not make sense... - I think the camera should not be the only way to see in the dark. There should be a flashlight, even if it is also a hidden object to find later. A situation where a person at night would take a camcorder but not a flashlight or any other light is not believable. - It is clear what is the winning criteria (you have to find the 5 orbs/souls), but not the losing criteria. It's based on time? Being in the same area for too long? Having not evaded the monster? I only saw the monster when I died, not sure if it chases you. And I was stuck at the terrain anyway (near the borders of the river). [h1]Preliminary conclusion[/h1] As I said, this is not a finished product, so I won't conclude anything about the game. It might turn out good, it might turn out bad. As it is not, it's a simple search for hidden objects in a small map, at night, without a flashlight. I also hope the developers plan a multiplayer component, that would make the game much more enticing. There's no neutral recommendation option, so I am recommending the game for now because I believe the developers have the potential to make something quite fun out of it. I hope they continue working on the game.

[h1]Experienced on the Oculus Quest 2[/h1] You can view my review & gameplay here: https://youtu.be/4TOflhL-HWg This is a budget-priced mini horror experience similar to Slender man type games. There is only one mode and one map available currently. You basically look for 5 blue balls in the dark around a decent-sized map in the dark while using a camcorder to help light the darkness while a monster lurks around. Collect them all before it gets you basically is the game. Tranquil Cove is running on the Unity Engine. On my RTX 3080, I was getting variable frame rates from 90 fps to 45 fps. However, it didn't really effect gameplay. The pop-in that occurred occasionally effected my experience more. You do have full locomotion (head-gaze based only) and snap turning available. I did not experience any serious issues or bugs during my short playtime. I thought the visuals looked nice for a budget game. The sounds were okay, but I think there could have been better spatial audio to help let you know when the monster was nearby. I could only hear the monster when it was basically already too near for me to do anything. The VR interactions were all very basic & could be more polished. Overall, though, it's a nice little game for the asking price. [b]Rate 6.5/10. I paid less than $2 USD, so I feel I already got my money's worth. If the devs deliver on their EA promises, this price will be a total steal in the future.[/b] [quote]If you enjoyed my review, please consider joining my Steam Curator Group. You can join here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Oculus_WMR [/quote]

This game is terrifying! One of the scariest games I have every played in VR! At about 30 min into the game, I have beaten the first classic mode on the Normal difficulty, and almost on Hard, but I'm not sure if I am brave enough to ever take on the Nightmare mode xD Edit - I have beaten it on hard now and had a friend play it, who thought that playing it may have been the scariest experience of their life XD

The game is very well made for what it is. The AI unpredictable and terrifying, the environment is very well made and immersive, and the sound design is on point. Currently there is only one map and one mode for game play, but that is more than enough to justify the price (there are also 3 difficulties... nightmare being the hardest, and it is a very hard challenge). There appears to be 3 maps, 3 story mode chapters, and 4 classic modes on the way as well, but the price will increase as the game gets expanded, so I would suggest getting it sooner rather than later. The game initially gave me Slender vibes, but the more I played it I realized that it is almost the opposite of slender in terms of game play. You have to frantically look around to see where the enemy is coming from in the dark woods, and making the decision of lowering your night vision camera to run faster (which your night vision camera is the only way to see in the darker areas), or keep looking at the night vision camera and risk getting caught by the enemy because you are moving too slow, makes this game so much deeper in game play than other horror games like it. So rather than trying to not turn around in fear of the enemy killing you, like in slender, you are actually forced to keep looking around and be aware of your surroundings to win. I found this to be a very refreshing take on this style of game. The game is well worth the price and I will be watching it very closely throughout its early access. Looking forward to future updates. Cheers

Amazing game! Still early in development, but very promising! Extremely well done for a two man team! Definitely made me jump out of my skin. Looking forward to see how the developer continues polishing and refining the game over time. I'm super exited for a story mode!

Haven't played too much yet but looks very promising. For the price you can't go wrong. Very excited to see where this game goes.

Glass boiiiii

While there really isn’t a whole lot to ‘Tranquil Cove’ at the moment I can easily see the potential it offers. The only level available to play at the moment is level 1 of the non-story mode (there are many more levels and a story mode yet to come) and the idea is you need to find and collect 5 souls in the form of blue, glowing orbs. But of course, things are not that easy because all you have is a camera for a light and it runs out of batteries fast (I wish there was an option to make it have an infinite battery). What you can see of it is OK and the one playable level is a fair old size. There is real potential here and I do give it the thumbs up given the small sale price I paid, but without that extra content, this game is as good as dead.

Terrifying VR experience with a ton of potential at a very reasonable price. I can't wait for the upcoming story mode that is planned!

a game for less then 2$ didnt expected to much from it for that price. Game grabbed me by my troath from the 1st second. Omg that sound true my headset is still giving me goosebumps and the moment i got cought i stopped. Basiclly u need to run arround find batterys for ur camera and some kind of blue orbs and try to avoid something , ur battery dies very fast so must be a ****** put ur volume at 100% and go look at the beauty in the game :) You will have a more then decent horror vr game for the price of a package chewing gum.