Beyond Blue to resurface next month with VR-exclusive sequel After the Storm

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Follow-up to E-Line Media's immersive 2020 ocean exploration adventure coming in January on the Meta Store

The beauty of playing underwater games like 2020's Beyond Blue is that it doesn't require any of the specialized equipment needed for real-world deep sea diving. While that remains true for the upcoming sequel, subtitled After the Storm, you will need at least one new piece of equipment to operate it, as this one's a VR exclusive. 

Inspired by BBC Studios’ Blue Planet II and created with the cooperation of OceanX, a real-world scientific initiative with "minimally invasive exploration techniques," the original Beyond Blue followed Mirai, the lead researcher of a new team formed to study a "large multispecies gathering of cetaceans and other creatures," on a number of dives into diverse ares of the Western Pacific. It was a beautiful and educational simulation, if not particularly game-like or adventurous, so for an encore, developers E-Line Media and newcomers Chaos Theory Games are sending Mirai back into the depths of the sea but this time to "help repair the damage and lend aid to the creatures in the surrounding biosphere ... after a severe tropical storm damages an underwater research station." And this time she's not alone, as she has the help of a crew, which is good because "what they uncover there is more dangerous than they could have realized and will take all their skills, and help from an unexpected ally, to make right."

Designed exclusively for virtual reality, not as a port of the original game but a whole new adventure, After the Storm leaves behind the third-person perspective of its predecessor for a first-person experience that puts you directly in the action. Gone too is the voice actor for Mirai, replaced in the sequel by Erika Ishii, whose extensive game credits include the likes of Apex Legends, Deathloop and Fortnite. Players can expect more focused objectives this time around, as you "swap between diverse characters, each with their own personality and abilities, to accomplish goals and uncover what is happening beneath the waves." But you'll still have plenty of freedom to swim around and sightsee as you traverse more "unique biomes, interacting with creatures that few have ever seen in person." And once again the game doesn't skimp on educational value, as it's being designed "alongside consultation from science’s leading ocean experts like marine biologist Dr. Erika Woolsey (Chief Scientist & Co-Founder of The Hydrous)" and offers plenty of "Ocean Insights" to discover, unlocking new "mini-documentaries that explore the real-world science that inspired the game."

Flat-screen gamers are out of luck for a second dive, but VR users can look forward to Beyond Blue: After the Storm launching on the Meta Store sometime in January for Meta Quest Pro, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S headsets.

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