Last Ancient Hope is a Quest game that lets you merge with the jungle
Last Ancient Hope is a physics-based adventure where you fight with a bow and use a lifelike jungle to your advantage.
Last week I attended the Reboot Develop Blue 2024 developer conference in Dubrovnik, where I met with the studio OddCogz. It introduced me to Last Ancient Hope and I had the opportunity to play an early version of the game. This is the first time a publication has written about this VR project.
You embody a young tribe member fighting for survival in the jungle. | Image: OddCogz
Last Ancient Hope is set in the prehistoric Amazon and tells the story of a tribe that has been corrupted by a mysterious alien force and drawn into a war. You take on the role of a girl from the tribe whose parents were killed. As the game progresses, you will explore the rainforest and temples and learn to use the environment to your advantage.
A lush and living rainforest
Last Ancient Hope is a bow and arrow game that combines elements of the stealth and survival genres. But it's less about the tedious crafting of tools and weapons and more about merging with the jungle, the studio explains. An important theme of the game is the bond between man and nature, which is crucial for the protagonist's survival.
Another focal point of Last Ancient Hope is the physics system, which invites experimentation. When shooting arrows, you can hold the bow vertically or horizontally to shoot multiple arrows in different directions, but you can also throw your bow at enemies or use arrows to stab them. The game won't tell you what to do.
Later on, you will be able to upgrade your bow in different directions: for long-range hits, a higher rate of fire, or to shoot scattering arrows, the studio tells me.
Me playing Last Ancient Hope at Reboot Develop Blue 2024 | Image: E. Sponholtz
Another focus is on the graphics and presentation of the jungle: Last Ancient Hope aims to break away from the static environments of most Quest games by depicting a lush rainforest, with grasses and foliage moving lifelike in the wind. The focus is less on photorealism and more on simulating a living nature that reacts to external influences, says OddCogz.
Last Ancient Hope: My first impressions
I was able to try out a pre-alpha version of the VR game on a Quest 3, fighting giant mosquitoes, a tribe member, and spiders. The handling of the bow feels already satisfying, while the color palette, vegetation, and massive scale of the jungle with volumetric lighting effects were pleasing on a visual level. The area I explored was rather small, and the stealth elements not yet implemented, and there were bugs here and there, but that's to be expected for a game at this early stage.
Last Ancient Hope is being developed by OddCogz, a Romanian studio founded in 2023. The five-person team has more than ten years of experience in mobile game development before deciding to tackle a VR game. Development is currently being funded out of pocket, so the studio is looking for funding.
OddCogz plans to release an early access version on App Lab at the end of 2024 to get as much feedback from players as possible.
For more information, visit the official website.
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