Oculus Rift gets new, commercial, non-combat MMO

Only on something like the Oculus Rift, could you pitch the idea of playing as a tree, a lizard and a person with other players in a single world and you aren't allowed to kill any of them. No in Wander, you do just that, you walk, swim and fly around a 64 square kilometre island and explore with your friends.

“Happy to say that Wander is now up on Oculus Share: https://share.oculusvr.com/app/wander,” announced the developer, Wander MMO, on the official Rift forums. It's been around for a while in alpha and beta form and has been available for trial at a few different trade shows, but is only now officially going on sale. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkL5sNskcqA']

The game is quite pretty, despite the graphics appearing dated – catering to lower end PC hardware and the lower resolution of the Rift. Where it lacks in extra pixels though, it looks to make up in atmosphere.
“Wander is a collaborative, non-combat, non-competitive MMO game focused on exploration and joy,” reads the game's description. It highlights that while you begin alone, the game is designed for you to team up with other players to explore the island and find out what's going on, sort of like a collaborative Dear Esther, but with an open world and less voice over.

“You begin as a giant tree. Storms that affect the known planets transform you, and continue to influence your path,” the description continues. “A rare flower has many powers that can alter your course. Enchanting opera singers guide you. As you explore, you begin to discover others in the the sprawling rainforest. Working together, you unlock new experiences, piece together the plot and enjoy the varied beauty that Wander has to offer.”

You get to play as a griffon too. Because why not?

However, while the concept is interesting, some people on the official forums have suggested $25 is too high a starting price for a game with no demo. The developer agrees and is putting out a demo soon, but did highlight that the reason the price is quite high – especially considering Wander is in open beta – is because it's an MMO and will have new content coming regularly over the next year or more, for free. There's also no subscription charges.

KitGuru Says: I don't know if I can hold out guys. Unless I can score a review unit of a Rift from somewhere (if anyone knows where I could request one, do let me know) I'm going to have to buy one. I don't think I can wait until the commercial unit is available. 

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