Espire 2 received a voice chat update and its 2023 roadmap confirms the stealth action game’s heading to “new VR platforms” in 2023.
Published by Tripwire, Digital Lode’s Espire 1 sequel first appeared last month, bringing a new single-player campaign and secondary campaign with co-op support. Following update 1.1 last month, which added further campaign polish and bHaptics support, update 1.2 is now live for Espire 2. Adding voice chat into co-op mode, this also brings “improvements to AI and other quality-of-life issues, addressing bug fixes and stability.”
Alongside update 1.2, Digital Lode also provided the first look at Espire 2’s 2023 roadmap. While this is subject to change, Q1 2023 promises public co-op games and ‘Espire Ops’, new SP levels where the developer sets weekly challenges. Q2 2023 includes further co-op missions, alongside a hardcore difficulty setting for solo and co-op play, while Frame skins and weapons variants are only given a general “2023” release window.
Finally, Espire 2 won’t remain a Quest platform exclusive. “Espire 2 is coming to new virtual reality platforms. We are in the early stages of development and will have more to announce in 2023,” Digital Lode confirms in a press release. Unfortunately, no specific platforms were mentioned, though we’d speculate PC VR and PSVR 2 are likely candidates.
We enjoyed the stealth sequel in our Espire 2 review. Advising it’s “more of the same” for fans of the original, we believed the core gameplay “isn’t without some minor hiccups” but came away impressed by the choice granted to players.
Espire 2 expands on the concept of the original game in ways that feel fresh and add diverse approaches to each mission. The sheer amount of choice granted to players, both pre-mission and during the thick of it, is incredibly impressive. Every player will be able to approach Espire 2 with their own unique ideas and execute them as they see fit.
Espire 2 is available now on the Meta Quest platform for $29.99.
