The Light Brigade brings a dark VR roguelike shooter to PS VR2, out February 22

From the minds behind Wave Break and Fujii, Funktronic Labs brings you The Light Brigade—a roguelike VR shooter. Featuring intense PlayStation VR2 gunplay and immersive light magic, The Light Brigade puts you in the middle of heart-pounding action.

A twilight that won’t end and survivors hanging on to the hope of bringing light back to the world. This is the journey you will embark on when you first awake, beckoned by a mysterious voice. Arriving at the Last Temple, you are greeted by Mother and anointed as a member of the Light Brigade. As the sun continues to dim, humanity’s last hope is to release the trapped souls of the dead before it’s too late.

Immersive gunplay meets powerful light magic

The Light Brigade is set in a historical fantasy world, reflected in the World War-inspired weaponry. From the Gewehr 43 rifle to SMG M3 and Nambu Type 14, this wide array of weapons is pulled from a historic time period. However, the feel of these guns is even more important than the aesthetics.

Designed with realism in mind, physics-based gunplay like aiming, shooting, and reloading bolt-action rifles, machine guns, and pistols feels incredibly immersive and tactile. In PS VR2, this creates intense gunfights that put you directly in the center of the action. To add to these engrossing battles, you also have magic at your fingertips, allowing you to pair gunslinging and spellcasting beautifully. From infusing your rifle’s bullets with light magic, to raining fireballs on enemy hordes, magic spells provide the perfect complement to your rifle and combat arsenal.

The Light Brigade Weapon & Attachment – Concept Art

The many roguelike layers

You begin your journey as a lowly recruit, and set off with only a standard-issue rifle. But soon after entering the Sunken World, you will begin to loot enemies and discover treasure chests containing various gun modifications.

You can attach magic charms to your rifle and activate them mid-battle to imbue your bullets with light magic, turning them into explosives or armor-piercing rounds. Red-dot reticles provide better aim, while poison barrels cause damage-over-time effects, offering more tactical ways to take down enemy groups.

If you are shot down by enemy fire during a run, you enter into a Weakened Soul state. In this state, you are susceptible and must survive long enough to retrieve your lost soul. If you die again before reaching your corpse, you suffer permadeath and are sent back to the temple HQ to start a fresh run.

The Light Brigade Temple and Hero NPC – Concept Art

Allies at the temple HQ and around the world

With the world hanging in the balance, you need all the help you can get. The Light Brigade features asynchronous online functionality where you will come across fallen allies whose souls you can release. Other times, another player will appear as a friendly Light Brigade soldier that can trade supplies with you… or they may be reincarnated as an enemy soldier you need to defeat. You will know when an NPC is an online player by their username and online status. In addition, you can participate in daily run challenges that combine all online player progress to succeed.

Several NPC allies are also trapped within the Sunken World and they need your help to escape. Once you free them, they will return to the temple and some may unlock new shops that allow you to spend your well-earned Rank Points to improve your weapons, abilities, etc. From the enigmatic Mother, to the war veteran Samson and wily Jude, these unique NPCs have a backstory and a reason for fighting as well, and as you continue your journey you will get to know them better.

Climb the ranks to victory

As a member of the Light Brigade, your duty is to free the souls trapped in enemy territory. By cleansing these souls, you gain experience that increases your class Rank. When you increase your class Rank, you gain Rank Points that you can spend to upgrade your weapon with the Blacksmith and improve your current class passive abilities and spells.

By gaining experience in your current class, you can also unlock new classes such as the dual-wielding Pistolier, the rapid-firing Assault class, or the long-range Sniper. These classes let you change up your play style with new weapons and load-outs, providing more variety for your runs.

Procedurally generated battlegrounds

Shifting battlegrounds, evolving runs

The Sunken World is pieced together from the old memories of the fallen, so things are constantly shifting and changing. Each new run, you will notice that your surroundings have moved around, forcing you to traverse carefully in new, hostile environments. Using WFC (wave function collapse) technology, battlegrounds are infinitely procedurally-generated to keep your runs fresh and exciting.

Collect tarot cards, player upgrades, and weapon attachments

Tarot cards add variety to your arsenal

On top of a slew of weapons, charms, and attachments you loot on your runs, you will also collect an array of magical tarot cards, each with unique powers, buff/debuffs, and passive abilities. When you acquire stronger versions of these cards, they stack on top of your existing effect, creating devastating combos. Combining all these tools and looted upgrades with new weapons and playstyles, truly opens the game up to make each run feel completely unique.

Uncover the truth of the Light Brigade

What plunged the world into darkness? Who are the Obsidian Forces and what do they want? As a member of the Light Brigade, it is up to you to discover the answers to these questions and more. But what will you do with that knowledge? What choice will you make in the end?
The Light Brigade will be available on February 22 for PS VR2. Pre-order now for a discount of 15% with PlayStation Plus membership.