Outta Hand: Captivating action platformer takes the Gorilla card movement one step further

As is often the case with virtual reality, the best game I tried at Gamescom 2023 wasn’t one in a large corporate booth or conference room, but a small indie game called Outta Hand that I played try in the hallway.

Lobby demos have become somewhat of a rite of passage for VR enthusiasts and developers alike. And while this certainly wasn’t my first hallway demo, it’s one of my most recent favorites – despite my frantic waving to any Gamescom in attendance can all be viewed.

Outta Hand, featured in our recent VR Upload Summer Expo, is a VR action platformer that’s coming to Quest later this month (specific date still TBC). Part-Gorilla Tag, part Crash Bandicoot, it takes the fundamentals of the movement system that the previous one popularized and develops it further with some new mechanics added to the mix.

VR platform players are having a bit of a moment lately. As I mentioned in my Max Mustard hands-on, there are two genres – Max Mustard falls into the Astro Bot style first/third person hybrid genre, where you look down at a character you control. controlled from above. Gorilla Tag is the title that popularized the newer first-person version of the genre, where you play as a fully immersive first-person character and use your arms to push and shove yourself around an environment through jumps and jumps.

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However, Gorilla Tag is not primarily a platformer, but more of a multiplayer version of the tag in VR that uses those platforming movement mechanics. No More Rainbows changed that, taking a similar arm-based movement system and developing a truly platforming experience around it. With Outta Hand, developer Capricia Productions is evolving the genre once again. Based on what I’ve tried so far, this new development is just as appealing, if not more appealing, with its own unique spin.

In Outta Hand, you play as a round creature that looks like Mike Wazowski if he were blue, had two eyes, no legs, and very long arms. You begin your journey at a facility owned by a Doctor Neo Cortox-like warlord named Dr. Vendelboom. Locked inside a glass box, you move along a conveyor belt with other Wazowski lookalikes until you encounter a scanner that deems your brain function “above acceptable parameters”, marking you will be destroyed. You will soon escape your container, avoid being terminated, and begin a platforming adventure to escape the facility.

Both Gorilla Tag and No More Rainbows have an essential stiffness to their movement systems – the latter is definitely looser, but jumping in both games feels more like an arc The movement is very specific, tight and defined. That gives it a precise and dexterous feel, allowing you to feel the movement and improve as you go.

Outta Hand doesn’t throw this out the window – it’s certainly still accurate and you’ll feel things improve as you play – but it also makes the dance moves feel more… springy slightly. It feels more free, allowing you to jump much further while still keeping the parameters necessary to reproduce precise, specific movements when needed. You’ll soon find yourself flying between platforms, across gaps, between smashing walls and around deadly spinning gears.

Even in the game’s opening, the obstacles in Outta Hand are incredibly varied and never the same. That’s another key difference between Outta Hand and other similar platformers – Capricia Productions takes a Mario-like approach of giving you new challenges and gradually teaching additional mechanics, adding layers depth to the gameplay.

One of them is the ability to flap your hands at the sides like wings, giving you a slightly accelerated jump in mid-air. You can use this in a variety of ways, such as to correct course when you jump too far, or to get that last bit of acceleration for a jump that’s a little too far from your target. You can chain multiple caps together, but a depletable meter will keep you from overusing the mechanic.

There are also variations on how you jump – a direct two-handed push into the floor will take you up rather than forward, this can be combined with a tap to create a jumping pattern new short.

And then there’s the punch. This is where Outta Hand really begins to come into its own – and live up to its name. You can press buttons on the controller’s grip to enlarge your fists Ms Marvel style, which can then be used in both combat and platforming maneuvers.

While in mid-air, punching down on your landing spot – or even an enemy in mid-air – will give you a huge boost to bounce back up. There are also several fan-like devices that float in mid-air and can be impaled, launching you in a predetermined direction.

In between platform sections – or sometimes in between them – you’ll also encounter Dr. Vendelboom’s employees, such as security bots, who aren’t too happy with your escape plan. During these sections, the game shifts gears again, offering fresh combat sections.

Your fists have fairly extensive auto-aim, with targets automatically appearing on enemies as you aim towards them. However, despite the comical way your arms extend away from your body when punching, your range is relatively short compared to the area you’ll be navigating. This means you have to use your stance skills to jump around enemies, while also throwing punches and dodging their attacks as you rush. Some enemies engage in melee combat or explode when nearby, while others will fire projectiles from afar

There’s a stylish and cool slow-motion effect that comes into play when you deliver the final blow to the last enemy. It’s a prime example of the game’s broader appeal in both its visuals and storytelling. The platforming and combat are solid, but the game’s world is also just a joy to inhabit. Imaging delivers the perfect balance of captivating detail yet is carefully considered for optimal performance on a standalone headset.

Putting all these elements together, it’s easy to see how Outta Hand could deliver something that becomes the next natural progression of the Gorilla Tag movement system. It’s not just an evolution of that system, it also offers more mechanics and a sense of freedom with satisfying combat interspersed throughout.

We can’t wait to play more of the full game when it releases later this month on Quest. Stay tuned for more Outta Hand news coming soon.