If you’ve been a VR supporter for years, you’re probably familiar with Boneworks, which was one of the most noteworthy showcases of the platform’s potential before Half-Life: Alyx showed up. After its predecessor launched in 2019, we can finally expect successor Bonelab to launch later this year.
Bonelab was officially announced during today’s Meta Quest Gaming showcase with a teaser trailer. Slated to launch at some point during 2022 across the Oculus Quest 2 and PC VR platforms, the trailer provides insight into the next foray in the Boneworks universe from developer Stress Level Zero.
Whereas the original Boneworks largely centered around industrial environments, Bonelab revels in a mix of standard laboratory settings and catacomb-like levels. The game’s story involves a protagonist who is suspected of performing a seance. Before being executed during a trial, a series of events results in the protagonist escaping into an underground lab. Following this unexpected escape, survival requires completing a series of challenges in this mysterious scientific underworld.
Outside of the change in setting, Boneworks fans will find familiarity in much of the gameplay interactions presented within the trailer. We see the player tossing an enemy, causing them to stumble down an escalator in a relatively realistic fashion. There are also more precise physics interactions such as using your knife to detach a skeleton’s head or manipulating objects like frying pans for use in combat.
