Boneworks

Boneworks
Developer(s)	Stress Level Zero
Publisher(s)	Stress Level Zero
Director(s)	Brandon Laatsch
Designer(s)	Alex Knoll
Composer(s)	Michael Wyckoff
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	December 10, 2019
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, action-adventure, puzzle-platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multi-player (modded)

Boneworks is a 2019 virtual reality (VR) game developed and published by Stress Level Zero. It was developed using the Unity game engine and supports all PC-compatible VR headsets. It was released on Windows on December 10, 2019 for Steam. On February 20, 2020, it was released on the Oculus VR store with a temporarily exclusive sandbox level.

Plot

Boneworks is set in Stress Level Zero's shared universe, which incorporates other titles like Duck Hunt. Set in an alternate timeline, the global conglomerate Monogon Industries discovers a strange dimension known as the Voidway in 1990. Void particles from this dimension allow computers to utilise extradimensional energy in order to become incredibly powerful and efficient. Monogon uses this to create a simulated reality known as MythOS and began to sell headsets that allowed consumers to enter and interact with the simulation. By the 2010s, virtual realities are where most human interaction takes place.

The player takes the role of Arthur Ford, a virtual security director in MythOS. He is secretly working for Gammon, a competitor to Monogon, who has tasked him with destroying MythOS.

The game begins with a real-world cutscene showing Arthur Ford retreating into a panic room with a loaded gun and a Monogon headset. He also carries a USB with the Gammon logo, which he plugs into the headset before putting it on.

In MythOS, Arthur Ford performs the mundane task of either preserving or destroying anomalous items, one of which is the Gammon USB. Ford inserts the USB into a socket, which puts MythOS into lockdown, removing all humans except for Ford, who is contacted by his friend and fellow Monogon employee via video call from the real world. The employee informs him that a 'bug' has caused the World Clock to freeze, booting everyone from MythOS and causing the void particles that power the simulation to become unstable. This is causing the nullbodies, AI-controlled workers, to become sentient and aggressive. Although the employee is unsure why Ford remains in the simulation, he requests that Ford ventures into the Clock Tower and initializes a full reset, which should bring MythOS back online.

Ford continues through an unfinished Monogon Museum, which acts as a tutorial for the player. He then enters MythOS City, fighting off nullbodies and other enemies. He progresses through several environments and must solve a variety of physics-based puzzles, eventually falling out of MythOS City into abandoned sewers and unused areas. It is here that he is contacted by a Gammon representative, who asks him why he is attempting to enter the Clock Tower when his mission is already complete. Although Ford doesn't respond, Gammon eventually realizes that he is going rogue, attempting to enter and merge with the Voidway, disconnecting his consciousness from his physical body and effectively becoming immortal. As both Monogon and Gammon now send in virtual agents to stop Ford, he must progress through hazardous environments while being hunted.

Ford enters a train station which brings him to a huge plaza surrounding the Clock Tower. He discovers that the area is populated with hordes of zombified versions of himself from alternate timelines, all of whom failed their mission to the Tower and now attempt to stop him from succeeding. Ford persists, eventually making his way to the Tower, where he must destroy the Clock's core while his alternate selves, the nullbodies and the Monogon enforcers desperately attempt to stop him. Ford succeeds in the Clock's destruction, and MythOS is annihilated in a blinding white light.

Ford finds himself in a black void, with a barred door in front of him. A Void entity stands in front of it, but phases through the door when he approaches. Ford breaks through the door and plummets into the Voidway.

A second real-world cutscene shows Arthur Ford still in a headset coma, whilst his virtual self enters a different simulated reality.

Virtual Arthur Ford finds himself in a medieval dungeon, accompanied by a non-zombified alternate version of himself, who greets him. Ford learns that he can control these 'clones', who mimic his movements. Using this, he escapes from the dungeon, meeting several other clones and utilizing them to escape. Fleeing the dungeon, he arrives at a medieval arena, where a clone of himself wearing a crown demands that he prove himself worthy of entering the Voidway. Ford battles against various zombified Fords and proves himself victorious. King Ford, impressed, allows our Ford to enter his castle, which is 'unfinished' as this simulated reality is still in development by Monogon. In the throne room, the King challenges Ford to a duel for the throne. Ford accepts and the two fight, with our Ford succeeding. All other Fords bow and our Ford takes the throne. He discovers a hidden backroom with fanatic scrawling, and is there contacted by his friend, who in a panic informs Ford that Monogon has located Ford's real-world safe room. The friend, midway through explaining, finds his own house being attacked by Monogon. He tells Ford to disconnect from MythOS immediately and flees. Ford continues into the chamber and enters a huge, open space. With the assistance of an army of Fords, he fights off Monogon's last effort to stop him.

Our Ford continues alone to a massive monolith in the distance labelled "02", which he must enter. The game then ends with a final real-world cutscene. The saferoom is broken into by armed Monogon forces, who surround the comatose Ford. A business executive (whose face is blurred), steps into the room and examines Ford's equipment. As the troopers secure the vicinity, the executive pulls out a pistol and shoots Ford in the head as various Void entities watch. However, virtual Ford is still alive, confirming that his goal of immortality was achieved. He watches the credits in the Voidway, surrounded by Void entities.

Gameplay

Boneworks revolves around having realistic guns and a complicated physics system. In the game, the player must escape and battle their way out of a virtual city, revolving around realistic physics interactions. All objects in the world can be manipulated by the player according to the object's real-life size and weight. Small objects like cups or hammers can be easily picked up one-handed while larger objects like crates or axes take more effort to be picked up.

Weapons in Boneworks require physical movement, with manual weapon reloading and hefty melee action to replicate how much effort the action would take in real life. Players can also pick up small enemies and throw them or bash them into a wall; enemies can be simultaneously grabbed and shot.

Levels in the game have many ways to accomplish them, such as stacking boxes to avoid puzzles or climbing ledges to avoid fights. The game encourages multiple different, creative ways of completing puzzles, including "cheating" or solving them in an unintended way. There are two additional game modes, arena and sandbox, with a variety of maps in addition to the campaign. Different maps in the sandbox mode can be unlocked by finding "modules" to plugging them into the main menu. Other items can be unlocked by finding "bone boxes" that have unlockables, such as enemies and props, in them, and putting them inside a reclamation bin typically found near the end of a level. You can also put guns and melee weapons in the area to use them in the arena or sandbox modes. Multiple variations of guns can be found, such as guns with attachments such as sights, grips, and lasers.

Development

Boneworks was shown in a tech demo in 2018, and the game reached a playable, completable state in October 2019, and was released on Steam on December 10, 2019. On February 20, 2020, it was released on the Oculus VR Store, with a temporarily exclusive level.

The developer's YouTube channel, BrandonJLa, released multiple videos documenting the process of making Boneworks.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	72/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
IGN	7.9/10
Jeuxvideo.com	15/20

Boneworks has been compared to Half-Life in its aesthetics and puzzles. The game was praised for having created an "incredible engine for a captivating VR adventure", and has been called "one of the best VR gun-adventure games on the market". Physics manipulation in Boneworks has been described as entering the "uncanny valley". The game has been criticized for its bugs, where the player's limbs can become stuck in game objects, as well as the content not being paced well and a lack of a good plot. It has been described as a "VR physics playground". The game has been described as being "conceived as a combat showcase first and a story-driven epic second – the Narbacular Drop to Valve's Portal.".

On the release day of Boneworks, it reached the top of Steam's top-selling and top 100 player count lists of that day.

The game was nominated for "Best VR/AR Game" at the Game Developers Choice Awards.