Crytek has finally released its highly anticipated VR game, The Climb, letting Rift owners experience scaling up sheer rock cliffs to the mountaintops in locations around the world.

Crytek has released a handful of VR demos in the past, but The Climb is the company’s first full VR game. The Climb was built using Crytek’s Cryengine to create realistic recreations of the Alps, Southeast Asia and the American Southwest. The game also represents one of the first releases that takes advantage of Cryengine’s VR optimizations.

The Climb will challenge your resilience to heights, but more importantly, it will challenge your competitive side. The game offers different game modes and difficulty levels. Crytek said that the tougher climbs rate you on the time it takes you to complete the challenge, your climbing technique, how many restarts you used, and your climbing "flow."

The Climb also offers leaderboards where you can compare your scores with friends and see how you stack up against the best climbers in the game. You’ll be able to download "ghosts" from the leaderboards to challenge yourself against, too.

Crytek said that The Climb isn’t just about finishing the levels; it's about :how you can get quicker, climb more smoothly and efficiently, and compete on the leaderboards."

“We score your performance in a range of different ways. Of course, time is probably the most obvious, and we think the competition will be really intense. It certainly is in the studio!,” said Niklas Walenski, Game Designer, The Climb. “But we also score you on your 'flow' across a range of other mechanics. Can you beat the stage without dying? Without chalking? Without rewinding? Did you climb smoothly? Did you use harder grip types? Did you do cool stuff like huge leaps or hold onto grips with the trigger just half-pressed, something pretty tricky to do? There's a huge range of ways for you to improve your score on every level. "

The Climb is being released as an Oculus Rift exclusive. The current version of the game is designed to work with the Xbox controller that is bundled with the Rift, but it will also support Oculus Touch controllers when they become available (via a free patch).

The Climb is available today through the Oculus Store. Oculus classified this game’s comfort rating as Intense, so the game won’t be suitable for everyone.

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