Falcon Age

Falcon Age is an virtual reality first person adventure video game for Windows, PlayStation 4, Oculus Quest, and Nintendo Switch, developed and published by Outerloop Games. Initially released on PlayStation VR on April 9, 2019, it was also released on Nintendo Switch and Steam on October 2020.

Gameplay
Players take the role of Aja who’s been wrongfully thrown in jail on a dying colony planet with its culture destroyed, resources depleted, and turned into a desert by robotic machines. Starting in her cell, you pass the time by befriending a young falcon and escape together to reclaim their freedom and drive off the invaders. Players get to bond with their bird companion to dress up or hunt various animals for precious materials, which can be used for crafting snacks for your falcon to buff, heal and strengthen up its skills.

Development
Developer Outerloop Games is based in Seattle. The idea around the project came from Chandana Ekanayake who worked on games like Monday Night Combat, Supreme Commander, Enter the Matrix and Elder Scrolls and co-founded his company Outerloop Games. Powered by the Unity engine, it started off as a VR prototype after seeing a youtube clip of a giant golden eagle attacking a mountain goat. 80 Days writer Meg Jayanth was brought on to help flesh out the story concept of the game before Cassandra Khaw joined in later from his work on Where the Water Tastes Like Wine.

Reception
The game received “mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator website Metacritic. 69% of critics recommend the game on OpenCritic.

Jonathon Dornbush of IGN praises about it’s charming adventure from how they established a strong foundational system when it comes to exploring and fighting with your falcon, while presenting an intriguing sparse world that explores some meaningful concepts. GameSpot's Calum Marsh praised the game over it’s responsive mechanics making falconry exhilarating but dislikes dialogue sounds being sloppy and sometimes jarringly out of place.

A review on VICE praised the developers to make a game about resisting colonialism at its strongest when it avoids the frustrating gameplay loops and leans into building up the culture and history of its world.