Theme park giant Six Flags and Samsung on Wednesday announced that they are teaming up to create a new, "mixed reality" ride called The New Revolution Galactic Attack.
The experience is slated to open the weekend of Feb. 26 at Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles and on Feb. 20 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom near San Francisco. Read on for details.
The New Revolution Galactic Attack offers a gaming-like experience where riders must make "key decisions … that can affect their scoring at the end," the companies said in a news release. When riders board the coasters, they'll put on a Samsung Gear VR headset and be briefed on the device's "passthrough camera functionality," which lets them see the real world — including the person seated next to them — plus virtual content.
As they get settled in, a display overlay will show data like the current status of weaponry, time codes, fuel cells, and a countdown clock. Here's a description from the companies of what to expect from there:
Cresting the lift hill, a massive, swirling wormhole comes into view. As riders drop at high speeds, the mixed reality view changes to a completely immersive, virtual reality environment and a fighter spaceship cockpit materializes and envelops the riders into a tunnel of light. At the bottom of the first hill, riders are launched into the middle of a space battle, coming under attack from flying drones firing lasers and missiles. After swinging through tight channels, narrowly dodging drones and artillery fire, riders are brought into one of three drone bays, each of which offer a completely different gaming experience and three different endings.
Six Flags isn't actually building new roller coasters for this. Guests will experience it on two existing coasters: The New Revolution at Magic Mountain and Kong at Discovery Kingdom.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Six Flags and Samsung have collaborated. The companies first teamed up last spring to introduce North America's first virtual reality roller coasters.