Making a video game based upon another mediums franchise can be filled with pitfalls. More often than not the final product never lives up to the expectations of fans, either deviating from the core material or just a haphazard job that’s been rushed out to cash in. Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty has built up a strong fan base from its first two seasons and all eyes will be on developer Owlchemy Labs with the launch of Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. Has it been worth it, yes it certainly has.
Owlchemy Labs has taken Rick and Morty and combined it with the gameplay style of studio’s popular VR experience Job Simulator, fleshing the idea out with an original storyline and masses of interactivity. Straight from the off there’s stuff to play with before even getting into the main game itself, and once you’re tuned into the simple control mechanics it’s easy to just while away several hours playing with all the random items in Rick’s garage.
Everything revolves around this one location, while it may not look like much there are objects hidden everywhere, and playing through the campaign will help you work out what’s what. Fans of the cartoon series will be instantly at home here, finding all sorts of nods to their favourite episodes. The entire experience does feel like its built purely by fans for the fans, so if you enjoy the franchise then you’ll have a massive grin from start to end. That’s not to say those who’ve never seen the cartoon won’t appreciate the title, but they’ll certainly miss a lot of the in jokes.
Naturally, comedy plays a big part. All the voices are performed by the original cast, and the humour and cutting wit of the cartoon is there, expertly drawing you in so that you are now part of another wacky scheme. As such this isn’t a video game for kids, there’s plenty of swearing throughout.
Such is the polish of Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality that you may not realise how much time you’ve actually spent within the the title. The core story is split into nine sections with a freeplay mode opening up at the end. The first playthough should last a couple of hours or so, but it can feel much shorter due to the level of immersion. As a single-player experience there’s always the worry of replayability, a campaign can only be enjoyed so many times if there’s no variation. Thankfully Owlchemy Labs has thought of this adding plenty of little touches that’ll keep players coming back for more (without spoiling too much, the game within a game Troy is worth going back to).
If you enjoy this style of interactive VR experience then you’ll appreciate Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality even if you’ve not seen the cartoon, there’s even sections catering to first-person shooter (FPS) fans. Really though this is a video game for those that love Rick and Morty, and quite frankly that’s no bad thing. Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality is a madcap, fun filled adventure from start to finish, perfectly suiting VR’s qualities, it should not be missed.
Awesome
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Verdict