In the world of virtual reality (VR) British developer Coatsink Software is synonymous with quality videogames for Samsung Gear VR, creating some of VRFocus’ favourite titles include Esper 2 and Augmented Empire. With the advent of Oculus Go the indie studio has built a humorous mini-game compilation called They Suspect Nothing to mark the launch of the device. With a high pedigree behind them can Coatsink do no wrong this time around?
As soon as They Suspect Nothing starts it’s easy to see the studio’s style and quality emerge, with rich cartoon aesthetics, plenty of attention to detail and some quality narration and sounds wafting into the ears – the team even got award winning actor Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter, Moulin Rouge!, Hot Fuzz) to voice one of the characters.
The story (and mini-games) revolve around a future Earth where mankind has made the planet all but uninhabitable (what’s new there) leaving the place for robots to thrive. These aren’t The Matrix or Terminator style mechanoids, more like those found in cartoon feature film Robots. You happen to play a human dressed up in robot garb to blend in and not get spotted. But to see whether you’re actually one of them the robots have a series of tests that must be completed. Succeed and you’re one of them, don’t and well nothing happens (it’s not that sort of videogame).
After trying a few styles out in the wardrobe it’s time for the first four tests, complete them all and the next area will open. With a total of three areas and 12 tests to complete. There’s a decent amount of variety to each of them seeing as the Oculus Go controller is 3DoF, they do tend to boil down to picking stuff up and moving it from A to B, remote controlling an object, or sorting stuff. As each trial is completed you’ll be rewarded with more robot costume parts for the wardrobe.
Everything is quick fire, none of the mini-games are what you’d called leisurely but mini-game titles never tend to be. As such the controller implementation needs to be spot on, and it is. So long as you have the controller nicely centred before starting there should be no issues, whether it’s trying to expertly fly a drone whilst avoiding missiles or frantically stamp the right books, the input feels sure and solid for all the games.
The real problem is duration, 12 mini-games just doesn’t seem enough. Even with Easy, Medium, and Hard settings for each one it’s quite easy to burn through them all in one sitting. Then it’s just time to continually replay them until boredom sets in. Make[REAL]’s Loco Dojo only had a few extra mini-games yet it seemed like a lot more, plus they were suitably zany, They Suspect Nothing feels a little held back, almost dour at points.
They Suspect Nothing is a consistent bundle of fun mini-games, yet as a launch title slightly underwhelming. It’s a safe and easy experience for gamers of all ages that looks great and plays well. On the other hand They Suspect Nothing isn’t Coatsink’s best VR work, that’s still Augmented Empire (which handily now supports Oculus Go).
Awesome
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Verdict