The announcement that the developers behind the awesome mind-bending title Rez Infinite were working on a virtual reality (VR) iteration of classic puzzle title Tetris was met with much excitement for the videogame and VR communities. Some of the VRFocus team were lucky enough to try out Tetris Effect, and report their findings.
Tetris was originally released in commercial form on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989, becoming an instant hit thanks to its simple, intuitive controls and addictive gameplay. There have been a whole host of sequels, adaptations, ports and spin-offs, but this will mark the first time that Tetris had made it into VR.
Tetris Effect marks the 34th anniversary of the Tetris brand, counting from the time Russian game developer Alexey Pajitnov first released the title. Its being developed by the team who previously produced Rez Infinite, a surreal space shooter (sort of) which was itself an adaptation of Rez, first released on the SEGA Dreamcast.
For those who managed to try out the playable demo of Tetris Effect at E3, it was widely praised, with the familiar neon and lighting effects that became part of the Rez Infinite experience being successfully transferred to Tetris Effect.
Motion, music and light is all said to be an important part of the experience in Tetris Effect, as much as it was in Rez Infinite, transforming a static puzzle title into a far more dynamic experience that is much more suited to VR.
Tetris Effect is a seated experience, which will no doubt offer a higher degree of comfort for the long play sessions that Tetris in almost all its iterations is famous for. It is controlled using the standard DualShock 4 controllers.
By playing Tetris Effect, the player participates in creating the soundtrack, as the sound made by the blocks as the fall into place mixes in with the existing soundtrack, and there are other elements that are designed to draw the player in to the world of Tetris Effect.
The full video is available to view below. For further coverage of Tetris Effect and other upcoming VR titles, keep checking back with VRFocus.