HTC Vive Reviews – Page 14 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

April 20, 2017

Review: Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality

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.

rick and morty 1

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).

rick and morty VR

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.

100%

Awesome

Verdict

April 17, 2017

Review: Forestry

Gamers aren’t always known for their outdoorsy lifestyles, generally because they prefer virtual worlds filled with amazing digital landscapes to explore instead. And that’s the route Decoder has gone down for its first virtual reality (VR) title Forestry, for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (reviewed). Mixing up exploration and wood chopping skills, Forestry isn’t so much about admiring the landscape, as it is about bringing it down to your level.

Gameplay begins in a fairly rudimentary style. Dropped into the middle of a forest, your given a couple of axes and the ability to free-roam around this green and verdant land. There’s a (very) brief audio tutorial on what the controls do, but for anyone who’s spent even a short period of time in VR these are easy to pick up. There are no tasks, challenges, or fixed path to follow, it’s just you and your axes.

Forestry - Campsite

The first port of call is to get get a feel for the mechanics which aren’t realistic in the lightest. This is a light-hearted experience where you can fell trees – no matter the size – with one swift swing of your axe. They can then be slashed to pieces or grabbed and flung around at whim. While fun to begin with, just hacking trees to dust doesn’t really make for a long lasting experience, you need to go exploring.

Decoder has gone for the tried and tested teleportation to wander around and there’s certainly lots to investigate. The rolling hills and forest seemingly go on for miles and there’s a dirt path to follow if you don’t want to get lost – so you don’t end up walking around in circles. To truly uncover the secrets of Forestry you do need to wander off that beaten track. While the art style does make for a rich environment, repetition does quickly set in. There’s hills, trees (only one type in various sizes), rocks and some grass, with the odd campsite through in for good measure, and that’s pretty much all you’ll see for most of the video game.

But that exploration isn’t without its reward. Decoder has luckily seen fit to hide plenty of little secrets around the world, from target ranges and giant statues to (if you look really well) a beta version of some lightsaber’s. Why hack down trees with a boring old axe when you can use a sci-fi blade of death. And those previously mentioned physics also apply to your weapons, so you can fling them around the forest as if gravity doesn’t exist, for some long range tree chopping.

Forestry - Chopitdown

So what does all this deforestation lead to? Building is what. All the trees can then be used to create whatever your mind sees fit to build, whether that’s a log cabin, a massive statue or any other weirdness. Unfortunately don’t start thinking you’ll be able to construct Minecraft-esque magnitude projects. Forestry’s collision detection and graphics aren’t always that stable for building projects. Destruction, yeah fine that’s no problem, making sure everything stays in place on the other hand can be a time consuming and frustrating chore. Especially if you’ve got the axe in your hand and with one slight (accidental) touch, everything is split in two.

Forestry certainly has its quirks. It can go from dull to intriguing to fun in quick succession, and those that have the patience for this type of experience will certainly enjoy what it has to offer. In its current form Decoder should really have put Forestry in Steam Early Access, getting some feedback and fine tuning the video game, as it stills feels some fine tuning is needed.

60%

Awesome

Verdict

March 31, 2017

Review: Downward Spiral: Prologue

Space is awesome quite frankly. It’s a massive void with limitless possibilities, inspiring countless generations to look up at the stars and wonder what else is out there. Because of this it’s no surprise that virtual reality (VR) developers have used that dream of heading into the cosmos to create all manner of experiences, some fantastical while others err on the side of realism. For its first VR release, 3rd Eye Studios has gone for a mixture, with futuristic sci-fi and realistic zero-g working together to form Downward Spiral: Prologue.

As the name suggests Downward Spiral: Prologue is just the start of much bigger plans for 3rd Eye Studios, with a whole anthology series due to be released over time. So what’s this introduction like, well it’s a mixed bag, with awesome elements that come together to leave you dissatisfied as it’s just too short.

Downward Spiral - Prologue screenshot 2

So you find yourself in this space station, there’s been no story intro as to why you’re there or what’s going on. So it’s time to explore. And this is where you instantly come across the videogame’s movement mechanic. You’re in a station that has no power and therefor no gravity. Zero-G is synonymous with simulator sickness in VR as you can be floating in one direction whilst looking here, there and everywhere. But for Downward Spiral: Prologue the studio seems to have nailed it, with no nausea inducing moments. You have to grab onto stuff, whether that’s a rail, a wall, a console or anything else within arms reach. And this is how you make your way through the majority of the experience.

So movement’s good, what about gameplay? For the most part this is a fairly simple affair in the campaign, pressing illuminated switches to unlock doors or open cabinets to find items. It’s not until you get into the later half of the videogame that some assemblance of action begins to take place, with flying orb shaped robots needing to be shot down before they zap you to death. It might be due to the realistic way 3rd Eye Studios has created the zero-g and the space suit itself that the shooting mechanics don’t quite feel one hundred percent accurate, needing a bit of trial and error to get right.

Downward Spiral - Prologue screenshot 3

The one downside to the story mode is duration. Downward Spiral: Prologue can feel like its over before you’ve got into full stride but it’s certainly not some 5 min tech demo. A play through will probably take most players 30-40 minutes but that can feel immensely shorter as you do feel completely immersed in the gameplay and environment.

This review has only been based on the single-player Journey mode, with the title also featuring a co-op mode for the story as well as an eight person multiplayer. These should add so much needed longevity to the experience so long as enough players do decide to join in.

This is really only the start of things to come and 3rd Eye Studios has now showcased its talents for creating an engaging VR experience. So long as subsequent instalments develop a richly detailed story that grow the series into a sizable franchise, then Downward Spiral should become a VR title of note. At the moment though it just leaves you wanting.

70%

Awesome

Verdict