Review: ‘Doctor Who’ VR game takes players out of this world (Includes first-hand account)
We live in an age in which technology that blurs the line between fantasy and reality is being frequently developed and improved. With virtual reality, users can enter another space without physically being there, while augmented reality allows the user to alter their real-life perspective. These applications have practical and professional uses, but most people are primarily interested in the enhanced entertainment experiences they’ve provided. From being in the driver’s seat during a Formula One race to having a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader, people’s imaginations are the limit. The latest immersive videogame to be announced takes fans into a 55-year legacy: Doctor Who: The Edge of Time.
The Doctor has been hurled through time to the end of the universe. A virus that threatens to rip apart reality itself has been unleashed. Players pilot the TARDIS on a journey across worlds both familiar and strange to recover a series of powerful time crystals that can repair spacetime and, ultimately, save the universe itself.
Maze Theory developed the game in collaboration with the show’s writing staff, so users can be assured it will feel like an authentic experience. However, the most surreal part of the game is hearing Jodie Whittaker, a.k.a. the Thirteenth Doctor’s voice pipe into the player’s ears with instructions on how they, as a companion, can help her complete her latest mission. The fact that developers worked closely with BBC to create the videogame is evidenced in all the small details that make it a must for Doctor Who fans.
In the demo played at San Diego Comic Con this past July, the player awakens in what looks like a small junkyard. The Doctor is in a panic and needs your help to build a contraption that will send a signal and recall the TARDIS. She tells you what you need to find, and lends you her Sonic Screwdriver to get the hard to reach pieces and put them together. Once complete, the blue phone box materializes just in time to rescue you from an incoming Dalek spacecraft. You open the door and step inside, where you get a brief glimpse of the interior of an exact replica of the Thirteenth Doctor’s ship — and then the screen goes black and you’re ready to immediately jump into the remaining five hours of gameplay.
The quality of the videogame’s authenticity is unbelievable. A major element of its realism is owed to the use of the real cast’s voices, particularly Whitaker’s and Nicholas Briggs who voices the Daleks. When the Daleks start closing in, audiences have been pre-conditioned to have anxiety at the sound of their voice, which creates a definite sense of urgency to get away. Game designers also claim there are a number of jump scares incorporated into the game. The storylines were constructed with the help of the show’s writers, so although the it’s not an actual extension of the series it does feel as if it belongs in the same world.
In addition to the characters already mentioned, players will also have the opportunity to avoid the fan favourite Weeping Angels, which could make completing any task frightening and difficult; and be the first to confront the Hydrorks, vicious, slimy amphibians created specifically for the game. As per the show, you as the companion will travel to distant planets, and encounter new and familiar faces and settings while aiding the Doctor in her mission. This a one-of-a-kind experience in which any enthusiast will revel.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Time will launch on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, Oculus, HTC Vive, and Vive Cosmos in September 2019.
