[SDCC50] “Doctor Who: The Edge of Time VR” Hands-On

Taking a break from our stroll through the expo floor at San Diego Comic-Con, we got some hands-on time with the Doctor Who VR game coming out soon, and even as someone that’s never seen an episode of the show, it was rather enjoyable.

Again, I’ve never seen an episode of the TV show, so when you mention TARDIS, all I think about is a blue phone booth.

The 10-minute demo puts you in a scenario where you have to build a radio contraption in a trashy deadend alley, with the threat of aliens looming over your head. To build it, not only do you need a radio, but you also need a battery and a satellite.

From here, it very much becomes your standard VR point-and-click not unlike Batman Arkham VR. As far as the controls go, the left joystick allows you to move up or down while the right joystick changes your focal point. Grabbing items is done with the trigger buttons, and you also have a Sonic Screwdriver in your holster which can apparently solve all of life’s problems in the game.

As i was walking around not knowing what I was doing, The Doctor yelled at me to hurry up. Eventually I came to an abandoned car in the corner that obviously housed a battery. I opened the hood with the use of the trusty sonic screwdriver, put the battery on the table, and began the search for the satellite. Of course, with satellites typically being attached to roofs, it was hard to get it down. This job was made easier with the sonic screwdriver once again (noticing a pattern here?)

Upon completion of the contraption, which was allowing TARDIS to appear and allow our escape, the aliens got to us. Before long, we messed with the machine a little more using the screwdriver, eventually letting us get the heck out of there, ending the demo.

That 10 minutes only scratched the surface with a VR game that’s supposed to last a couple hours, and I came away impressed with how enjoyable it was despite not knowing a single thing about Doctor Who. Another issue I had was with the use of the sonic screwdriver. I felt like it could be easier to grab and put the tool away, as it seemed like it took too much effort to get done.

Other than that, it’s great to see BBC make their foray into the gaming space, and Doctor Who is looking like a solid first start. The game is due out this September on PlayStation VR as well as Oculus and HTC devices.

Title:
Doctor Who: The Edge of Time VR
Platform:
PlayStation VR, Oculus, HTC Vive
Publisher:
Playstack
Developer:
Maze Theory
Genre:
VR, Adventure
Release Date:
September 2019
ESRB Rating:
RP

Taking a break from our stroll through the expo floor at San Diego Comic-Con, we got some hands-on time with the Doctor Who VR game coming out soon, and even as someone that’s never seen an episode of the show,…

Taking a break from our stroll through the expo floor at San Diego Comic-Con, we got some hands-on time with the Doctor Who VR game coming out soon, and even as someone that’s never seen an episode of the show, it was rather enjoyable.

Again, I’ve never seen an episode of the TV show, so when you mention TARDIS, all I think about is a blue phone booth.

The 10-minute demo puts you in a scenario where you have to build a radio contraption in a trashy deadend alley, with the threat of aliens looming over your head. To build it, not only do you need a radio, but you also need a battery and a satellite.

From here, it very much becomes your standard VR point-and-click not unlike Batman Arkham VR. As far as the controls go, the left joystick allows you to move up or down while the right joystick changes your focal point. Grabbing items is done with the trigger buttons, and you also have a Sonic Screwdriver in your holster which can apparently solve all of life’s problems in the game.

As i was walking around not knowing what I was doing, The Doctor yelled at me to hurry up. Eventually I came to an abandoned car in the corner that obviously housed a battery. I opened the hood with the use of the trusty sonic screwdriver, put the battery on the table, and began the search for the satellite. Of course, with satellites typically being attached to roofs, it was hard to get it down. This job was made easier with the sonic screwdriver once again (noticing a pattern here?)

Upon completion of the contraption, which was allowing TARDIS to appear and allow our escape, the aliens got to us. Before long, we messed with the machine a little more using the screwdriver, eventually letting us get the heck out of there, ending the demo.

That 10 minutes only scratched the surface with a VR game that’s supposed to last a couple hours, and I came away impressed with how enjoyable it was despite not knowing a single thing about Doctor Who. Another issue I had was with the use of the sonic screwdriver. I felt like it could be easier to grab and put the tool away, as it seemed like it took too much effort to get done.

Other than that, it’s great to see BBC make their foray into the gaming space, and Doctor Who is looking like a solid first start. The game is due out this September on PlayStation VR as well as Oculus and HTC devices.

Date published: 07/19/2019
/ 5 stars