This month we plummeted into the world of virtual reality, testing our brain power against aliens, swimming with whales, intense shootouts with assassins and even walking the plank!
To kick off our VR adventure we headed to UnrealVR at Charlestown. We booked in for an hour session and as soon as we arrived were given headsets and very brief instructions before being thrown in the deep end… literally.
UnrealVR sessions include access to a wide range of games and the first one I gave a crack was theBlu, an underwater immersive experience that allows you to explore the majesty of the ocean and all its amazing sea creatures up close. You can interact with the environment using the VR controllers, poking coral reefs and trying to catch the fish and I have to say there is nothing quite like being winked at by a gigantic whale as it passes inches away from you.
From soothing depths it was then on to dizzying heights in Richie’s Plank where you start in an elevator. As you peek through the gap you can see it moving speedily up and when the doors opened I found myself on top of a skyscraper facing a tiny plank leading out into nothing. While I managed to shuffle myself very slowly along the plank, I was then told to jump off and found myself completely frozen.
And that is the beauty of VR.
It fools your brain with all the lifelike sights, sounds and movements, convincing you that the fake world is real and making you feel like you are truly there. While I ended up summoning the courage to jump off, I was pretty embarrassed by my initial reaction until I learnt later that tons of people can’t even walk out of the elevator!
After that the rest of the session flew by, I tried Fruit Ninja, slicing through fruit by holding katanas in my hands, Pistol Whip, where I summoned my inner John Wick taking down assassins while dodging bullets and obstacles, and my favourite, Beat Saber, which tested my reflexes to the rhythm of music.
While we played the games solo you can link up and join games together. Spectators are also welcome as each headset is linked up to a screen where you can watch what players are doing.
With our VR appetite whetted, we then decided to try a VR escape room and headed to Escape Zone in Broadmeadow. They have nine different escape room scenarios and feeling brave we chose one of the scary options – Alien Infection.
Much like a typical escape room, we had 45 minutes to solve alien puzzles, disable the security systems and track down ‘Whiskers’ the neighbourhood cat before a deadly parasite takes over.
Before the game even began there was plenty of laughing at each other’s antics as you can see a virtual version of each of your teammates and watching a disembodied torso and hands dancing around is surprisingly amusing. What I particularly liked about this experience is that we could all move freely around the room and manipulate all the objects in the virtual space, making it really feel like we were in an alien spaceship together.
While the game wasn’t as scary as it sounds, there were still plenty of scares throughout when something unexpected popped out, and some of the puzzles were quite challenging, however working as a team we escaped the room with a few minutes to spare, and I can’t wait to go back and try some of the other scenarios.
Overall, I fully recommend trying VR as it takes game playing to a whole new dimension, transporting you to worlds you’ve never dreamed of and letting you physically interact with it in ways that are simply not possible in real life.
