Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality Reviews
Doctor Who doesn’t work without those three things - it’s a fairly bog-standard sci-fi show at the end of the day, but it’s mine and many’s favourites because of the Doctor. The Doctor is the show’s edge, a lovable idiot that’s too smart for their own good tying everything together, ending up in random situations and being forced to interact with strangers to uncover plots of intrigue. We do none of that here. You go to A, do what you’re told, go to B, do what you’re told, until the game ends. Given how short it is, you’re better off watching a few episodes from the show, because this is barely Doctor Who, let alone a good game.
A bijou Doctor Who experience, Edge of Reality is impressively dedicated to the beloved TV show but unfortunately suffers in its transition from VR exclusive to traditional console game. Limited inputs and fetch-questy scenarios hardly inflame the imagination and it's not until the game's last quarter that things start to feel more tailored for the Switch - because they are. It's too short and there aren't enough clear save points (we lost a fair amount of progress when we quit during the first area to play something else and it simply hadn't saved the game yet) but the fact that performance is so all over the place is Edge of Reality's main issue, and one that will absolutely affect your enjoyment of an otherwise serviceable adventure. Overall, it's the most cautious of recommendations to Doctor Who fans, then. Everyone else almost certainly need not apply.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is an improvement on the original release, but it suffers from weak visuals on the Switch.
My love of Doctor Who could not compel me to play another minute of this game. It feels like an extremely lazy conversion from VR to console game. It's sloppy, frustrating, and for three hours of this mess, not worth the download in its current state.
If you can’t tell, I didn’t like Doctor Who: Edge of Reality in this iteration. Had I played this in VR I think some of my issues would have been resolved, but the mistreatment of both Doctors is quite unforgivable and would be a huge issue in either version of the game. While I think it is almost as hard to make a good Doctor Who game as it is to make a good Star Trek game, I appreciate that studios keep trying different things… but this ain’t it bruh.
David Tennant does infuse this story with a lot of life in the short time he’s featured, and a particular end sequence set on a cybership sets the pulse racing by tapping into the show’s mild horror. However, neither detract from the original experience’s flaws. The chief appeal of playing in VR was being able to immerse yourself into an episode, and even that has now been lost in translation.
Overall, Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is an excellent vision improperly executed for non-VR systems. Dedicated fans of the Doctor Who franchise will enjoy becoming one of the Doctor’s Companions, despite the eventual headaches that transpire from forced restarts. The journey’s story could be enjoyable with a few polishes, which Maze Theory and Just Add Water will hopefully add with future updates, but as it stands now, only those desperate for an adventure with the Doctor should pick up Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is a fun trip for fans that still has some flaws, but offers up a look at what a good Doctor Who game can be.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality should have been one of those games where you really feel like The Doctor, but a half-hearted VR walking simulator working with only references to please long-time fans, feels like a huge missed opportunity and a reminder of why Doctor Who doesn’t get that many game releases, no matter which incarnation of The Doctor you like.
The story of Doctor Who: Edge of Reality follows the classic canon of the series, developing very vigorously and featuring interesting plot twists and a stunning end. The game is worth playing through, but the number of bugs and glitches interfere with the enjoyment and can force you to restart your playthrough. The idea and certain features such as the mechanics of riddles, musical accompaniment, the story of a huge universe filled with detailed lore are amazing, but the realization leaves much to be desired.
While there is a lot to like in Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, this port basically makes it unenjoyable. While it's possible to play this to completion, and the content is all there, it's recommended to play this on a different platform, where there are less compromises.
For players experiencing Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, an enjoyable adventure with a real 'Who' feel is likely to satisfy all. Maze Theory is doing some fantastic work across the board with all the titles it has released around the franchise. For players who picked up the original, however, this is a bit of a harder sell. Having a fully fleshed out Tennant, and a satisfying conclusion, are probably the biggest draws but there is always that underlying feeling of some things being drawn out for the sake of it. Think of a dangling plot thread hanging for seasons at a time. Not that Doctor Who would ever do that of course. *Cough*Fugitive Doctor*Cough*
This Switch version, however, is just not very fun to play. It is poorly optimized to a damaging degree and turns what could be a meandering but enjoyable experience into one of the more rough experiences I've had on the platform. There is some fun to be had here surfing along the great wibbly-wobbly, but it's probably better done on a different system.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality has quite a bit to enjoy for Doctor Who fans but you’ll have to trudge through some boring gameplay and put up with irritating bugs to see it through. If it sounds interesting at all to you I would either wait on a sale or wait for some of the issues to hopefully be fixed before jumping in.
A connection between narrative, setting, and gameplay is required to have even a halfway decent video game. The Edge of Reality fails to be engaging on any mechanical level. And if the Doctor Who franchise aims to deliver more video game experiences those in charge need to hire developers who can craft mechanics that connect to the story in interesting ways.
My love for Doctor Who blossomed with the arrival of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, the height of my obsession being when I was around ten years old. I collected the magazines, plastered my bedroom wall in posters and any family members talking through an episode of Doctor Who was sacrilege! Like countless others, this era is full of fond nostalgia.
Doctor Who: Edge of Reality had the potential to be a really good game. The actual actors behind the doctors were on board to do the voice work. The story had a strong premise and there are 100s if not 1000s of episodes of Doctor Who to draw inspiration from. What we ended up with was a massively rushed, half baked experience that tried to cram as many classic Doctor Who references into a game that has no mechanics to make any use of it. The story is strung together so incoherently where you save the universe by solving a few puzzles and things just happen to work out in your favour.
It had a chance, and with plenty of nods that will please fans The Edge of Reality should have been the ultimate Doctor Who gaming experience. Instead, dull puzzles and a surprisingly flat atmosphere – along with a dreadful use of the Weeping Angels – leaves The Edge of Reality somewhere that should have remained undiscovered.
Doctor Who The Edge of Reality uses the source material very well but fails to do anything special with it. Visually it looks dated and it is riddled with game-breaking bugs. If it wasn’t for the good story this would have been a the Silence case. Playing it and instantly whipped from your mind when you finished it.