Time Machine VR (VR) Reviews
Though I learned a lot about underwater dinosaurs through Time Machine VR, it feels more like a museum exhibit than entertainment
Though I learned a lot about underwater dinosaurs through Time Machine VR, it feels more like a museum exhibit than entertainment
Time Machine VR is the kind of game you tend to see at the start of a new technology.
While Time Machine VR is not a revelation, is does offer some promising signposts.
A great first impression soon fails to deliver on its potential, with the promise of time travelling adventure soon falling to education. Mind you, getting eaten by massive underwater monsters is really cool.
Unless you're an aquatic dinosaur fanatic who has a thing for submarines and listening to facts about dinosaurs, you're probably not going to enjoy this. Your time would be better spent at a local museum; at least they have the cool dinosaurs there and not just the underwater ones.
Yet with all that baggage, Minority Media has created something unique that's rarely seen in the industry today. Time Machine VR succeeds, without a doubt, in becoming a weaponized therapy session, allowing people to potentially overcome their fears. Whether that's aquaphobia or what have you, the intimate nature of the presentation isn't something I've experienced quite yet in other VR titles. Virtual reality truly is a new way to engage with games, and an experiment that I look forward to seeing bloom in the years to come.
The controls for your ship feel just a little bit awkward, and it can be tiring to hold your arm up to move around – I took to lazily resting it on my leg and using this as the new centre point. More jarring is the way that every time you load to a new location, you’re booted out to the SteamVR void for a few moments, which led me to believe the game had crashed the first couple of times.
Unless you are a passionate fan of pre-historic underwater exploration, Time Machine VR is not worth your time. Despite the premise being interesting, the gameplay and overall design fails to deliver on any of its promise. The resulting experience feels like a soggy slog through a minimalistic proof-of-concept, that somehow managed to make its way onto the PlayStation VR. If you can pick up the game up at a deep discount and are hard up for a new PSVR experience, feel free to give it a try. Just be warned that won’t take long before you experience grade school flashbacks and everything begins to feel like homework.
An interesting idea falls flat due to flawed execution in Time Machine VR.
Time Machine VR is an enjoyable trip back in time, however, I didn't feel the need to complete any exploration after finishing the story. It's an intriguing way to teach people about these creatures without opening a textbook, but the "game" side of it needs to be more fleshed out.
Time Machine VR sounds like a great idea on paper but its execution is somewhat off. It's neat to be able to mooch around and explore while dinosaurs wander around you, but the thrills only last so long. A short running time and a high price-point make this journey through a time an "are we there yet?" slog.