I got to try out the Oculus Rift for the first time at PAX East demoing the game Pollen. Experiencing the Oculus was interesting and walking the world of Pollen, albeit short, was a interesting glimpse into this new foray into Virtual Reality.
Pollen is a first-person exploration game set on Titan, the sixth and largest moon of Saturn and the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere and vast liquid seas, where life may exist. Inspired by science-fiction classics Solaris, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Moon, as well as adventure games Gone Home and The Dig, Pollen begins as the player docks and enters Research Station M. Inside the research station, the player moves from room to room and explores a fully intractable environment. Each step forward leads to new discoveries about the fate of the crew and the secrets that they have uncovered.
As I mentioned my demo time with the game was very short, I basically got a tutorial on how to move in the game space. Using Oculus was a little disorienting but I adjusted fairly quickly. In the demo I was in a space station, in the living/recreation section. There was a bunch to items and objects that I could interact with. I picked up a can off the table and looked closely at it (this was achieved by actually moving my head forward, the action being reflected in the game space). I then proceeded to pick up a basketball (using an XBOX controller) and trying to get it in a basketball hoop. I finally ended the demo pushing a button on the wall that started up some motivational exercise music accompanied by flashing lights, the demo ended there for me.
The Oculus experience was very engaging, turning my head and seeing everything in the environment in 360 degrees was definitely immersive, but there were things that reminded me that I was just in a video game. For one I was sitting in a chair so even though you can see behind you it’s hard to do so in a chair that doesn’t swivel. To move around and actually interact with the environment I was using a regular gaming controller, which reminded me that I was still tethered to the “real” world. The last thing that I noticed was that I have been hearing a lot about how they Oculus used HD screens in their units that offer up the best almost realistic graphics possible, so I’m not sure if it was the game since it was an early Alpha or if the unit that was being used was not the most recent hardware but looking at the game I noticed a lot of jagged edges and aliasing in the environment. At times I felt like I was looking really up close to a screen rather than into a virtual room. The environment itself was rendered very nicely, having that retro futuristic feel and look inspired by movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien and I was curious as to what existed outside the room I was in and where everyone else that was supposed to be on this space station was hiding out. But I’m not sure if the having the game only on an Oculus enhances it’s gameplay value.
I will say I wanted to learn and play more, and maybe if I wasn’t on a noisy convention floor and had more time with the game I might have walked away a bit more impressed. Hopefully we can see the game again in the near future in a better setting, but in the meantime check out some screens and a trailer for the game below.
