Crytek takes its steps into VR once again featuring dinosaurs and mystery but this time on Playstation VR in the exclusive adventure game Robinson The Journey. With VR gamers crying out for new content is this a worthy title to add to one’s collection and does it fully immerse the player into its captivating world as well as it should in VR. Take a look at our Robinson The Journey review for the full picture.
Today we’re taking a look at Crytek’s Robinson The Journey which is a Playstation VR exclusive adventure game set on a mysterious and dinosaur filled planet after lead character Robin crash lands as a sole survivor of the Esmeralda explorer and settler craft. As the name implies, the game is about solitude and survival except players don’t really get to experience anything of that nature because it isn’t that type of game.
It has to be said from the offset that the experience on offer here is very much a story telling adventure, a VR version of a point and click game. You can freely move around the themed locations but your interactions are rather limited and there’s no health or hunger bars to worry about either. Rather than being placed in isolation like Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney in the movie “The Martian” you’re accompanied by a pet baby dinosaur and an AI companion called HIGs who pretty much acts like another human being complete with English butler like voice. Also, before starting the adventure there are options to tailor the movement which means purists who like to use the right stick to look can do so and those who are more sensitive to motion sickness can use a snap turn method. The walk speed is also relatively slow which means it’s not so hard on the stomach for those will lower tolerance levels.
Your objective rests on finding out whether there are any other survivors on the planet and to accomplish this you’ve got to hunt down other HIGs units and draw out their records. There’s some minor puzzle solving thrown in to keep events interesting alongside some rather neat climbing which shows off some great potential and offers tense moments later on in the game. Throw in a touch of stealth as well and there’s quite a varied list of activities you can embark on at your own pace. In fact this is where the game shines really, as there’s no pressure to do anything. If you want to just sit and marvel at the surrounds then you can do that. Although on the flip side, if you are edging to get a move on some of the objectives are a little vague and often you’ll look at Jarvis…erm HIGS and hope he can offer some assistance.
The main meat of the game rests on climbing up surfaces, scanning creatures and simply being entertained like you’ve set foot in your own personal Jurassic Park story. In this regard the game works thanks to some wonderful sound effects and ambience alongside plenty of neat visual effects. It’s not all plain sailing though as sometimes it’s hard to find the right position to grip onto the predefined objects and there’s some moments where HIGS is required to provide power to certain items in a mini game. The camera angles here can sometimes be a little awkward requiring you to turn around which isn’t so good if you’re playing seated. However, these are minor niggles alongside the vagueness of some objectives and because there’s no real danger, pressure or punishment for death you can simply experiment until you find the right path.
Visually the game presents plenty of assets to bring the world alive which it does very well. However there is some low resolution imagery due to the hardware but it’s still good enough to create a feeling of being transported to another location. You’ll see lots of foliage, plenty of critters and flying insects which give the game a completely organic flavour despite the backdrop of the massive crashed ship which looms in the background or the debris from said ship littering the world. At some point you’ll come face to face with the larger inhabitants of the planet and these can be quite massive looking in VR offering an impressive sense of scale. There’s limited interactions here unfortunately and as the story dictates it’s not really about interactions with dinosaurs outside of scanning them so they can be viewed in a model viewer.
Audio as mentioned is top quality and has to be experienced via headphones for the full effect. There’s excellent ambient sound effects from the creatures of the jungle as these surround the player at all times which really helps in putting you in the shoes of Robin. The dialogue from HIGS is also encouraging and performed well enough. There’s some other audio bites from the HIGS you collect which unfold the story and are also performed as expected.
In terms of longevity the main game can be completed within 3-5 hours but a lot of time can be spent simply looking at things or scanning the creatures. If you look at your objectives and trophy list you’ll also spot quite a number of things which can easily be overlooked when playing the story. So there’s definitely some more time that can be spent either replaying it again or the free-roam you have at the end.
At the moment there’s a bit of contention with the game’s pricing in that for the UK market the game is a full priced title at just under fifty quid. In the US it’s much cheaper and can be purchased for $39 which if converted works out just over 30 quid. So, something is amiss here and might be an error in its list price. As a full priced £50 game no matter how good the experience is on a first (and perhaps only playthrough) the short play time doesn’t warrant such a high price especially compared to other VR games which offer far more hours worth of entertainment. So if the price sticks then it does come in as a hard recommend unfortunately. However, at the more respectable £30 price point it’s worth the ride but only just. The biggest problem with the game is its appeal and whilst the idea of mingling with dinosaurs might appeal, it is at heart an adventure game and nothing more. Gamers expecting a VR version of Turok Dinosaur Hunter will be disappointed. In fact the lack of survival elements means it’s simply a theme park story telling excursion which in itself is limiting in appeal. For those who like subdued adventuring then this is definitely one of the better VR games available but for anyone seeking a bit of action need to look elsewhere.
Score 8/10
