Carbon Studio released its Oculus Rift/PC adventure game Alice VR for the masses and whilst the name suggests it’s a VR only title it can be played on a regular 2D monitor if desired. Normally the recommendation would be to steer towards the VR experience but in this case 2D might be the better option in some instances especially after a few hours play.
What starts out fairly tame on a space ship, Alice walks through corridors and solves a few basic puzzles. The game is loosely based on the Alice in Wonderland story and therefore things like growing in size or shrinking are a part of the navigation. Once outside of the starting area events take a more diverse turn where you’ll be walking around interacting with switches, driving buggies and even taking off into space to visit another world. There’s some variation here but the slow pacing might be a little too much for some people especially in VR. There are options to tailor the controls to suit and that includes traditional movement and look using a game-pad but this is where problems can occur after prolonged play.
There’s a bit of menace here as well when Alice enters a dream like state and the surreal rears its head to offer confusion and intense imagery. As Alice reaches further into the rabbit hole events become more interesting as she collects resources for her ship. However the puzzles and navigation can become quite complicated (unnecessarily so) which breaks up the flow a bit. There’s some moments where you’ll be walking up walls and being spun around which in VR is cause for some stomach churning. There’s some pleasant variation contained within the story but with some of it being a little too intense for VR that’s where the 2D recommendation comes in. At the end of the day Alice VR is a walking sim as that’s what you’ll be doing. The journey is somewhat captivating at times as you listen to peoples recordings or murmurings of the robotic version of the Cheshire cat you’ll find some interesting themes here even if the general pacing is quite slow at times.
In terms of visuals the game’s textures could do with a bump up in quality however they are suitable and convey scale and expanse quite well. The sci-fi approach is effective here as an alternate to the traditional Alice location and in this regard the mad visuals at times are quite fitting. Audio is of a good quality although your robotic companion in the form of a voice giving you constant instruction does begin to grate after a while as there’s no real emotion here. You’re also told not to do things when clearly that’s the way forwards. Aside from the voice acting which is generally well performed, there’s some excellent music which dances in and out of the gameplay from time to time creating some great ambience.
Alice VR is an interesting foray into the unknown and works as a VR title although some its finer twists and turns means it’s a game that needs to be played in smaller doses. Whilst the game world does draw you in and the temptation to push forwards ever-present it’s not advised considering the roller coaster style ramps in the City portion of the game for example can literally turn your stomach upside down. There’s some neat ideas here although nothing that could be described as horror, rather a more supernatural and thought provoking experience but it’s seriously let down by a lack of atmosphere and characters. There’s no life here which makes for a dull experience outside of the warped imagery. For the price of entry (just under £20) it’s reasonably good value for money and if you like achievements and collectibles then you’re catered to as well. If you have a fondness for walking sims then this game might be appealing but for anyone else, the vagueness of some puzzles, the lack of proper narrative and characters leave an empty game that just doesn’t push your buttons in VR or otherwise.
Score – 6.5/10
