Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is an adventure game developed by Maze Theory Ltd and Just Add Water (Developments), Ltd, and published by Maze Theory Ltd, Another Indie and Neon Doctrine, released on October 14, 2021 on PC (Steam ), PS4 and Xbox One.
History
The story takes place alongside the Thirteenth Doctor, whom we must help by going to the Chaoverse, our version of reality being distorted by a mysterious event destroying time itself and altering the universe.
Game and gameplay
First of all, it is important to know that The Edge of Reality is actually a "classic" port of a game initially in VR, Doctor Who: The Edge of Time, released in 2019.
This is an important thing to take into account, because otherwise, we can find the game quite "empty", or "ugly" compared to current games, even if some elements are quite problematic (I will come back to this a little later in the article). 'article)
The game therefore puts us in the shoes of a companion (by force of circumstance) of the Doctor. The Doctor cannot intervene in person, so we will be guided through time and space via the TARDIS, with the support of the sonic screwdriver (which finally seems to work on wood!)
The game takes place in first person view. Priority is given to exploration, interspersed with riddles/puzzles to be solved in order to progress. The levels are very linear, but however offer some small circuitous paths allowing to recover optional secondary elements (collectables in short).
Puzzles/riddles are mainly about placing/moving objects into a good position, or finding objects to use in a specific order. Unfortunately, even if the puzzles seem to be really very interesting to do in VR, it becomes quite boring and rather basic in the "standard" version, often boiling down to just "placing" an object on a predefined space by pressing the action key.
The strength of the game is its story, which is really excellent and really gives us the impression of living an adventure worthy of the Doctor. We thus have the possibility of meeting most of the emblematic enemies of the series, the daleks, the cybermens and the most frightening of all: the weeping angels (don't blink!).
The game is full of dialogues with the Doctor, as well as with other secondary characters, and we also have the right to discover many elements of the story and objects to pick up that are part of the Doctor's story. Who in general (fans will be happy to discover the references). The atmosphere is also quite well worked.
However, it is unfortunate that the game suffers from many problems. For example, graphics options are limited to resolution and 2-3 vertical sync/fullscreen style options. With the game being a VR game at its core, it's fairly normal that the game isn't a "visual slapstick" or has heaps of graphical options, but a little facelift and additions would have been welcome. Even if it must be admitted that in closed spaces, the game sometimes offers beautiful panoramas/visuals!
The game also doesn't feature the ability to modify keys, so make sure to switch the keyboard to qwerty if you want to play keyboard/mouse.
The big concern of the title, however, remains the bugs. Indeed, the game unfortunately often has bugs, some of which completely block progress: an object of a puzzle does not appear, a passage bug and does not open, forcing you to start the level again, because, in fact, the game also does not offer manual saving. If you take a break, you either have to finish the level to get a save or start over from the beginning. Several updates have been made, but unfortunately there are still a few issues blocking progress.
Conclusion
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is a pretty good game. It's not groundbreaking or mediocre, it's just "good." However, we feel, whether in the gameplay or the game design, the fact that the game is initially a VR game.
The strong point remains, as I said above, its screenplay, which is really well written and really gives us the feeling of being in an episode of Doctor Who.
If you're a Doctor Who fan, the game should appeal to you, if only for this point. If you're not a fan of Doctor Who and you're just looking for an adventure game, you probably won't find what you're looking for... unfortunately.
Finally, if you have a VR headset, the VR version will certainly be much more attractive!
