Last Thursday, we were invited to a press event held by Sony to try out some of the latest PlayStation games, including a healthy offering for their PSVR line-up. One such game present at the event was DOOM VFR, the VR spin-off to the 2016 reboot of the series. Yes, the F in VFR means what you think it does.
As mentioned in a previous article about Blood and Truth, the world of VR was new to me heading into this event, but whilst I walked away from the Blood and Truth feeling positive and excited for the platform, DOOM VFR didn’t leave me nearly as enamoured.
Taking place during the same time as Doomguy is cleaving his way through the demonic hordes, you play as a scientist murdered by one of Hell’s minions. At your time of death, your consciousness is transferred to that of an unused combat droid, which allows you to take the fight to the hordes yourself. Sounds like death isn’t a bad price to pay to put you in the body of an ass-kicking battle bot.
As far as controlling Dr DoomDroid goes, you use the left thumb button on the PS VR controllers to teleport around the level, while the four face buttons on the left hand controller to dash forwards, backwards, left and right. It sounds simple in enough in practice, but for someone who typically uses a control stick for movement, it feels completely alien.
It doesn’t help matters that DOOM VFR tries to emulate the chaotic nature of the original game, where enemies swarm in from all angles. To be attacked by multiple enemies in a 360 degree setting can be overwhelming, especially when you can feel the wire of the PS VR headset wrapping around your legs each time you turn to take on a flanking enemy. All it takes is one over-extension when aiming at an enemy and you’re suddenly eating shit on the floor.
You are given tools with which to deal with an assault from all angles, such as a shield burst which pushes enemies in your proximity away from you, but in the heat of combat, it can be all too easy to become overwhelmed by the action in front of your eyes. For a VR novice such as myself, it’s a lot to take in from the get go.
The actual shooting and combat aspect of the game holds up. Though we were only given access to the starting pistol and grenades which you can lob with the left hand, they both felt accurate and effective enough to cope with the demons at hand. Or at least, they could cope when you lead the demon into a chokepoint and don’t have to worry about navigating the environment.
DOOM VFR also replaces the glory kills from the original game with “telefrags”, which sees you teleporting into an enemy when they start glowing. Doing so causes the enemy to immediately explode and rewards you with health, like regular glory kills. While it’s not as satisfying as a full-blown kill animation, it’s a decent way of retaining the glory kill concept in this new format.
Despite the novelty that playing a popular franchise in VR possesses, DOOM VFR just feels too clunky to really make an impact. If anything, this game feels like an attempt to retrofit the standard DOOM game into the VR world rather than an experience built from the ground up. The enemies are the same, the environments are the same and the UI is identical.
If anything, DOOM VFR seems to expose the stark differences between conventional gaming and VR gaming, and how it isn’t quite as simple to just port a game from one to the other. If you’re looking to experience what it’s like to be a demon slaying hero, you’ll probably be better off sticking with last year’s DOOM.
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