My time with the HTC Vive
As the most expensive virtual reality device currently available to consumers, the HTC Vive has a rather hefty price tag to live up to. So, does it succeed? Here’s the lowdown.
The Hardware
Costing Aussies $1400, the Vive VR kit includes a headset, two wireless controllers, two bases stations for motion tracking, a link box, a bunch of various cables, earbuds and even a cleaning cloth. Requiring a fair chunk of time to set up for the first time, the Vive requires 2 x 1.5m of play space and keeps a track of users via base stations placed high in opposite corners of the room. It’s also worth noting you’ll need a pretty robust PC to run the Vive.
With set-up complete and my excitement peaking, I put the headset on and couldn’t help but feel like I was plugging into the Matrix for the first time. With cables running down your back and a headset that does a very good job of blocking any outside light, using the Vive felt very much like going into another world.
The headset itself is quite heavy but fits comfortably on your head with a good degree of padding allowing it to settle on your face like a pillow rather than swimming goggles. Even though the headset is quite bulky, well placed straps ensure the neck isn’t put under too much strain and the weight in general adds to a more authentic feel. When wearing the headset, only the slightest bit of outside light towards my nose was noticeable and only then when I looked down. Gazing down was my main issue with the headset as it would often slide off when I looked downwards too long.
The base stations set up in opposite top corners of a room help track your movements while using the Vive and on the whole worked really well with a visible rectangle base while you’re wearing the headset ensuring you remain within the allocated boundaries and don’t hit your physical surroundings.
Last but not least there are the two hand like controllers. With an elongated shape, these guys allow for some great motion tracking but did make pressing the relevant buttons a challenge at times as you have to shift your entire hand upwards to press one in particular.
The VR
With the nitty gritty specs out of the way, let’s talk about what really matters and that’s the virtual reality itself. To say the Vive is an immersive experience is a complete understatement. Some seriously crisp graphics, impressive depth of field and generally great motion tracking ensured I was well and truly blown away by my initial VR experience. Still in it’s infancy, I wasn’t expecting anything that spectacular but the simple hub worlds blew my mind very quickly. From the breathtaking skyline of Gotham to the pixelated perfection of Banjo-Kazooie’s house, my time with the Vive exceeded all expectations before I even played a game. Being immersed in a complete 360-degree view of video game worlds I was so familiar with was an experience I won’t soon forget.
The Games
Nevertheless, the games were and are still important and again I was impressed by what I saw. Initial brief demos with two sci-fi shooters highlighted just how well the Vive controllers work as weapons; my accuracy was generally better than with an ordinary console controller. The demos also introduced me to the difficulty of moving a character in VR as you use the controller pad to move forward and back but physically must crouch and turn creating a rather confusing conflict. After coming to terms with these concepts of VR, I jumped headfirst into two full length experiences in the form of Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shooting Gallery and the deceptively named Accounting.
As the name would suggest, my time with Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shooting Gallery saw me travel on an abandoned wild west themed ride. Not expecting much from a supposed horror game, I was very quickly proven wrong through some intense scares. With a string of malfunctioning robots haunting the ride and darkness made all the more intimidating through the Vive, I very literally experienced a couple jump scares. Because VR allows you to fully inhabit a world and character, every aspect of a game feels all the more real. If this game was on a console for example I more likely would have laughed than screamed at what happened but on the Vive these simple scares became seriously spooky. With a decent amount of shooting thrown in that continued to offer even greater satisfaction and often accuracy than with a traditional controller, Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shooting Gallery like the Vive itself exceeded all my expectations and got my heart racing more than I’d care to admit.
So from the unexpected thrills of one game, I jumped into Accounting truly not knowing what to expect. From the people involved in the cartoon Rick & Morty, Accounting captured all the craziness and hilarity of the show through the added power of VR. Starting off in an accountant’s office, the game itself sees you using VR to escape to some truly bizarre worlds for one very strange yet satisfying experience. Only about 30 minutes long, I won’t go into any further detail but suffice it to say it’s a game that needs to be played to be believed. While it may not utilise the Vive all that much, Accounting highlighted how VR can even in it’s most basic uses make for one all consuming experience.
The Verdict
It’s tough to rate such a new and revolutionary hardware but the big thing for me is that the HTC Vive though expensive still managed to blow me away. Occasionally clunky, the hardware and VR itself were on the whole impressive and justified why the Vive is the premium form of VR on the market. If you have the money and want to experience the very best virtual reality currently has to offer, the HTC Vive is probably for you.
9/10
Posted in Blog, Games, Technology
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