Ubisoft leaps into VR at E3 2015
Ubisoft has announced its support for VR at this year’s E3 and the company is demonstrating some early prototypes with Oculus, as well as Trackmania Turbo for the PlayStation 4 Morpheus VR hardware. The entire UbiBlog staff had a chance to try all of these VR experiences and we walked away with some early thoughts:
Giancarlo: I wanted to start immediately with Trackmania Turbo because the idea of a breakneck-speed driving game in VR sounds like a pretty good time. While it took my brain a few seconds to adjust to what I was seeing on-screen, I was quickly off to the races with little trouble. The sense of immersion for a game like Trackmania is a little different from what you might expect from other VR experiences, but it’s no less impressive. Looking around the rollercoaster-like track really gives you an appreciation for the size and scope for the environment you’re racing through. Overall, I was pretty impressed.
Mikel: I liked the sense of speed in the Trackmania demo, but for me, the highlight was actually the hands-off part at the end, where you get to follow the perspective of a gold-medalist racer. While focusing on the twisty track is fun, being a passenger gave me a chance to look off to the sides and take in the scenery, and I wasn’t disappointed; the track’s tropical surroundings were beautiful, and it was cool to see that looking everywhere I wasn’t “supposed” to didn’t adversely affect the graphics.
I was a little more impressed by the Eagle Flight demo, which let us soar over Paris and steer just by tilting our heads. Swooping low among the model-like buildings felt like doing the Death Star trench run, complete with the ability to smash into unexpected outcroppings and die. It didn’t diminish the wild-daredevil sensation, though, especially once we’d passed the practice round and started playing capture the flag. I thought I was doing pretty well, tearing through alleys while Giancarlo’s lethal “screeches” zoomed past me, but all my bobbing and weaving couldn’t keep me from getting nailed when I was just shy of delivering the flag to the goal.
Anne: I loved the Eagle Flight demo. I was a little nervous because I (and I don’t like to admit my weakness publicly) tend to get pretty bad motion sickness when I mess around with VR. I had a quick chat with Claire Chabert on the VR Brand team before we played and she assured me this issue was top-of-mind when they were developing the Eagle Flight demo. She gets motion sick as easily as I do, and she informed me she had been playing the demo all day. So I was definitely a bit more confident when I slipped on my Oculus headset. Mikel and I were teamed up against Giancarlo and Claire – both of whom had already played before, I might add – and we only managed to score one point, but the thrill of flying over Paris was incredible. Rapidly turning and diving through the sky is something I really want to experience again. Soon.
Note: Image is from Far Cry 3, and not from the VR demo.
Then there was the Far Cry 3 demo. The “definition of insanity” scene is one of my favorite scenes in any game ever, so being part of it was an incredibly surreal experience. I actually flinched away when Vaas started shouting and getting in my face. There is a very childish part of me that still really wanted to reach out to see if I could touch Vaas… but then I remembered I was in a public space and people were watching, so I stopped myself. I peered over the edge of the cliff I was on, staring into the water far below me. I already knew what was coming, so I could only brace myself when Vaas approached the cinder block I was tied to and swiftly kicked it over the edge. I watched my virtual legs fly out in front of me and then I went tumbling over the edge and plummeted down into the water as the demo cut to black. It was simultaneously terrifying, exhilarating and awesome, and both of these demos definitely got me more interested in VR.
Giancarlo: Yeah, the Vaas demo is one of those scenarios that really shows the potential of VR. Being virtually face-to-face with a character like Vaas put a small shiver down my spine. It really felt like he was invading my personal space. Looking down and seeing your hands bound was also incredibly surreal and lent itself even more to the immersion. I can’t wait to see how cutscenes like this one evolve and change with the VR experience in mind.
Mikel: The Vaas demo was fantastic, largely because there was a very real sense of spatial awareness to it. When Vaas leaned in to speak, there was a sense that he was getting right in my face, and I loved that I could lean in even closer and stare him right in the eye. I even thought about trying to headbutt him, except that I didn’t want to look like a total idiot. I also loved the smaller details – looking off the side of the cliff and getting a momentary sense of vertigo, for example, and staring at “my own” hands struggling against the rope bonds in my lap. And when the fall at the end of Vaas’ speech finally came, there was a weird sensation of plummeting without the physical pull of gravity or the attendant queasiness that comes with a long drop in real life. It was, weirdly enough, almost as much fun as diving into the streets of Paris as an eagle, and it’s a strong reminder of the potential VR has to transform the way we experience games.
For more E3 2015 features and news, check out our E3 hub.
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