On PC and consoles Skyrim is an absolutely essential play for role-playing fans thanks to its rich, lived-in setting. Unfortunately, Ive barely explored any of it personally (sorry!) And despite the hype surrounding its release, the VR version didnt make the greatest impression at QuakeCon, and I cant help but think it has a lot to do with the platform of choice: PlayStation VR.
Rather, it might be the platform and controllers of choice, since only PlayStation Move wands were available at the demo. The full game will support the DualShock 4 controller as well, and based on the moments I spent awkwardly stumbling around Skyrim, I have to believe a gamepad will be the far better option of the two.
Navigating with the Move controllers was painful at times. You can use the main button on the left Move controller to teleport around, but youre also forced to use the lower buttons to rotate your body in either direction. Thats not so bad when youre out in an open environment, but trying to navigate down a spiral staircase was hilariously terrible, and finding my way through a zigzagging, maze-like dungeon felt laborious.
No doubt: it hampered the experience to enough of a degree that I couldnt imagine pouring potentially dozens of hours into the game. And ultimately, the demo wasnt all that exciting. The puzzles were pre-solved and looting was disabled to encourage a smooth, speedy demo experience (all of that stuff will be in the full game, of course), but it just felt like a wonky stroll with a little bit of sword slashing and fire-blasting along the way.
It was the same Bleak Falls Barrow area that David explored back at E3, and I get his enthusiasm for Skyrim in VR: if you love this game, why wouldnt you want to explore it again in VR? But without that built-in adoration, Skyrim VR left me feeling as cold as a Dovahkiin spending too long fumbling with the controls on the snowy slope outside Bleak Falls Barrow. Hopefully it feels better once the full game is playable and I can use a DualShock 4 instead.
