You can read more about the new scoring policy here.I think I might have quoted Jim Morrison in my review for the last disc of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I don’t really care cause I’m going to do it again. Expect the visual representation of this new scale to change with a more attractive style soon. All past reviews will stay as they are, but all future reviews (that includes games, non-game apps, hardware, and more) will all be reviewed using the same five-point star rating scale. Note: We are changing our review scheme to a five-point scale, without half points, rather than a 10-point scale with half points like before. The Who faithful be satisfied in that safety, I suspect, but I personally can’t help but wish this was a little more dangerous. It plays more like a rejected episode of the TV series rather than something that fully embraces its platform. Instead of testing those waters, The Edge of Time settles for bringing the series’ most tried and true elements directly into headsets in hopes of winning over dedicated fans. Who is at its best when there’s a hook a gimmick so playful and innovative that anyone can get carried away in the madness that ensues.
Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned there. The Edge of Time is grittier, deeper even, but it doesn’t match the personality, bravado or intuition of control.
We saw just a snapshot of that in the BBC’s excellent Runaway VR short, an animation bursting with the charm, wit and invention the series is known for stuffed into 13 minutes. There’s so much wacky potential for a feature-length VR game here that meeting those expectations is almost impossible. Perhaps Doctor Who’s biggest enemy is Doctor Who itself. They help round it out to a respectable two to three-hour runtime, which I tackled in one sitting without ever feeling bored, if not always illuminated. For Who diehards, these moments will no doubt delight, but they don’t disguise relatively stripped back game mechanics. Your late-game encounter with the Daleks, meanwhile, results in fine, formulaic stealth segments followed up by a fun, forgettable on-rails shooter. Redirecting lasers to open doors could have been lifted straight out of any other game and, well, I’m pretty sure finding a safe code on the back of a picture is in every other VR game. There’s a handful of puzzles that are snappy to solve, though never feel unique to the franchise itself. Many of the game’s other ideas are repurposed from traditional tropes. For a second, you might even think you’ve really been whisked away to the set of the show. An early encounter with a monster in a laundrette gives you a hilarious fright, for example, and The Tardis has been brought to virtual life with genuine love and care. It’s frustrating given there are many moments of pure VR excellence here. Plus the series penchant for nonsensical last-minute twists doesn’t hit as hard when they’re essentially delivered over an intercom. It seems like a missed opportunity not to be staring down Cybermen or shaking hands with lizard people. In fact, the game almost entirely avoids meeting any friendly allies or aliens face-to-face, making it hard to form a connection with the cast and often leaving the worlds lifeless, despite crisp visuals. There’s a heck of a lot of standing around and listening to other people explain why something is terrible rather than you seeing it for yourself.
In that sense, Edge of Time often feels like it’s been adapted straight from a TV script rather than specifically developed with VR in mind. She’s essentially a stand-in Doctor that leaves you longing for the genuine article. An AI partner instead joins you for most of the game, sounding suspiciously similar in tone and wit to Whittaker herself. Jodie Whittaker is on typically fine form in the moments she does appear, though it’s often to lend the narrative a drowsy dose of exposition. The Doctor herself is locked away somewhere inexplicably far off, only ever appearing through holographic transmissions. You play as an unnamed companion to the Doctor here, traveling across different times and locations to stop a new threat. Much like any season of the show, though, the quality in delivery varies wildly throughout, leaving a lingering wish that developer Maze Theory had leaned on the VR antics just a little harder. It can at times sweep you up in its ridiculous antics and take you along for the ride with a giddy smile on your face, just as the best Who episodes do. Edge Of Time lives and dies by this fan service.
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