I just downloaded this and tried it out today and ... WOW! For a free experience, it is awesome! Some may not like it because it's not sweet, cutesy or upbeat like most of the other experiences in the oculus store, but that's what makes it so realistic and good, IMHO! (The sergeant reminded me of some bosses I've had!)
When I first glanced at the description, I thought it was about miners, but since it was free and looked good, I didn't bother reading it more carefully. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it makes you a soldier on the battlefield trenches in World War I! This was edgy and raw, and really gives you a feel of what is is like in this historic but dark period in world events.
When you start start out in the shack at the beginning, you can see the battlefield through the cracks in the woodwork. The textures are great, and the uneven wood slatting of the underground tunnel is so realistic!
I like historic experiences like this, because it gives puts you in a time period that most of us will otherwise never have a chance to experience. There are some glitches and the character animation is not perfect, but I know how difficult it is to do this totally convincingly and we are still in the relatively early days of virtual reality.
My grandmother gave me a beat up old book that had been kicked around in her basement for decades, Colliers new photographic history of the World War (published in 1919), and I can tell you, World War I was truly hell, and I think this VR experience captures it effectively.
I highly recommend it, but expect it to be a somewhat depressing experience.
One reason I think I like it is that it's a re-creation of a historical period, rather than a fictional one. One interesting use of VR I think in the future is as a Time Machine allowing you to visit any era in the past. (Someone has already re-created 1920s Berlin in second life.) Ten years from now you'll probably be able to experience any battle of World War I or World War II in virtual reality.
I'm a bit torn about your take on this application, @cybernettr
Half of me thoroughly enjoys and respects your analysis on the subject matter, story telling, and overall tone of this VR experience. But the other half is pretty much in shock at your comparison to advanced graphic engines.
I agree with you that this game captures something truly glorious about a piece of human history that should not go unnoticed. But I do not agree that the visual textures are on par with anything leading edge.
Unreal Engine 4 has tools that allow optimisation for VR and allows developers to see how much memory/video/ram/CPU cycles are being used at a time and VR has only a very minute impact.
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention (may have missed it) is whether it was realistic to you to the point that you flinched or ducked the first few times a shell came over. To my shame I found myself ducking my head a couple of times, despite knowing it is just a game. I was not afraid, I was however sufficiently immersed to make my brain consider ducking as a possible option
Yeah, part of what I liked was the interactivity of it. I played Seal Delivery Vehicle, which was also free and had good graphics, but he wasn't interactive.
Yes, one is free and the other is using Crytek's AWS 3D method, the minimum requirements of which is a 750ti. The first is a free tech demo. The second is running on PS4 hardware which also runs in a free tech demo. Unreal Engine 4 also supports VR with a 2-5 frame difference per scene.
You are defending this thing like you made it yourself or are involved somehow.