Synthesis Universe is a rare thing, a virtual reality game which has been in development for over 3 years. Paul James goes hands-on with the neon infused, futuristic teaser experience for the Oculus Rift DK2 and comes away wanting more. Much more.
Tron Lives
To compare the look and feel of Synthesis Universe directly to Tron is perhaps to do it a disservice. But as a child of the 80’s and a movie geek, this was the overriding visual impression the first few moments in SU’s world left me with. Like the 80’s Disney classic, the world of SU is comprised of grayscale, punctuated with dazzling streaks of colour. It’s an arresting aesthetic and one that works very well in virtual reality and in particular on the Oculus Rift DK2. Vibrant colours and bottomless blacks are OLED’s forte. I didn’t have time to do a direct comparison in a DK1, but I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t have done SU justice.
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The teaser experience itself, subtitled ‘- Maze -‘, is just that, there is no gameplay in the demo at all, merely suggestions and hints as to what’s in store. Whilst ‘playing’, Olivier recommends players stand to enhance immersion, so I did. The demo starts start in an antechamber, you’re viewpoint is surrounded by very busy looking mechanical arms.
As you whirl your head around looking for some context as to where or what you are, you quickly come to the realisation you’re not actually ‘there’ at all just yet. That is, your body and head are being constructed around your virtual viewpoint as you watch. As you look down, you acquire arms, legs torso and (somewhat disconcertingly), eyes and a head. All the while, pulsating electronic music beats in time with the rhythmic glow of the lights in front of you. I have to draw more parallels with regards to the music too. It has the dark, brooding and expansive sound that recalls the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy, one of the finest movie scores in recent years. From the off, it’s clear both colour and music will play key roles in the game proper.
Once you’re ‘assembled’, you can catch a brief glimpse of what looks to be a female robotic character, before you’re whisked away. Next you find yourself in another room, this time surrounded by colour-coded controls at waist level. You’re looked over by two mysterious female characters. You’re soon joined by a floating drone, similar to the ‘bit’ character from Tron, except thgt this drone speaks with a French accent (I assume Olivier himself). Oli-drone informs you that you have no suitable input devices, at which point Oli-drone takes control of your hands and you catch a glimpse of coloured triangles on the back of each. Shape, colour and music – the hints of Ryhthm-action gameplay are certainly all here.
Oli-drone then introduces the grand finale, a rapid fire series of scenes from the full game played out in-engine. It’s a dazzling display and one that gives glimpses of spectacular sweeping vistas, beautiful, cavernous environments and a hint or two of action / puzzle based gameplay. It’s the VR equivalent of an expertly crafted movie trailer and left me wanting to see more, as soon as possible.
Award Winning Even Before Release
There’s no doubt that, despite its obvious influences, Synthesis Universe has a visual flavour all its own. Styling is like a crazy mash-up of Tron and Jet Set Radio. It’s easy to see why the judges of the recent inaugural Proto Awards, bestowed Oliver JT with the honour of ‘Best Art Direction’ – beating our such leading lights as Darknet, Xing and Technolust. In many ways it’s a game which belong in VR, and yet currently the game (largely complete according to Olivier) awaits two crucial pieces of hardware: A commercial VR Headset (i.e. Oculus Rift CV1) and a suitably accurate VR Input device (STEM, whatever Oculus are working on), neither of which we have even the vaguest of release dates as yet.
For now, it remains one of the best looking VR titles to date and one that’s almost certainly going to be worth waiting for. Until we’ve experienced the gameplay of course, that’s pure speculation.
Visit Synthesis Universe’s site here, follow them on Twitter or check out their Facebook page. And you can download Synthesis Universe -Maze- from Oculus Share here. We’ll have an interview with Olivier JT on Synthesis Universe up soon.