TwitchCon 2015: Overkill’s The Walking Dead makes me more of a believer in VR

I’m still not completely sold on the whole virtual reality movement going on in the video game industry; I consider myself more of a traditionalist, preferring to play games free of a clunky, heavy headset and not attempting to trick my brain into pretending I’m in another world. But after entering the virtual world of Overkill’s The Walking Dead, I’ve become a bit more of a believer in the potential of VR.

Overkill – A Starbreeze Studio – was one of the pleasant surprises at a rather empty TwitchCon. Though familiar with the VR experience of Overkill’s The Walking Dead, this was the first time I’ve actually been able to go hands-on with it, as well as Starbreeze Studios’ own StarVR virtual reality headset it’s being created for.

First came the setup. The hardware itself, while technically impressive — offering a 210-degree field of view — is still very early. The headset was heavy and required assistance from a staff member to put on (though this may have been to speed up the process). Once on, however, I was pleased to find that it wasn’t too heavy or uncomfortable. My biggest concern with VR stems from my belief that despite this impressive field of view, I will never actually be fully immersed in a game environment. Regardless of how clear a picture can be, my other senses will always remind me that I’m not actually in a game’s world. And if the other senses are ruining my suspension of disbelief, then there’s really no point to VR in the first place, right?

Admittedly, I went in a bit skeptical. And these beliefs were furthered when I was greeted with a slightly blurry picture. I don’t know if this was due to it being an early version of StarVR, the game itself, or the way I had my headset on. Interestingly, despite the blurriness of the environment, the game and VR-technology itself actually had me believing I was in the world of The Walking Dead.

Capitalizing on StarVR's 210-degree FOV, I studied the fleshed out environment — an abandoned, looted building, flickering lights, and the sounds growls of the undead walkers lurking outside. The demo began with my character, wheelchair bound, sitting in a room with two out-of-sight character arguing in the other room about whether or not they could take me with them.

While placing the character in a wheelchair can be interpreted as an easy way for Overkill to deal with motion in VR, essentially making it an on-rails experience, it's actually quite effective. There's a certain sense of helplessness when your stuck in the chair. You're at the mercy of the other survivors "helping" you. And anyone familiar with The Walking Dead already knows the disadvantage you're at when you are forced to rely on others. This created an overarching sense of terror and dread while playing.

Another benefit of the on-rails experience is that it really allowed me to focus on the environment — after all, isn't that what VR is all about? Without having to worry about movement, I was free to look in all directions, witness the walkers feasting on the dead. About halfway through the demo, I was handed a shotgun — both in the game and real life. Basically, a Starbreeze rep handed me a rather heavy toy shotgun, while the character in the game handed me a virtual one. It was a pretty cool experience. The toy shotgun in real life had sensors attached to it, allowing the game to track its movements. As I aimed in the real world, my character aimed in the game.

For the remainder of the demo I was pushed through the city streets, blasing away at swarm of undead. Though the feeling of holding a gun and actually having your aim in real life translate to the game is cool in theory, it's not without drawbacks. For starters, it felt like there was plenty of auto-aim correction. Shots I was almost certain I missed found their way to heads of walkers, which exploded with gory animation. It almost felt like a '90's arcade game, in the sense that gameplay is as shallow as holding the gun in the general direction of an enemy and firing. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but surely I hope the future of VR can provide more in-depth gameplay rather than gimmicks.

For what it's worth, it could not be confirmed as to whether or not the game will actually ship with the toy shotgun. It also wasn't made clear to me whether this is an actual demo taken from the game or created specifically to showcase StarVR.

Regardless of whether or not the demo I played will be part of the actual game, one thing is clear — Overkill has a firm grasp on the spirit of The Walking Dead. The events that unfolded in my brief 6-minute demo were on point with the tone of The Walking Dead universe. Whether or not the VR tech can catch up still remains to be seen.

It's worth waiting that in addition to Overkill's The Walking Dead VR experience, the developer is also working on a Walking Dead co-op game for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.