For those hoping Doom VFR was going to be Doom with a VR headset, you're going to be sorely disappointed. While the game does appear to have the VR and Doom elements with it, there are just some pitfalls I can't help but feel sap the fun out of the whole experience. Watch some of the video and continue on below:
First off, the movement is incredibly clunky. When you're not teleporting (something which many users reported to be difficult when using the custom rifle controller), you're moving forward like both of your legs are taped together and you have to hop. This is not the kind of fast-paced movement required to be successful and Doom, and to be frank, fast movement and strafing is a cornerstone of the franchise so why this idea was even conceived knowing it was not possible on VR is beyond me.
Second, because the teleportation mechanism can be a bear to deal with, the game slows down to a crawl while you wiggle around and try to figure out how to get behind your opponent or directly teleport in and kill them instantly. Once again, "fast-paced" is one of the things this franchise is known for so any pause in the game is eliminating some of what makes this franchise great.
Finally, and this one is a big one, the whole thing looks like it's a minigame. Don't kill an enemy before progressing to the next part of the level? Sorry, you have to go back and do that exact sequence until you get it right. You'll see at about 1:20 in the video how frustrating that can be as the player frequents the same enemy over and over again before finally progressing through over a minute later.
It wouldn't be so bad if I don't feel like the consumers are expecting the Doom experience in VR, which why wouldn't they given the game's title? From where I'm standing, this looks to be a modified rail shooter with a Doom mask on, and frankly not worth the $29.99 PSVR and HTC Vive users are gonna pay for it December 1st. That's just me though, do you feel differently about what you just saw, or does it look as bad as I made it sound?
