Doctor Who: Edge of Time

Review by Badger Nimahson

As a life long Whovian, I was chomping at the bit to receive the review code for Doctor Who: Edge of Time review code to arrive. Daleks, Weeping Angels, The Tardis and the Doctor all in VR…What could go wrong? Turns out everything. Everything could go wrong.

To say Doctor Who: The Edge of Time is a disappointment is an understatement. I am genuinely deflated after finally getting hands-on with the game. This could have been so much more but it seems that Maze Theory actually did the least possible they could do to create a Doctor Who title.

Story

An unknown evil has unleashed a reality virus upon the universe that threatens to destroy all life. Because of this reality virus, the Doctor (voiced by Jodie Whitaker) has been trapped at the edge of space and time and she needs your help to escape.

The Doctor manages to send the Tardis to you and teaches you how to fly it to the locations of all three crystals so she can escape and save the universe.

Storywise Doctor Who: Edge of Time isn’t actually that bad. Every Season of Doctor Who since its revival has had a “Doctor Missing ” episode and Gavin Collinson (Digital Producer for Doctor Who and author) has put together the bare bones of a half-decent one here. It is how the game implements that is the problem.

Gameplay

This is where Doctor Who: Edge of Time really falls apart. VR games have come on in leaps and bounds since the technology’s release on Playstation although you wouldn’t have guessed after playing Doctor Who: Edge of Time.

At its core Doctor Who: Edge of Time is a single solution, escape room style game. If you can see past this though you il find there is … Nothing else actually. That is the entire mechanic of the game. You find yourself in a room, find the one and the only solution, move to the next room, repeat.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Time is absolutely criminal in the way it handles the famous and icon characters that appear throughout the game. I am not gonna lie the biggest draw of this title was being scared to my core by coming up against Weeping Angels in VR.

I spent weeks since receiving the initial press release wondering just how you are gonna move around in VR without taking your eyes off the killer, quantum locked statues.

My mind was brimming with ideas on how to traverse past the temporal vampires. would you be walking backwards? strategic use of mirrors? Work with companions? No. In fact, you just turn away from them and walk off. Don’t worry they don’t move or attack unless in one particular part of the game.

The complete misuse of Weeping Angels is unforgivable. I cannot understand how both Maze Theory and PlayStack can produce a game for a world-renowned licence and totally and utterly mess up one of the most defining behavioural traits of its most iconic monsters.

Even more mind-blowing is that BBC Studios actually signed off on it!

Once you have taken a leisurely stroll past the Weeping Angels you then find yourself squaring up against the Daleks…sort of.

The Daleks have been reduced to nothing more than security/sentinel turrets in an ancient temple. Throw rocks to distract them and sneak past to gain access to the next room or get spotted and be exterminated.

I managed three rooms in the temple before I gave up. Honestly, I couldn’t play this anymore. It is a sub rate escape room game with a Doctor Who skin was thrown over the top. Crushing Disappointment cannot describe my mood after turning Doctor Who: The Edge of Time off.

Final Thoughts

Complete and utter disappointment. Doctor Who: The Edge of Time could have been such an amazing title and VR experience that started a whole raft of VR adventures in Time and Space. Now I genuinely wish they haven’t bothered.

The Graphics are outdated, the story is nowhere near fully developed and the gameplay is poor. If you want an amazing VR escape room experience then check out the fantastic games been made by Winking Entertainment.

If you are after immersive Doctor Who adventures through time and space…Then keep waiting because this definitely isn’t it.

Overall Score – 3/10