Doctor Who The Edge of Time Review

Doctor who: The edge of time is the new VR experience to come from developer Maze Theory. Now I’ll start off by saying that you don’t need to be a doctor who fanatic to enjoy this game. It’s tailored to a wider demographic while pleasing the fans.

The mission is simple.

You are tasked by the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker’s incarnation) to save her from the edge of time and space while also saving the universe at the same time. A very doctor who-esque story but also one that hooks the player straight away.

You start off in a launderette on a seemingly simple normal day. Everything from washing machine doors, getting change from the machine and buying detergent is fully interactive. The world feels lived in, which ticks all box’s for what a VR game should do. From the very first VR demo I played (Which came with the PSVR) London heist, everything from lighting a cigar to turning on the air con on in a car was interactable. This set my expectations to how a VR game should play. So to be met with this in the opening of Edge of Time was hugely gratifying.

Moving on.

Very quickly the story sets itself up. You receive a telephone call from the doctor who tells you there is a major threat to space and time. The room blacks out and comes back to a red hue with octopus like monsters inside each of the washing machines. The Doctor then proceeds to tell you what you need to do. You then shortly receive your own sonic screwdriver. Even though it’s in VR it’s very cool to open doors with the push of the sonic screwdriver.

Once out of the launderette and into the back alley you have to use scraps to create a transmitter to allow the Tardis to materialize. Once you do this, a familiar enemy appears. Sudden dread fills within you as you look up to see a Darlek ship hovering above you with “Enemy of the Daleks” blaring out of their speakers. The Tardis appears and you quickly run to safety.

Now the phrase “it’s bigger on the inside” is famous throughout the show. It’s only taken a VR game to convey that feeling the characters get when they say that famous phrase.

And so begins your quest to rescue the doctor from the edge of time and save the universe.

On to gameplay, and I have to say right off the bat this game is very atmospheric. Never in a VR game (that I have played) have I gripped the motion controllers that tightly, apprehensive of what will be around the next corner. From the initial reveal of the time glitch In the launderette, the Alien-esque space ship chapter, to the Weeping angles, the game had me on edge with tension and jumping a few times. I liked this about the game. The whole idea of VR is to immerse the player within the game and it did just that.

Now for the actual movement of the game, there were some issues. You have the option to move freely or with teleportation via the move button. The only issue I found was that the smooth turning was very slow no matter what setting I had it on. This was an issue as it didn’t sit right in my head and brought me out of that immersion. The other issue I had was some of the puzzles were not straight forward to solve, which left me frustrated with the lack of hints or help.

One final issue I had with the game is one I have with most VR games and that is motion sickness. I could only play this game in 30-minute intervals, which I think came down to the problems I had with the movement. It’s a shame as I wanted to play more.

The graphics do give the game justice, along with the music and voice-overs. The lighting is very atmospheric along with the music bringing that sense of tension giving you that feeling of what the show is about. The phrase ‘hide behind the sofa’ perfectly describes this game, which for a Doctor who fans will bring a smile to their face.

Overall Edge of time had me on edge and kept me hooked till the end. However with only a 2 hour long game time, the shortness of the game doesn’t justify the £20 price tag. However, currently, the game is down to £15.99 on the PlayStation store. So I would defiantly recommend this game for anyone wanting a good sci-fi tension-filled ride or an avid Doctor Who fan. Doctor Who edge of time gets a 6 out of 10.

Developer: Maze Theory

Publisher: PlayStack

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Oculus Quest, Microsoft Windows

This review is based on the PS4 version of the game

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