IGM at EGX 2015: The Assembly
Virtual reality (VR) is becoming ever more prominent in the game industry, with many studios working on titles for the Oculus Rift, Playstation VR and the HTC Vive. Being shown off proudly right next to Star Wars Battlefront on the show floor was The Assembly, a story-driven VR adventure in the works for all three VR devices, developed by nDreams.
The Assembly, the shady organization that gives this game its name, has been pushing the boundaries when it comes to scientific research, and seems to be afraid of crossing no lines, whether it be in regard to government or social laws. Now, everything that they’ve worked for, everything that they’ve discovered, and everything that they’ve hidden is in danger of being exposed to the world. In The Assembly, gamers will meet two individuals dealing with the decisions that come from this event, and each choice made “will transform not just their own lives, but that of whole nations.” The choice will never be easy; right and wrong will blur, and gamers will be left wondering whether the “ends justify the means.”
The concept already sounds interesting, but nDreams kept things pretty simple at EGX, and showed off about 5 minutes of the narrative using an on-rails demo. I can’t deny that I was initially a little disappointed, but the reasoning behind it is sound. The developers “were aware that many of the people who’d come to visit [them] at EGX wouldn’t have ever experienced VR before, so [they] wanted to provide them with a demo that wouldn’t overwhelm them… Instead, [they] wanted to gently ease visitors into their first hands-on experience of VR.” In that respect, the demo worked really well, as it really did provide a glimpse into the power of VR while also giving gamers a peek into the story behind The Assembly.
In this on-rails build, I saw the world through the eyes of Madeleine, as she was transported into a laboratory that was either underground or built into the side of a desert cliff. She was unable to do anything but watch as two scientists, one male and one female, conversed amongst themselves behind her. They discussed the complexities of their research and whether it was right or wrong. It was also extremely important that the male scientist not tell his girlfriend anything about what they had been working on, which only piqued my interest further. Just what are these scientists doing?
As my only option was to look around, I became completely invested in doing just that. Since most games are driven by completing objectives, always moving forward, it was quite nice to be able to fully appreciate the world around me, especially when brought to life in the all-encompassing world of VR.
This feeling of wonder is what nDreans is aiming for. The studio believes that “there really is no substitute for playing a VR game. The jump in terms of immersion and presence has to be experienced to be believed – you simply can’t reach the same level of either in flat-screen gaming.” I can’t say from my snippet of The Assembly whether everyone will agree with this statement, but I can say that I did indeed feel very present in the virtual world.
At times, the proportions of people in front of me seemed a bit off, like they’d been squashed in order to fit into my area of vision, though the environments were generally all quite impressive. Another issue, and probably a much bigger one for the platform, is that I felt a bit dizzy after playing. I can imagine that this is a danger for many VR titles currently in development, but it’s definitely one that all studios should be aware of.
Regardless of potential motion sickness, the gamers of EGX seemed excited for The Assembly, and nDreams “had more than a few people say that they were interested in finding out what happened to Madeleine next and where the game’s story was leading.” Honestly, I’m one of them.
The Assembly looks to be a game that uses the immersive VR platform to enhance its story of mystery and decisions, where the line between right and wrong is hard to find. It’s a shame that the demo was on-rails, but as its job was probably to draw people in with its foreboding narrative and show off the possibilities of VR, it succeeded. More information on nDream’s title, which will be released for Project Morpheus (PS4), Oculus Rift (PC), and HTC Vive (Steam VR), check out their website, or get in touch on Twitter and Facebook.
