Terrifying and a tribute to the most iconic villain of all: Vader: Inmortal Trilogy
The return to Star Wars by the hand of virtual reality has not been what I expected, I have yet to play also the new game of special battles but apart from that Vader: Immortal was the other experience I had left to once and for all put away the VR glasses for a while, I had not commented in other posts but I have a serious case of dizziness and discomfort when I use this type of technology for a long time, fortunately the PlayStation VR title does not go beyond being a simple tutorial or an experience that leaves nothing new or something interesting to comment, it is just a pretty solid tribute to the figure of the Lord Sith that I am sure most of those who follow this saga (like me) will find quite rewarding.
First of all, this installment has a narrative value, the focal point is the former Jedi now turned hunter that we must avoid at all costs using our little Jedi training and the tools we are given. We are trapped on the planet Mustafar, spiritual home of the Sith and that helps to give us some huge glimpses of how far technology has advanced in recent years, however, when we get into the gameplay it seems that we have not advanced at all, it is as simple as teleporting to the place we want and from there is that we can play, and he said that play is a very condescending word because the options that gives us this title are scarce, few levels, a sense of gameplay so simple that it bores after 10 minutes and only one way for us to stay, Vader, it is clear that it is the undisputed protagonist and his scenes are the best that has the game going from the initial shiver of hearing him breathe to some fight scenes that are quite accomplished to some extent.
Behind this game is a small division of the former Lucasfilm specialized in developing this type of VR experiences, they had already tried with other much shorter projects experimenting on their mechanics and Vader is a combination of many of the mechanics of these other demos, packaged in a series of playable chapters each one with its pros and cons, the most outstanding thing may be its aesthetics so accomplished of the Star Wars universe in addition to the feeling of the game itself, quite an achievement when we are presented to Vader face to face or we are thrown into an action scene that despite not being many leave an impact on a visual and narrative level.
Although it is a short experience (it doesn't last more than 2 hours adding up all the chapters) it has several points and winks that fans will love, personally I found it to be a phenomenal product on a narrative level, making us see much more in depth the psychology of the Lord as well as learning some of the key points that in the new Disney canon had not yet been explained in depth, I won't spoil any surprises in case you want to play it but there are some pretty heavy revelations that have made me rethink a lot of what I think about Vader, seeing him a little less as a machine and a lot more as the Jedi he used to be.
The immersion is total once we have the helmet on, and although the gameplay does not help too much to get us fully into the role of Jedi (although I have roleplayed in many stretches of adventure) it does manage to have a unique atmosphere, intriguing and in some scenarios terrifying, the threat of the Sith is always present is not very different from horror games involving a beast that chases us. The sound effects are excellent from start to finish and go with what we know of Star Wars, the scenarios are another ceiling of this experience having an absurd detailing in which you will surely feel poured in seeing the detail of some of the lava dungeons found in Musfatar but you can also witness thanks to the technicalities of the game a level of quality in most of the scenarios in which we are put, this is what VR games should look like in the future or I hope so.
To sum up, Vader Immortal is an experience that adds more than subtracts but it is far from being a solid product in my opinion, the fact of having nowadays experiences like Half-Life Alix makes me think that they could have polished a little more the gameplay and make it a little more extensive, but obviating this, Immortal is presented as an excellent title for those who want a VR experience with the Star Wars seal put on it, it is a title that introduces an excellent atmosphere, a decent narrative full of winks and a visual finish that will leave more than one with his mouth open, with a little more decent gameplay I would have loved to spend more hours exploring his world.
