When it comes to VR, developers and gamers alike are preparing to take a step forward into the future. New technology, new properties and new ways to play — but that doesn’t mean we have to leave everything we love behind.
This week, the ILMxLAB (a group within Lucasfilm) unveiled a new “cinematic virtual reality experiment” for the HTC Vive titled Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine.
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The word “experiment” is vital in this description, as the final product looks more like a proof of concept than a full-fledged interactive game. You can see some footage of the experiment in action in the video below:
Road to VR actually had a chance to go hands-on with Trials on Tatooine, and it sounds like a genuinely thrilling experience, despite its relative brevity. Standing on the planet of Tatooine, the player sees the Millennium Falcon come in for a landing. Han Solo himself steps out and asks for the player’s help.
TIE Fighters swoop in and begin blasting, so it’s up to the player to turn the Falcon’s weapons back on. Once the TIE Fighters are scared away, an Imperial transport comes into frame, lands in the distance and unloads a bunch of stormtroopers.
It’s at this point when R2-D2 hands the player a lightsaber and, using the Vive controllers, the player has the chance to deflect blaster fire.
It’s only a 10-minute long experiment, but as more ubiquitous properties like Star Wars enter into the fray, it’s easy to see how a previously unconvinced consumer might be willing to give virtual reality a shot.
Here’s another video from ILMxLAB with footage from other potential experiments:
