I had already played FATED: The Silent Oath last year just after the Oculus Rift launch, and while the game impressed on several points it was equally flawed in just as many others. Sadly, not much has changed since then so this is basically going to be a port-review on just how well this Norse storybook adventure made the trip to PlayStation VR.
Last year this was easily one of the most impressive interactive narratives I’ve experienced in VR, but a lot has changed since then. Games have evolved and so have our expectations, which leaves FATED feeling slightly dated. Everything I didn’t enjoy remains like the short 90-minute run-time and extremely linear gameplay with almost no interactivity. Most of the game is on rails and locked into a fixed walking speed which is often painfully slow, but on the plus side the slow pace makes it virtually impossible to get VR sickness.
The game ends after four acts with a brutal gut-punch cliffhanger, like somebody ripped out the last half of your favorite book, leaving you to wonder if this is the first installment of an episodic series. Last year the game costs $20, but the PSVR version is now only $10, leading me to believe Frima is just cashing out on as many formats as possible. I hope I am wrong because I really want this adventure to continue.
OK…with that said let’s talk about what I did like. The story begins surprisingly enough with you, the hero, fatally wounded and knocking on Valhalla’s door. You are met by this angelic woman who agrees to return you to your adoring wife and adorable daughter – seriously…could this kid be any cuter – in exchange for your voice. At first, I thought, “What and odd exchange”, until I realized the brilliance of the concept. By not having a voice you are forced to communicate with in-game characters by nodding yes or shaking your head no. It’s a clever way of allowing you to interact in dialogue without having to pick options from a response menu.
Once your spirit returns to your body you find yourself in the back of a wagon returning to your village…or what’s left of it. Seems the town has been trashed and you need to find the survivors and plan your next move, which ultimately leads to a wagon train through frost giant infested mountains that is certain to end in some sort of tragedy. From here the game takes on a more traditional adventure feel with slow explorations through mountain caves and ancient ruins with the occasional puzzle where you must match certain runes to open a door or follow a path across the floor just like Indiana Jones did. There is no real combat in the game, but you will get to go deer hunting with a bow early on.
What really sold me on the entire experience was the quality of the visuals which, stylistically speaking, look like a storybook come to life. While primitive in polygonal construction, the textures and colors are vibrant and totally convincing, reminding me of the early days of the King’s Quest series. The facial expressions are so emotive, and the story is so moving at times you might start to mist up your VR headset. The 3D effect is perfect and there is total immersion as your head is perfectly affixed to your virtual body. The tracking is spot-on, and I only had to tap the touchpad to re-center the VR tracking four times during the entire game.
The game controls with the DualShock 4 and works well enough with simple slow movement using the left stick while the right stick turns your body independent of your head which is controlled by the headset itself. Left and right triggers control your respective arms and hands for things like shooting a bow, holding a torch, and most importantly, hugging that adorable daughter. There is also a really cool segment where you are steering a wagon, and the triggers can tug on the reins of the horse to navigate – easily the most exciting section of the entire game.
FATED: The Silent Oath is a great taste of what is possible in VR. What you sacrifice in photo-realistic visuals you more than make up for in interactive immersion. For the most part the PSVR mirrors the visual quality of last year’s PC version with some slight sacrifices in resolution and more obvious pop-up of objects on the horizon. There is also some audio issues with the dialogue playing at very low volume in the overall mix and no subtitle options. And while most VR gamers should enjoy this game immensely you are going to be totally blindsided by the abrupt cliffhanger ending, which turns what one would assume to be a full-fledged adventure game into a tech-demo.
I’m really torn on how to score this game. After a year to dwell on it I probably would have dropped the score an entire point, but the fact that the game is now half the original price, and still a great introduction to VR that holds up reasonably well on the PSVR, I’ll give it a cautious recommendation as long as you go in knowing its shortcomings. And I’ll continue to hope that this was just a sneak peek at a potentially epic Norse adventure with more episodes coming soon. I know I want more…
