Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality – PlayStation VR

Okay folks. It’s time to strap in for a bout of existential crisis with a VR title that is just as bizarre as its critically acclaimed animated Rick and Morty source material. Its honestly took less time for Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality on the PSVR to come into existence than I thought it would. It’s not just because the show is widely popular but rather because it already had a foundation on which to build from.

Fans of Owlchemy Labs’ successful Job Simulator will already have a good grasp on what to expect going into Virtual Rick-ality as it shares much of the groundwork present there. On the same note, if you’re like me and don’t watch Rick and Morty then much of its humor and references will be lost on you. While I have seen at least a few episodes of the show its overall charm has yet to enthrall me. That said Virtual Rick-ality does capture much of what makes the show successful.  You play as a Morty Clone, comprised of a pair of floating hands and a head complete with your own VR mounted on your face. What starts out as your task to do Rick’s laundry ends up with you getting shot in the head in a move that seems perfectly normal in Rick’s world. After a brief detour in a much tamer version of Hell you get sent back to Rick’s garage either of your own volition or Rick’s insistence. Be prepared to see a lot of this garage too as most of this 2-3 hour adventure in absurdity take place here. You don’t spend your entire time here though as you do venture to a few other places.

Packed in this garage are tons of references that fans of the show will recognize. Free movement is not something that Rick deemed necessary for Clone Morty so you get to engage is teleporting between one of three work areas. Each location contain a slew of items that some can be used to solve the various puzzles that you will encounter while some are there for pure nostalgia. With Job Simulator laying down the roots here, many of the puzzles you encounter are largely straight forward with only a few that took me a bit to piece together. This was mainly due to a few reasons that bugged me more than real Morty’s voice.

First issue was because by the time I made it farther in the garage was so cluttered from screwing around that picking up specific items was a task hindered by the second issue. Tracking is still something that plagues the PSVR even under the most optimal conditions. Even with my largely adequate layout I found picking up anything off the floor to be frustrating at best. Hovering over the item in the just the right area will levitate some objects making it easier but actually finding that sweet spot was tricky.

You also lack the ability to turn the camera so everything you do is limited to you actually turning in place so this is pretty much a standing only kind of game which I wouldn’t mind if it didn’t make one of Virtual Rick-ality’s cooler features more tedious than it needed to be. You see you can’t actually really leave the garage so in a few instances you have to make use of a Mr. Meeseeks box to well… think outside of the garage box. Modified into a Mr. Youseeks, these interesting blue helpers mimic your every move so you can use that to retrieve normally inaccessible items. It’s a little tricky without a free camera turn, but I finally found my footing by the end of the game.

There are a few tried and true VR gimmicks built into Virtual Rick-ality that work really well including a knobs and levels mini-game revolving around charging batteries and a dual gun shootout segment. There are also tons of things to interact, pick up and mess around with including an item combination machine that I spent way more time than I cared to count. On top of that you can go back and replay each segment not only to shoot more flying insects but to find all of the hidden cassette tapes hidden throughout the game. Oh and of course there is a Choose Your Own Adventure called Troy: A Life Lived which was interesting in itself.

What really brings Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality together however is its outlandish storyline that feels much a mini episode of the show. This largely comes from the fact that the actual voice actors lend their voices to add to its authenticity. For me, Virtual Rick-ality was an interesting looking into the Rick and Morty world wrapped around a largely functional job simulator. For fans of Rick and Morty however this may be just the thing to tide over their wait for a new season of the show. So if you love Rick and Morty and just happen to own a PSVR then you should check out Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality for PlayStation VR today.  It’s available now digitally and at retail in both standalone game and a cool collector’s edition with some extra fun stuff.

Author: Jason Flick
Started my gaming life with a NES and copy of Mario at a young age. Since then I've found a love for all gaming things dealing with adventure, roleplaying and first person shooters across all systems, handhelds and PC. Joined up with Game Chronicles years ago to write about the games I love to play.

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