Our Oculus Rift VR reactions from E3 2015

It’s the last day at E3 2015 and we got to check out one of the attractions of the show, at least when it comes to the expanding field of virtual reality, and that is the Oculus Rift.

Oculus announced the consumer version of the Rift VR headset earlier this month, and today we were finally able to put it through its paces. This comes after our stint from yesterday with Sony’s Project Morpheus headset, which is designed to work with the PlayStation 4.

So, how did the Oculus Rift feel? Our reactions were mixed. Personally, I got to try out the space shooter Eve Valkyrie and I really liked the graphics and the performance, even if I noticed some pixelation here and there. The resolution was in fact much better than on Project Morpheus. With that said, I had some difficulties with the controls (probably because it was my first time with the game) and I didn’t feel that immersed in the virtual reality of the game; the whole experience felt more like a traditional game strapped very close to my face, to be honest.

Grushie, on the other hand, really loved his Edge of Nowhere (a third-person action game) session and said playing on Oculus Rift is a very different experience compared to playing on a console, even if the immersion isn’t actually complete. Grushie also noted that resolution could be better and, like me, had a problem with light sifting through the space between the Rift and his face, though that could be just a fit issue.

Finally, Josh played a platformer called Chronos, and that felt very cinematic, like something you would experience in an IMAX movie theater.

Overall, it’s clear that VR platforms are, at least for now, an upgrade over traditional gaming, though not the fully immersive experience that some of the VR companies have been touting. There’s still a lot of work to do, particularly with the resolution, but the VR concept is still in its infancy and holds a lot of promise for the future.