Rec Room Review: A Killer Social VR Experience
Rec Room is the closest thing you’ll ever get to the uninhibited social interactions you had on the playground as a child. Where others have failed in their attempts to create immersive virtual social settings, the team at indie studio Against Gravity has succeeded for one reason - They’ve given players activities to do together.
The first time I open the game, I spawn into what looks like my local YMCA in its hay day. I’m greeted by a few cartoon avatars dressed in ridiculous outfits or costumes. Within moments, I hear another player beckoning me “Hey you! Check this out.” I spin around to see a bearded Viking putting what looks like an iconic sports drink’s water cooler over the head of younger kid – A fact I’m able to gather thanks to the game adjusting avatar height based on a user’s real-life height, but the squeaking shrieks of the kid are also a good indication.
I chuckle for a moment before teleporting over to a table of assorted items. I use the cartoonish hands that have replaced my standard Vive controller to pick-up an in-game frisbee and toss it across the room. Everywhere around me people are fist bumping, high-fiving and generally throwing in-game items around. The most immersive part is that the facial expressions of other players are changing based on what’s going on around them, although most of the time this facial expression is a wide grin.
Rec Room fits within the stereotypical mini-game format that so many others have adopted in the race to show off what can be done in VR. Unlike others, Rec Room doesn’t come off like a tech demo even despite its current early access state. Players can participate in a variety of simple sports mini-games including paintball, dodge ball, disc golf, charades and paddle ball – and while the games themselves are fun and polished, Rec Room truly shines in its ability to make it easy to share fun experiences with others in VR.
Paintball is amongst the most popular of the mini-games for good reason – It’s competitive, but light-hearted enough to leave you smiling ear to ear. Suit up for a game and you’ll most likely be immediately dropped into a hectic splatter fest of paint flying and players shouting “NOOO!”
Inevitably, you’ll be shot by a sly opponent who has found cover behind a tree or a shipping container. Instead of respawning immediately you will be left standing where you were just hit…face to face with your opponent.
It is this fleeting 2-3 seconds of interaction that make Rec Room special. This is your chance to taunt your opponent or congratulate them on a great shot. It’s the metaphorical bump into your crush for an excuse to start talking about something. Rather than being dumped into a social space and trying to awkwardly find out what you might have in common with someone else, you’ve just established a common denominator and an excuse to start talking.
When the match ends you’ll teleport back to the entrance of the paintball course with all the other players. By this point the conversation will be second nature and you’ll find yourselves talking with everyone, high-fiving, putting buckets on other people’s heads or blinding them with paint. And if you’re like me, you’ll realize that you just made some of your first real friends in VR.