Mini Review: Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality (PS4) - Rickety Time Travel Title Struggles to Dazzle

Playing through Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, we can't shake the feeling we've been here before. Maybe it’s because we’ve just travelled backwards in time. More likely, though, it's because this is an enhanced version of a previously released VR experience — only now with added David Tennant! Knowing this means anyone who's played the original will suffer from a lack of surprise, then, but is the new content worth a second TARDIS trip? Unfortunately not.

Just because Doctor Who sometimes has a reputation for flimsy monster designs and cheap sets doesn’t mean that any game based on it need suffer the same fate. That’s why it’s a shame to see that, rather than address the major pre-existing issues like finicky controls, a lack of direction, and bland mission design, developer Maze Theory seems to have doubled down on these for this slightly expanded version. The extra movement abilities and improved image clarity that comes from playing on a TV is appreciated, yet such benefits are limited when the core of this journey is still so rote.

For those unaware, The Edge of Reality promises fans of the show the ultimate adventure. You get to become the Doctor’s companion and join them on a dimension-hopping trip in order to prevent a reality virus that is somehow infecting all of time. There are Daleks, Weeping Angels, and Cybermen galore, but what’s asked of you to defeat them is always either very basic or convoluted. You’re constantly fighting with the controls, too.

David Tennant does infuse this story with a lot of life in the short time he’s featured, and a particular end sequence set on a cybership sets the pulse racing by tapping into the show’s mild horror. However, neither detract from the original experience’s flaws. The chief appeal of playing in VR was being able to immerse yourself into an episode, and even that has now been lost in translation.