Ladies, gentlemen, and multi-dimensional beings please bow down to your new overlords at Owlchemy Labs because they’ve done it. They’ve actually done it. They’ve captured the crazy, awesome, often-inappropriate fun of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty and some how made it into a VR game.
Now, granted, the game isn’t available yet. But it already looks awesome. Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality was announced just a few weeks ago and that brief gameplay video above alone had us ready for more.
Fans who happened to be at San Diego Comic-Con this year were able to get their first hands-on look at the game at the Adult Swim On The Green off-site. We were among those lucky fans and I just have one thing to say: it was amazing.
Okay, I have more than just that one thing to say. But the most important thing that you all need to know is that this game was amazing and if I ever needed convincing that VR was the future of gaming this was all the proof I needed.
The Rick and Morty VR game utilizes the HTC Vive virtual reality hardware complete with headset and two handheld controllers. In the five minute demo we played, I took on the role of an incomplete Morty clone – basically just a head and two hands which mirrored the actions of the controllers. I was brought to life to do some simple tasks for Rick and the real Morty and well… I’m not going to lie to you guys, I was a pretty shitty Morty clone.
I maybe got obliterated. (But I got to come back! So it’s fine.)
Thankfully the learning curve wasn’t too steep and soon I was able to explore Rick’s garage and everything it had to offer. From doing laundry to controlling You-Seeks (a variant on the beloved Me-Seeks) to jumping through portals, this game had it all.
Everything that we love about Rick and Morty somehow ported perfectly. The dialogue was great (the insults were spot-on) and the interactive elements were excellent. Using the handheld controls you were able to pick things up, interact with them, throw them, bang them, and generally do whatever you could think of – within reason.
Beyond reason, you were also confined by certain space perimeters. But don’t worry – that was easily worked around. Virtual reality tends to require you to move around but you can only go so far. The game set up that perimeter and then let you jump from area to area in the garage to interact with different things.
In the end, you even get to jump through a portal!
Five minutes wasn’t nearly enough time to explore everything the demo had to offer. I could have spent ten times that just messing around in Rick’s garage, playing with things, and being constantly berated by Rick.
It was hands down my favorite VR experience of the convention. While there were a lot of VR experiences at SDCC this year, very few of them offered this sort of interactivity. You actually got to control your own actions and guide the story and gameplay.
Plus none of the other VR experiences had Rick.
People lined up for hours to play this demo in the sweltering heat. I’m not exaggerating when I say hours either. The line for this VR experience was capped at two hours since they didn’t want people to wait longer than that because they would have. The demo alone was more than worth the wait so you have to imagine that the final game – whenever it launches – will be just as great.
Check out the Owlchemy Labs website and add them on social media to keep up with any and all news about what’s up next for Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality!
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