The Force is Strong With This One: Trials on Tatooine
As I stood there in the middle of my living room floor watching that oh so familiar screen crawl and soaking in the beautiful John Williams soundtrack, I cracked a smile and began to giggle like a little kid with a new toy. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a Jedi Knight and wielding a Light Saber in Trials on Tatooine made me feel like that just happened!
Trials on Tatooine is a free experience that was released this week on Steam. The experience was created by the Industrial Light and Magic X Labs team and is a true extension of the Star Wars Universe. This experience was exactly what one would expect coming from ILM. The look and feel of the experience was as if you had stepped right into one of the Star Wars movies.
Needless to say, I just stood there in awe as the Millennium Falcon flew in to land just above me. The ramp descended and I was greeted by the familiar R2-D2 and then instructed by the voice of Han Solo on how to make a few minor repairs to the ship. As all of this was happening, we began to be bombarded by the laser blasts of incoming Tie Fighters and trusty R2-D2 stood waiting to provide me with my gift from Luke Skywalker, a light saber. It was at this point that the real fun began.
Promptly an Imperial Cruiser landed and began to deploy legions of Storm Troopers. This was my cue to summon my inner Jedi and defend the Falcon. Grabbing my new light saber I furiously deflected laser blasts back at the Storm Troopers holding off their attacks just long enough for the Millennium Falcon to make its escape. Unfortunately, this is where the experience ended. As good as it was, Trials on Tatooine is just a short proof of concept. This experience however left me wanting more in a bad way. I truly cannot wait now until we see a full fledged Star Wars VR experience or game.
Trials on Tatooine is Available for free on Steam for the HTC Vive. I however do not own a Vive but can say that this title did work on the Oculus Rift by using the LEAP motion drivers for Steam VR. It was a bit hit and miss having to keep my hands in front of me at all times, but even with its drawbacks, this method did allow me to experience Trials on Tatooine using the Oculus Rift. If you have the Rift and a LEAP motion but don’t know what I’m talking about, be sure to check out Reality Check VR’s article here: http://www.vrspies.com/realitycheckvr/leap-motion-controllers-are-working-in-steamvr-how-to-guide/
So if you use a Vive or even an Oculus Rift with an alternate controller set up then I highly suggest heading over to Steam and adding this title to your library… You won’t be disappointed you did and as always, May the force be with you!
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