Some days we may the inspiration to learn about the past and admire at a time where the world was not consumed by electronics and just escape. Thankfully Virtual Reality gives us the gateway to visit places far off, to see different cultures of the world, and appreciate art. But where normally you would have to go and pay admission or even have a membership to enjoy the artifacts, you no longer have to travel out of your home but allow your travels to come to you. But do Developer Owlgorithm give us the museum experience? Let’s find out with Grand Museum VR for the PlayStation VR.
As you can probably guess from the title, The Grand Museum VR is a museum experience. Not one filled with anyone else but you. The nice calming relaxing music as I took my time walking around and in awe of how Owlgorithm got such detail of each piece and how clear it was in VR. Moving around (more on this in a moment) and being able to learn about each piece. Art that is represented from the ancient Greek and Roman, Egypt, Asian, and post-classic era European times.
Each room represents a different time of history. As you approach each one, there is a plaque given you a description of the piece and having that information about each piece that I came across was honestly something I appreciated. I would have loved would have been an audio tour like what you would get at a museum through certain exhibits. I think if this was added would just have enlightened my The Grand Museum VR experience. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed moving along, viewing the art, and the calming piano music that is really relaxing.
I want to talk about the movement scheme for a moment. To move around you look with the PlayStation VR headset and you will then be able to teleport to that spot with the DualShock 4 controller. The good thing is how far and near you are able to teleport. The thing that I was surprised about is how you can not move beyond that. It would be awesome to be able to walk around, but you have to teleport everywhere.
But there is some good news. After talking with the Developer, it was explained that there is a way to move around some. What you have to do is hold down the X button and at the same time move the left thumbstick and you will see an arrow. So all you have to do is rotate the left thumbstick in the direction you want to go, don’t let go of the left thumbstick, and release the X button and you will be facing in the direction you want to go. It is a little tricky, but it does work. Originally if I wanted to read something, I would have to teleport to the side of an art piece, I would then need to turn around to teleport and then come back to teleport to the exact view.
So now the experience can be more enjoyable than I first experienced. This was really my only complaint about The Grand Museum VR is that I wish the controls we’re a little better, but honestly, I will take this new way of moving compared to my first. So thank you Owlgorithm…thank you.
Another thing I appreciated was the Archive section. Being able to be in this dark space surrounded by the art and being able to read even more in detail about the era in which I was visiting. It’s almost as if the dark space surrounding the art had me in someone’s mind and allowing me to wonder. I have to go back to the detail of the art. Seeing the head of Medusa being carried by Perseus in a bigger than normal fashion, I was just taken back of the beauty of it all.
Overall, The Grand Museum VR is a relaxing stroll through the ancient works of art that were photo scanned from different museums of the world that are on display. I just wish there was a better control for the movement that I am very hopeful will be added as an update. But with that said, being able to have all this art…this history in one Virtual Reality space is a rewarding journey.
The Grand Museum VR is out now on PlayStation VR and is also available on the Oculus Store, Steam, and Viveport. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Owlgorithm, please visit their site and make sure you follow them on Twitter.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going back in and admire some art and be relaxed with the music.
Mr. PSVR, October 3, 2018, theplaystationbrahs.com
