Doctor… Why?!

As a longtime fan of science fiction, I didn’t get into Doctor Who until my late 20’s. Happening upon a New Year’s marathon running on the BBC I was introduced to David Tenant’s 10th Doctor. I was immediately taken by this goofy guy with a cool ass trench coat and Chuck Taylors; his swagger was cool and the fact that he knew he was the smartest person in the room but didn’t make everyone else face that fact was funny. Anyway, I became a fan, not quite a ‘Whovian’ as the fan base is called (side note-my spell check didn’t even flag Whovian so ‘yay you guys’!) but I’m more like a Doctor Who enthusiast. So, when I had heard about the game Edge of Reality being ported over to console from VR I was very excited to check it out.

Edge of Reality for some really weird reason doesn’t put players in control of The Doctor; no instead they are a nameless, faceless character who has the Doctor’s sonic-screwdriver. Opening in a laundromat that quickly becomes a horror show, our nameless hero is treated to Jodie Whittaker’s doctor appearing on a tv screen. Here we learn that she needs our help in getting the TARDIS back, and saving all of time and space…anyone who has ever seen Doctor Who knows this is typical stuff. The first order she has for the player is to find their way out of the laundromat and with it comes the first issue I have with this game. In order to find the combination to the safe, which The Doctor believes holds the key to freedom, the player must pick up and manipulate objects to check the back and sides for any clue. It becomes very evident, very quickly that this wasn’t optimized but just quickly ported over. While in VR the effect of looking at an object is very natural, here it just felt stiff and off putting.

MSRP: $24.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99

Once the nameless minion of The Doctor finds the combination, they go outside and are met with the unmistakable sound of Dalek spaceships patrolling the skies. Again, I couldn’t help but feel this held more weight in VR, but here while the imposing ships and unmistakable sounds of Dalek’s speaking to each other just feel lifeless. They patrol an area and the player just has to avoid the light until they reach the other side. While the later game does present other puzzles, they all amount to a simplicity that these two that are given to the player early on in the adventure. Shortly after this point the player is presented with the TARDIS. The game makes a big deal out of the moment, as well it should; walking in I will admit I ran around looking at all the detail’s just as a nerd should. Soon the disembodied voice of The Doctor gave me marching order’s once again, this time to take the TARDIS to a destination. This of course was completed with a simple ‘Simon-says’ type matching game and we were on our way. While there is nothing wrong with very easy puzzles in games, I just feel like these were designed for the VR and did not translate well to standard consoles.

Sure, actually pulling the levers of the TARDIS in VR is probably an awesome feeling, but on Xbox it amounted to simply highlighting the correct knob and pressing ‘A’. Another area where the game itself suffers is the misuse of its Doctors. Having Jodie Whittaker is awesome but in Edge of Reality David Tenant’s 10th Doctor makes a return. And while both really nailed their performances, both really deserved better; The 10th Doctor was reduced to what amounted to catch phrases and quips to throwback lines from his run as the titular character. And poor 13 was forced into an exposition role, having to be the narrator and over-explain every single thing is just not a good use of her character. I know there are fans who don’t like 13, but I find no issue, and have enjoyed Jodie’s portrayal thus far on the series and she is wasted here.

Then there is the story itself, which really is just a ‘greatest hits’ collection of Doctor Who villains, but done differently. For instance, ‘Weeping Angels’ are one of the creepiest creatures that exist within the universe of Doctor Who. Statues who are actually alive and move when your eyes are closed. Even when you blink, so in order to stop them one can’t look away. They don’t talk, they just stalk you… well someone for this game thought to give them a voice. Its like when an actor over does their Batman voice, you are already a giant man dressed as a Bat…I’m afraid; sounding like you just gargled nails is too much. And so, it is here, the Weeping Angel’s don’t need a voice, its too much and not necessary and I am surprised it didn’t end up on the cutting room floor. While there is a moment that is cool, later in the story players are able to control a Dalek, and while the novelty will quickly wear off due to the over heating of the laser gun, and the tank like controls; the moment for a fan of the series is undeniably neat.

If you can’t tell, I didn’t like Doctor Who: Edge of Reality in this iteration. Had I played this in VR I think some of my issues would have been resolved, but the mistreatment of both Doctors is quite unforgivable and would be a huge issue in either version of the game. While I think it is almost as hard to make a good Doctor Who game as it is to make a good Star Trek game, I appreciate that studios keep trying different things… but this ain’t it bruh.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Getting to explore the Tardis
  • David Tenant is a treat as 10
Bad
  • Wasted potential with it’s Doctors
  • Gameplay was just plain not fun
  • Playing as a Dalek could have been more
4.5
Sub-Par
Written by
Terrence spends his time going where no one has gone before mostly. But when not planning to take over the galaxy, he spends his time raising Chocobo and trying to figure out just how the sarlaac could pull Boba Fett’s ship with its engines firing FULL BLAST into it’s maw with relative ease; yet it struggled with Han Solo who was gripping *checks notes* SAND!