Introduction
Eye of the Temple is a VR game that lets you experience an Indiana Jones-like adventure in exploring a dangerous temple that is hidden in the mountain tops. The game is filled with crazy traps, complex puzzles, and engaging secrets that give the user a unique VR experience. The player gets to use a physically simulated whip and torch in both hands as they traverse their way on moving platforms within the temple. They get the chance to smash pots, flick levers, and dodge other types of obstacles, making the game more about playing with your body rather than with the controller's buttons. The game was developed by a singular indie developer by the name of Rune Skovbo Johansen, who has worked on one other small VR game called Chrysalis Pyramid that also plays around in room-scale VR.
I was able to get the chance to play the game before it fully came out by downloading the demo version off Steam and having it run on my Samsung Odyssey Plus Windows Mixed Reality headset. Starting off with the visuals of the game, I would say I was pretty immersed. The graphics in the game are actually pretty good for a VR title, in the sense that they aren’t graphically intensive where you are required to have a beefy PC to run the game on a virtual reality headset. Minimum PC requirements to run this game are found to be quite generous in that they require a 4th Generation i5 or AMD FX 8350 for processor, 4GB of memory, and a minimum GPU requirement of a GTX 970 or equivalent GTX 1650. This allows the game to be run on most computers nowadays, especially those that are already invested in a good VR-ready computer. The style of the visuals are more visualized to be of a realistic cartoony style. The walls and broken bricks of the temple are in a painterly low poly style whilst other props such as pots and gems and other types of vegetation found in the levels are done in a more realistic tone. Additionally, found within the starting stages of the game, there is a nice, realistic, and transparent water that is under the player’s feet as they traverse moving platforms on the water, which is also intractable with physics if you throw your whip into the water. In terms of the lighting of the game, in the first section, it’s mostly a nice brightly lit area but as you continue your way through the temple, you’ll be given a chance to light up your trusty torch and explore the darkened sections of the game. With the torch, it casts some real nice shadows onto the walls of the temple, resulting in this mysterious yet adventurous tone to the game. Overall, I love the way the game looks and find it quite acceptable for a VR game in today’s standards.
Moving towards the gameplay side of things, when you first launch the game you are actually given safety instructions regarding the game’s full room-scale movement. Using a level to move the UI, it warns the player on how movement works in the game, as well as warning players the risk of losing your balance as they move throughout the game. I love that they included this as VR can make the player feel a bit too immersed in the game, in that they believe walls found in the game are actual walls that they can lean into in real life, which is not the case. The game additionally gives instructions on the tools that you use such as the whip. The whip will visually uncurl when needed to be used, allowing the player to use it during that scenario.The game also mentions how the player will have many checkpoints to save their progress whilst progressing through the game. I love that they included this in the beginning of the game, to let players know early on to be aware of their safety as this game can be quite physically intense for the first time user. Within the gameplay aspect of the game, you will find yourself often moving towards platforms and breaking gems and pots to score points in the game. Movement within the game is often found in the form of platforms. There are two types of platforms that are found in the early stages of the game. One is your typical moving platform. The other being a rolling platform. The normal one, you simply would move onto it like you would in real life. With the rolling platforms, you would have to move your feet backwards as you land on it, to prevent yourself from “falling off of it” which is simply teleporting you back to the recent stationary platform. Within the later sections, you get to use your trusty whip to do a little combat against some bugs or use reach levers to activate things. Besides that, you go against several different types of traps such as dodging incoming stone pillars or avoiding flames being shot out of walls.
Why is it good use of VR/AR?
The game brings a new and different way of experiencing virtual reality by making the player rely on their physical movement over the controls found on the controllers. An example of this would be using one of your main tools, the whip. With the whip, since it's physically based, you can use it like Indiana Jones and throw the whip to latch on to things such as turning a lever. Another example would be having to dodge traps such as moving platforms or stationary walls that can only be avoided if you go under. This benefits VR in that it helps move the platform of VR games to become more real-life-like in terms of movement, intractability, and immersion. If VR games take the route similar to Eye of the Temple, I can definitely see the VR space move towards different ways of approaching movement more actively.
Who are its intended users?
The intended user base is pretty much for anyone that owns a VR headset and is seeking a different VR experience. Especially if they are looking for one that makes you move more with your body than your controllers. For the casual player, they will find themselves incredibly immersed in the mystifying temple and challenged in the game’s intriguing puzzles. For the more hardcore gamer, they can find themselves trying to unlock the speedrun mode in order to compete against their friends on who can beat the temple the fastest. I would say the audience can extend to those that are seeking more fitness oriented users in that since the game involves you being more active than other games, it’s a great fit for those trying to be physically moving whilst being in VR.
What are the issues of it?(Pros/Cons)
Positives
- Supports Multiple headsets(Oculus, HTC VIVE, Windows Mixed Reality, Index)
- System requirements of the game are on the lower end for VR, needing atleast a GTX 970 and an i5 4th generation
- Fully immersive in its puzzle and visual elements
- Priced at around $20, which is very respectable price for a VR game
- Additional Speedrun mode for those who want to challenge themselves
- Game has very challenging elements to it, requiring the player to pay attention and actively solve things
- Movement in this game is simulated via room-scale, making the experience more closely to real-life
Negatives
- Does require the player to have a play are of atleast 2M x 2M with 360degree tracking
- No ability to do other types of locomotion, limited to full scale room, resulting in accessibility being restricted
- If you are using a VR headset that uses a cable, you will definitely find yourself tangling around your cable
- May take awhile for a first-time VR user to get used to the movement schema
- Some of in-game deaths might feel abit unfair in some sections
Sources:
- https://www.roadtovr.com/hands-on-eye-temple-indiana-jones/
- https://www.vrfocus.com/2021/10/review-eye-of-the-temple/
- https://store.steampowered.com/app/589940/Eye_of_the_Temple/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2so4EJKdMo
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KxsAH14Clo
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMjY06UHwr4
- https://www.facebook.com/eyeofthetemple/?ref=page_internal