EVE-VR Hands-On

Strap it on. Look around. Get shot out of the launch tube and into space. The instructions are simple, but the results are mindblowing. I find myself taken from the CCP Games lounge at E3 to somewhere deep in space - dogfighting and head-bobbing all at once.

At one wall of the lounge six silent VR helmet wearing, head-bobbing individuals are sitting in a line. There is no way of telling just what they're experiencing, but the ones making the most frantic head movements are probably trying to dodge incoming missiles.

Virtual reality is mounting a comeback and with Oculus Rift the technology finally seems to be there to truly make it worth our while. The kit has a nice quality feel to it. The straps on the back are there to make sure it's strapped on tight as to avoid any issues as you violently swing your head around to avoid enemy projectiles.

{EVE-VR} is not a game. Not yet anyway. It was a proof of concept first revealed at the EVE Fanfest in Reykjavik this spring. It represents seven weeks of work from a small team at the EVE Online/Dust 514 developer. The reactions to it and the attention it has gotten, however, seems to suggests we'll be seeing more of it in the future. CCP said they were currently exploring how to take this further. And if they do it's a good bet that the EVR experience will somehow be integrated in the same universe as {Eve Online} and {Dust 514}, as that is part of the company vision.

Once the straps are tightened I spend the first few moments adjusting to my new surroundings. I can see the interior of the small fighter, details in the hangar, and even if the graphics aren't that spectacular - there is a real sense of having been transported to an alternate reality.

Once the other five players have been strapped in and given headphones and controllers we engage. Two teams of three facing each other head on. Movement is on the left stick. Laser on the right trigger. Missiles on the left once you're in range. You hold down the left trigger, move your head to lock on to an enemy, releasing the trigger to fire off the missile. If a missile locks on to you there is a thin yellow trajectory you can spot from that direction. Now you need to move your head somewhere else and use the 5 second boost (A button) to avoid it. This is where EVR is at its most frantic and exciting - there's a real sense of panic as the alarms goes off.

"I'm getting the hell out of here!" I managed to get away this time and it takes a couple of seconds to regain my composure, swirl around and get back into the thick of the action. The pulse is racing. I lock a few missiles onto my enemies - they mostly slip away. The next missile that's coming takes me out. Back to the launch tube and at it again. There is a sense of complete focus, there is no connection to the outside world and perhaps that is also what makes looking at the six {EVE-VR} players sitting next to each other entertaining for the crowd. The occasional frantic head movement when dodging, the slower more deliberate movement when aiming, the exasperated gasp of wonder. It's quite a scene.

It's easy to see why we're made to sit down. Anything else would risk causing complete and utter mayhem in the lounge as you simply have no sense of outside space when strapped into the Oculus Rift.

We only play for a few minutes, but it's enough to convince me of the merits of virtual reality. This is gaming that cannot be experienced without this kind of technology. And this is just a proof of concept. Let's hope more great ideas pop up for Oculus Rift - ideas that truly make use of the technology. {EVE-VR} was the talk of the show and this experience certainly outperformed anything we played on next-gen consoles in Los Angeles.

An interview with CCP Games' Sigurdur Gunnarsson on EVE-VR is coming up on GRTV in the near future.