Review: Magnetique - The first Virtual Reality Comic
A new game advertising itself as " the very first VR Comic in the world!" has been released for the Oculus / Samsung GearVR. Not a full story, the release is more of a demo to showcase what digital world creator Oniride will be bringing to the table with this new idea. Let's break this review down into two parts, the tech side first, and then the story side.
If you are not a comic book reader, this is where you still may get enjoyment out of downloading this. Many VR experiences in video and games have been released, but choosing to go with a more still photo format, while that initial idea is not new, the idea of having a storyline flow through these still drawn images seems to be. The visuals are clear and connected, I think some improvement could be made to make the world around you feel more 'rounded', because there are spots where I feel that the immersion is taken away because of blurs or sharp edges in non-natural spots. Basically it feels like you are viewing one image that is stretched inside a cube that you are viewing, but not at all times at all, there are just spots where you can catch this effect.
The artwork is going to be left up to you if you enjoy a slight anime/manga style of drawing, though not my preference I don't mind, and the worlds were colorful and vibrant. The art is complete and clean, as well as consistant through the 'pages'. At no point did I think this was rushed art. Controls are super easy, back button to go back, tap the touch pad to move forward. I think optionwise there should be audio choices all over. If I want to read the comic in silence, if I only want sound effects but no music, or if I want to be able to provide my own musical soundtrack but maybe still have sound effects, I think all options should be available because we all read comics different.
The story is small. This is probably the worst part of the review is the story here lacks. Maybe with like two or three pages more one can connect with some characters or situations just a little more, however if you just want to pop around and see the tech, that is more what I feel is offered than story. Within the little piece and without spoiling what is given, they do manage to get a flashback in, have lots of action, and you will be looking around at all sides to see what is going on. Music and sound effects helped the story they did provide, going right along with the action or non action depending on the page. When I was done though, I was left more wanting to see a lot more, but not because of the story, though if there was a little more given I might have felt different.
Score
4 out of 5 stars. Magnetique Ep. 01 is free in the Oculus store right now, it will not take up much of your time, and on the other hand, there is not a lot to get attached to. However, the fresh tech is enough to try this now and give it a higher score for bringing something new that will hopefully be something that will stick around. Maybe the story might stick with you closer than me. Right now, I just want someone to take an existing comic book and attempt to do it in this format. I completely enjoy and get nauseous playing Quake in VR, now I want to try X-Men and Batman, maybe the company Oniride will take their tech to Marvel or DC and see if some licensed property demos can come out.