Theseus are PS VR

As you can guess about the title, and even the reminiscences you have about this story, we will dress up as Theseus, and we will be led by Ariadne’s voice through the labyrinth of the minotaur, the enemy who will mince us throughout the course of the game.

The story, however, is very different from what you might remember: Theseus wakes up in the labyrinth without remembering much about what happened, and nothing is said to the player on the background of the hero.

The narration is entrusted to brief interventions by Ariadne, who will tell us a new version of the myth of Teseo. Without spoilers, in this variant of history there is death and rebirth, in a kind of eternal return, to use the words of Friedrich Nietzsche.

History is not the strong point of the game, however, and this is understood by the fact that very little is said during almost the entire duration of the game: this fragmentary narrative, in our opinion, makes too slow and bland the weaving of the plot , which would deserve at least to be deepened through objects and scenarios.

Technically, the game has a sharper quality: looking at very beautiful and effective environments, thanks to a great game of illumination, alternates with others that are too anonymous and uninspired. Looking at the model of the protagonist and his animations, fairly woody, it almost seems to go back a generation, but this defect is understandable if we keep in mind that we are talking about low budget production. To be annoying, however, is the blur effect, far too present on both nearby and distant objects. It is a defect often associated with the PS VR, but here it feels really much compared to other titles for the peripheral.

And this brings us to a fundamental point, namely the implementation of the VR. Theseus is an action in third person: unlike many other titles, we will not see action through his eyes, but we will be as external spectators. In some settings we can move the view to better follow the movements of our hero, while in others the view will be fixed, giving us a complete view of the room we are in.

The latter are able to give a beautiful visual effect, justifying the use of virtual reality extensively. Unfortunately, however, one can not say the same as the rest of the game: VR can not give that added value to other titles, which is always a marginal element during the adventure.It almost seems to me that the game would have been better without the use of PS VR, as they feel more defects than the merits of the platform . On the positive side, however, the motion-sickness feeling has been virtually nothing throughout the game.

Padded to the hand, Theseus reveals an action in a rather classic third person, with no particular surprises. We will face short sections of climbs, jumps and simple puzzles that recall a few titles like Uncharted or Tomb Raiderif it were not for the sake of all these actions, which diverted the title from the fluidity of the great productions just mentioned. There are also fights, basically based on two weapons: a torch, which can even scare the enemies, and a sword.

Unfortunately, however, the battle-system appears to be misconstrued: it is absent from any kind of depth, it is limited to attacking and dodging, without the possibility of varying types of attacks or triggering different types of combo. This makes the fighting boring after the first clash, missing any kind of adrenaline in the challenges we face. The variety seems to be missing a bit in all the gaming departments, from enemies to environments.

True, labyrinth is, almost by definition, a place that tends to remain identical to itself, but it is also true that visiting similar rooms for almost the entire duration of the game does not have a positive effect on the player. This tiredness is felt despite the short duration of the title: you can complete Theseus in about three hours, and you will not have many reasons to get back on your footsteps once the queues have been reached.