TL:DR; Radius Gordello, a one-man dev team, enabled an awesome VR experience in Unreal P.T. in just two releases without owning a VR headset; I hope devs are listening and will enable VR support in more projects like this.
Let me start by saying I love both horror and video games, so the cancelled Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro Silent Hills project and its now near-mythical short playable tease “P.T.” always seemed like some sort of out of reach holy grail for me, attainable only if I was willing to shell out some serious cash on EBay for a P.T. Enabled PlayStation. Thanks to Radius Gordello’s excellent recreation (available for a short time at https://radiusgordello.itch.io/unreal-pt), I have been able to turn that dream into a reality without breaking the bank.
But what is even more exciting to me is what this project shows me is possible for future VR development and expansion of the library. I played through Kojima’s horror masterpiece in a way perhaps he hadn’t envisioned possible: in full VR.
What is astonishing to me is not only that Gordello made all this possible as a one-man dev team, but that he doesn’t even own an HMD.. I don’t mean to be reductive about his work, but I believe that Gordello enabled VR in his project basically as simply as ticking a checkbox in Unreal Engine’s output settings. It’s true he didn’t exactly get it right the first time; there was some fisheye distortion and angling issues that made some people uncomfortable, and an unfortunately placed Norman Reedus character body model led to many unintentional jump scares as people turned around came unexpectedly face-to-face with the Walking Dead Star. But despite that, the experience was playable, and many people played through the game in that state. And then, after only a few days of tweaking based on feedback from players, still not owning a headset, on only his second release, Gordello nailed it. On that second release I was able to play through all of P.T. in glorious VR without incident. I was IN that house, the sense of presence was strong, and it was terrifying.
Now, is Unreal P.T. the perfect VR experience? No. It’s obviously not made for the ground up for VR and doesn’t include inverse kinetics, a VR optimized inventory, and a whole laundry list of other features that make for a top VR experience.. but would it absolutely be my first choice to introduce VR to a horror fan? You bet.
So if a one-man band can enable VR in an experience this good, this quickly, without even owning a headset, I really feel like larger studios really need to consider enabling VR support on their larger projects. I understand that getting VR right requires more effort and thought than checking a box, but I feel that experiences like RE7, Alien Isolation with Mother mod, Unreal P.T. (and the list goes on) prove that even sub-optimal VR support for a great title can provide an incredibly immersive experience, and the more of these we have, the better it is for the industry, and the more people will come to try and fall in love with VR just as the enthusiasts in this sub have. I hope devs are paying attention to Gordello and what this inspiring VR story could mean for the future.
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