Allons–y once again…
Wield the sonic screwdriver as you join the Thirteenth Doctor (voiced by Jodie Whittaker) on a quest to save the universe and meet the Tenth Doctor along the way (voiced by David Tennant in a guest appearance).
The Edge of Reality is a non-VR reworking of last year’s The Edge of Time which came out on PSVR and other VR systems. I played the PSVR version and loved it, while this version takes all of that content and mixes in a new story element with appearances from what appears to be a Cyberman that didn’t appear in the original and once you beat the original threat from The Edge of Time you begin the fully new content which stars the Tenth Doctor as you enter the Chaosverse.
The Edge of Time had you come across some of the Doctor’s greatest foes like the Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels which still feel just as good to revisit in non-VR. I won’t deny it does lose the immersion, especially when being pursued by the Weeping Angels which even in this version still gave me chills. Still, it does a decent job in providing the game for those who don’t have a VR set and the overall transition is a decent one.
Having said that, there were issues when I played such as puzzles not working like they should, stiff controls and lighting issues and other bugs. Some of these have been fixed since so it’s better than it was at launch. There are also a number of collectibles to be found in the game that can be viewed in your journal at any time, but others can only be viewed in the TARDIS during the few times you are actually in it and there’s currently no chapter select so you’re probably going to want to get a checklist and go through it in one run.
The new story content has some great moments, it’s always great to see Tennant reprise his role as the Tenth Doctor who is my favourite Doctor and yes, I still weep every time I see The End of Time Part 2 where he says, “I don’t want to go!” It also has a much-surprised throwback to a story from the Tennant era that I was not expecting, one that definitely is more than plausible for his character.
The Chaosverse content is definitely more storytelling than gameplay, but the new areas look trippy like an Escher painting and navigating them can be tough at times. The overall game plus the new content only clocks in at a few hours at best but it’s good value for the low price.
I will say that while the framerate and lighting has definitely improved since launch, it still feels a bit clunky and slow to pick up items in general, also highlighting what can be picked up is also a bit over the place. The visuals are a bit of a mixed bag with the actual character models for Thirteen and Ten but the actual Who monsters still look authentic. It would have been nice to get some PS5 upgrades, not the Cybermen type of upgrades but you know what I mean…
The Verdict
Despite losing some immersion from ditching VR, The Edge of Reality brings the game to a new audience with some great new content and superb performances from Jodie Whittaker and David Tennant. It’s definitely the best Doctor Who game to date and I really hope Maze Theory gets another shot at making a new game within the Who-verse.