Coaster Review (HTC Vive/Oculus Rift)
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a review code does not affect my judgement of the game.
Personally I find VR should not always be about the games, but also about the experiences, and experience is certainly what roller coaster simulators come under. Monster Paw have entered this market with Coaster – but how does it hold up?
In Coaster you will get the chance to experience four tracks in total. These are all in different settings; these are inside a house, the moon, a picnic and in space. As with all roller coaster experiences, there is no gameplay element, it is all about enjoying the ride. Which in turn for makes the immersion in the ride the most important part of the experience – this is what is going to give you the most for the experience.
So, lets just jump straight into the immersion of the tracks. One thing the team at Monster Paw have done well is make sure that the areas the tracks are going around are well-built up, and gives you plenty to take in as you ride around the four tracks. Also most the track is viewable as you look around, so you will get an idea of exactly what you are going to face as you go through the track. This is where the immersion in the game becomes evident, as you really do start to feel the anticipation and sometimes nerves when you see what is coming. As well as the different tracks, the game brings with it different music tracks and environment sounds to suit the settings, so be it hearing the birds chirping at the picnic or the drone as you go into the garden in the house track, it really adds to the immersion of being on the tracks.
When it comes down the immersion of what you seeing and feeling, I would say so far Coaster has given me that inertia and stomach turning feeling on the drops that comes with roller coasters the most. The team really have got the speeds perfect, be it the fast drops or the slowing down in the correct places. I could tell how immersed I was in the game when it came to going through girders or even the centre of doughnuts, I found myself ducking or dodging sometimes. Oh yeah, about going through the centre of doughnuts I should really mention in the house and picnic tracks you very small, so everything is huge in scale.
Now lets speak visuals, the tacks and settings are really well thought out and I have only found a few faults with the visuals – but overall they are done really well. I found the detail in the settings are done to a high standard, be it items around the house, the bird and butterflies flying around the picnic or the space station in-front of Saturn in the space setting there will be moments you can help but look around. Now the few issues I found is some of the distant items are quite blurred (this stands out quite a bit in the picnic level) and I find the track can be quite edgy when it comes to visuals, especially when turning corners. One last warning is don’t look down at your feet, the bottom of the cart is missing, and looking down as you hit high speeds with the track flying by below can make you feel a bit sick.
When playing the game it is to be played seated, as outlined on Steam – I am sure Monster Paw don’t want people to fall over like you can find around the internet when people play these roller coaster experiences stood up. Of course the seated position is best for the immersion in the game as well, at the end of the day you are on a roller coaster in a cart. The only use for your controller is for navigating the menu and selecting the track, so feel free to put these down when you have selected your track.
With the four tracks the experience will last about ten minutes overall. But, Coaster comes in priced at £2.49 – so you can not really complain at that price. Yes, you may find it hard to go back and play it again once you have done the tracks, however, for me if you are going to go back to one Coaster will be the one. Also, if you have family or friends it’s a great introduction to VR or an experience you can show them.
Conclusion
Coaster is by far the best roller coaster experience I have had using VR, and also brings with a variety of tracks that offer great immersion. This is certainly worth the £2.49 it only costs, not only will you enjoy it, it is perfect to show family and friends as an introduction to VR or even if they have experienced it already.
Developer: Monster Paw
