Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality Review (PC)

I sprint a little to get to some objects I need to complete one puzzle on the road to an important object. I should use the flashlight to make sure that I know the path but there are clear limits to where my unnamed character can go. I pick up the objects, sprint a little more. After 5 minutes of light puzzle-solving, I can move forward. More walking, this time with quite a bit of exposition delivered via voice track. Then another puzzle to work on. Doctor Who is a long-running series and has plenty of interesting backstory to draw fans in. But games based on it have long failed to connect mechanics with the universe in cool ways.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality was put together by Maze Theory Ltd. And Just Add Water Developments, with publishing handled by Maze Theory Ltd. Another Indie, and Neon Doctrine. I went through it on the PC using Steam, but gamers can also pick it up on the Nintendo Switch, the Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4. The experience is based on the core of the Edge of Time virtual reality release, which has been expanded to reach a wider player base.

The main character of this experience is not a Time Lord but he has the unenviable task of finding three powerful time crystals to save the Doctor, before trying to handle an even bigger threat, a newly introduced enemy that aims to subvert reality itself. Fan-favorites like Daleks, Cybermen, and Weeping Angels all make appearances. The story moves from the Doctor reality to alternate ones where his most capable foes rule after defeating him and his companions.

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David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker both lend their personalities to the game and deliver solid performances. But the overall idea is only as good as one of the more mediocre episodes of the actual TV show. It tries to pack too many well-known figures and references in too small of a space and suffers as a result. The most interesting character the story introduces is Emer, a ship-based artificial intelligence that offers context and companionship. It’s well-designed and might actually pop up in the show itself.

The gameplay of Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is simple verging on boring, with a tinge of frustration. The player will move his character around, trying to get to his objectives, and that involves dealing with puzzles. Activate an elevator. Find a way to burn some books. Use light in various ways. The sonic screwdriver is a ubiquitous solution to all problems that don’t require a more complex puzzle. It’s not very hard to make progress but there’s also no feeling of accomplishment.

It’s clear that the experience was converted, with some buggy textures and quite a few limitations to its environments. At times everything feels like a PlayStation 2 era game that somehow traveled through time to this year. There are plenty of so-called „walking sims” that I love because they can drive an emotional response and make me feel connected to characters. This Doctor Who themed project manages neither.

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And when the title manages to generate a modicum of immersion a bug appears and stops the limited amount of fun present. Make sure that you don’t fail some puzzles too many times or you might discover that there’s no way to make progress. The checkpoint system is also badly designed and let me down multiple times.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality looks like a game that has been converted from VR. There are some actually impressive vistas and moments, although putting more emphasis on weirdness would have served the setting well. But most of the time the play spaces are cramped, and the texture quality is limited. The voice work is mostly very good, especially when coming from either Emer or the two Doctors. The rest of the sound presentation fails to impress in any way, adding to a mostly mediocre presentation. This fictional universe deserves better.

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The Good

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