If you have played Vader Immortal on the Oculus Quest or the Oculus Rift S, you know how fun the game is. throughout the three episodes, you become very familiar with the force. Having the force is something many dreamt of while they watched Star Wars, and this VR title from ILMxLab gave millions the ability to impact the world in a way many thought was impossible.
Ben Snow, the director of the entire Vader Immortal series had a few interesting things to say about the direction of the series. This game wasn’t always going to be a game. In a video that Snow was making with Tested, the director pointed out the direction of the series before the launch.
Snow speaks about how the game was originally going to be a fly-on-the-wall feel, and be experienced through a passive character that was never really there. His exact statement says that “It was originally going to be a fly on the wall narrative where you essentially observe the goings on,” Snow explained. “And so the first prototype that I became involved in, we were essentially trying to grey box/proof out/pre-viz the first script that he [David S. Goyer] had written.”
If you have been following virtual reality for a hot minute, you’ll remember when the studio first teased the Star Wars VR series. All the way back in 2016, we got a good look at what the vision could be. The community didn’t see the idea come to a trailer and news until late 2018. In that two-year absence of news, many wondered where the idea was and if it was still going to come to life. In that time though, The Void added a VR Star Wars Experience. In hindsight, Snow says that the Secrets of the Empire played a major role in Vader Immortal becoming what it is today.
“So we kind of put Vader Immortal, or what became Vader Immortal on hold and then focused on this interactive experience, ” Snow continued. “And it was great because it gave us a chance to step back and say “You know what? People are going to enjoy this more if they are not the fly on the wall. They’re in VR, it’s really disappointing to stand in VR and watch two other people have a conversation around you. We want you to be part of it.””
After Snow decided the game was going to the the route of an interactive experience rather than a film, it didn’t change much. The first pitch was very similar to the cells that you wake up to inside of the first episode.
“We finished that, showed it and everyone was like “Yeah, this is the way to go with it,”” Snow concluded.
This is what changed the course of the Oculus exclusive, and in turn, changed Star Wars in VR as we know it today. A VR film would’ve been fun, but we are certain that using the force in VR is a lot better. For more VR news and gaming news, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
