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0 You may not have heard of Brink Traveler before stumbling upon this review, but let me tell you something, you won’t forget it now. Developed and published by Brink XR, Brink Traveler aims to take you to locations that you may have only ever heard of. The developers captured all locations in volumetric 3D. Sounds good right? Let’s go explore this VR experience!
Take Your First Step
If you have Brink Traveler and want to join us as we explore new locations, why not tell us your favourite spots? Who knows, we might see you out there!
Gameplay
There isn’t much to the gameplay of Brink Traveler. Basically you choose a location, transport there and explore. This does the game a disservice though. As what it does incredibly well, is give you the true feeling of actually being there. Using your Quest controllers you can move around in the space giving you an opportunity to look around. Alternatively if you have a large enough play space, you can simply just walk. The walking area isn’t endless however and you are soon met with an invisible wall. These are usually positioned to stop you from falling off cliffs which is a great feature.
At each level, there are several viewing spots that you can traverse around using the compass. Simply look at your hand, hit the grab button then look around and simply match the circles on the screen. You can also interact with your AI Travel Guide by using the walkie-talkie. This enables you to ask questions about your current location and hopefully get some answers too! I really liked this feature as I could choose to simply enjoy the scenery or learn more about it.
Taking Notes
On your other palm is your notebook. This holds all the little snippets in each location. To find them you simply bring up your compass and look for the Polaroid icon with a question mark inside. This then will unlock a brief talking section and in some instances give you an interactive item to hold and look around. These snippets are great as they tell you some history about the location as well as some interesting facts.
Your notebook is also home to your in-game photos. Simply bring your hands together and do the camera gesture and the game will enter a photo mode. You can move the frame that appears around to get the perfect shot. You can even turn it into a selfie mode and get a nice record of where you’ve been.
Watch…out
The final piece of the puzzle is your watch. This is given to you in a nice little interaction while the game walks you through the controls. On the watch is the ability to go to the location menu, change the time of day, and enter the settings or the social menu.
The time of day switch is pretty good. Going from daytime to night time adds an emotive effect to the game. Looking up to see all the stars and the moon shining, reminded me how beautiful the world can be.
Graphics & Audio
With the photorealistic imagery on show as well as the incredible depth of some of the locations Brink Traveler looks stunning. The immersion is so brilliant, there is reason that the game warns you about steep locations! Each of the 44 locations are rendered so beautifully that you would be forgiven to forget that you weren’t actually there. Each location usually has a secondary animation, to remind you this isn’t just a picture. Some examples of these are birds flying in the sky, waterfalls, as well as hot air balloons.
On an audio level, aside from the tour guide, there isn’t really a great deal going on. You are fully immersed in the game and in fairness, any kind of soundtrack would naturally deter you from the visuals.
Longevity
Brink Traveler has 44 locations, and with more being added regularly, there is a lot to explore. Add to that hanging out with friends and strangers alike on the social side, you may well spend many an hour in the game. However, without any activities to take part in, there is also the potential for it to get stale pretty quickly. I see Brink Traveler as an experience rather than a game. One that enables people to visit locations that they can only dream of. For example, for people who may have a physical disability, giving them the freedom to see from some of the mountainous locations. Travel made accessible.
Final Thoughts
Brink Traveler has been out for quite some time, but being wireless on the Quest headset gives an incredible experience. Sending you on a journey around the globe to experience some once-in-a-lifetime locations. Brink XR are continuing to update the game and bring us new locations. Who knows, the next one may be somewhere you’ve already been.
Brink Traveler receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this review.
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