Last week we got a dream team of Star Wars fans together to take on The Void’s latest Hyper-Reality experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire.
Secrets of the Empire is a 4 player VR adventure set around the ‘Rogue One’ era of Star Wars. It’s an immersive team-based shooter game ala Time Crisis but actually walking around in a real space and interacting with physical as well as virtual sets.
Based in Westfield in London, The Void has an impressive setup. The large custom venue mirrors its big brother in Disneyland and boasts almost as many features.
Once you’ve booked your time slot, its a case of waiting in line, which on a weekday evening really wasn’t that long, and was very well managed until it’s your teams turn to take on The Empire. After suiting up into what I can only describe as the impressive tech riot gear that makes up their untethered virtual reality setup, you are ushered into your mission briefing.
Cassian informs you that you four must take his place on a top-secret mission for the Rebels. Disguised as Stormtroopers you are to infiltrate a base on Mustafa and figure out what top-secret asset being transported. Then it’s visors down and straight into the mission…
You can see yourself and your teammates as Storm Troopers and the environment is impressively detailed. K-2SO pilots you in and acts as your mission leader complete with quips and humour as you shoot your way through the base, pulling the odd switch and solving the odd mini puzzle along the way, but mostly shooting.
Being a ‘fun house’ style setup you walk through corridors & move around the environment in a way I’ve never experienced in VR before. When you cross a ramp to exit a ship it feels high, the wind is actually hitting your face and the heat of the lava far below is tangible – literally, as they use heat lamps and fans to take this for virtual to hyper-reality.
The only thing to bear in mind is that this experience is only 15 minutes long for the over £30 per player price tag. It’s well worth it however for its uniqueness and the impressive immersive feeling it gives. Just don’t look down walking over those ramps if you are afraid of heights!
You can play Star Wars; Secrets Of The Empire at The Void in Westfield shopping centre in London: https://www.thevoid.com/locations/london
