Ocean Rift is a VR game on the Oculus Quest where you explore and swim with many marine animals. The player can choose which animal to interact with by walking up to it, and pressing the ‘A’ button on the controller.
Gameplay: There are four main stages of gameplay that all involve swimming with different animals in different environments. The first stage of gameplay is walking around and seeing many of the marine life through windows in an aquarium-like setting. Each animal can be seen when closer to their tanks, however, this isn’t necessary because you will see them throughout your experience in different habitats. The second stage of gameplay are mini-games that allow you to interact with dolphins or sharks. You would use gestures such as punching or high fiving for the dolphins, or mimicking their movements for the sharks. The third stage of gameplay is swimming with whales. There are different pods you can swim within this stage, each one being very interactive and unique to other whales. The final stage of gameplay is the ‘playgrounds’, where you can freely explore without having to worry about interacting with animals.
Some favorite parts of the game that I enjoyed include getting to play around with a turtle, playing catch with a humpback whale, petting stingrays and watching orcas at play. My least favorite part was not being able to interact with some animals whose tanks were too far away from me because I could only reach them by jumping or climbing onto rocks whereas other tanks within my reach had easily accessible buttons on the ground that would allow me to pet or play with those animals.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this game was how life-like some of the animals were, as opposed to other games where they look more cartoonish. In Ocean Rift, it seems as if you’re actually swimming alongside a real sea turtle. You can even see his eyes looking around and following objects above him. Or when playing catch with a humpback whale, he will sometimes jump out of the water and make a splash effect before diving back down below which makes you feel as if you’re actually throwing a ball to a playful animal that won’t close its mouth around it just yet!
In conclusion, I do recommend Ocean Rift because being ableto interact and play with many different marine animals is fun, especially when they are life-like. I dislike how some animals’ tanks were too far from the doors leading up to them, but other than that the game does not have any major drawbacks in my opinion.