Taskmaster VR

I wanted to love this game. I love Taskmaster the TV show, and the concept for the game and silliness of the tasks are totally there! However, even with adjusted settings to help with motion sickness, this game was so nausea-inducing that it is completely unplayable for me. There is something about the way the game is designed that makes me so ill. The banter was a bit lackluster but I think that ultimately is something inevitable given the improv and interactive nature of the show. Ultimately the reason I can't recommend or finish this game though is because of the motion sickness.

Played on Valve Index: Controls are a buggy mess. Grabbing things is overly sensitive so you have to play with your hand wide open to not accidentally grab things. Teleport and turn are assigned to two different thumbsticks with no option for it to be the same stick. If you use control "Type 2" to swap the teleport and turn then the game also swaps the crouch button which makes it the same as the menu button, this leads to a super annoying bug where if you open the menu and close it you are permenantly crouched, only way to fix is exit task or swap control schemes. The physics feel off. This is most apparent in the very first task where you need to use spatulas as hands. Things stick, flip, fly, and it just feels off. The tasks: This is where the game was supposed to shine. The first task plays like a simon says, the second task plays more like an escape room (I'll admit this one at least gave me TM vibes, and being a fan of the show helped me clear this one easier), the finale task of the first episode was okay, kinda felt in spirit of TM. Now the fourth task "Little Eggy Eggy Eggy" is where I got very dissapointed. This was the first task to actually feel like a creative TM inspired task. I tried so many different things and NOTHING would work the way expected. So to give background, the task is: there is a pipe hanging at roughly head level with a big drop to the ground and a lot of open space in front. You need to drop an egg through the pipe and have it land in a frying pan but you want it to cover as much distance as possible. Alright, so first thing I did was look all over the place, and I found some pipe pieces that are identical to the one set up already. Cool. I also found some bigger pipe pieces that LOOK like they would fit perfectly over. It was a plumbers dream. Until the game won't let you connect them.... Or how about leaning things so the egg rolls down? Did I mention how loosey goosey the physics were? I could never get stuff to stay right. This is also possibly because of the controls and fighting with them the whole time. Oh, and at one point the frying pan you need to put the egg in got stuck in the table so I had to restart the task. Now for the Taskmaster fans: The format of the game is completely different. There are no other competitors and the way your tasks are judged is very... gamey, and not TM like. The only good parts for fans is the voice acting and writing. Overall: Some of these issues can be fixed like the controls, and the physics. Some are just design choices that feel okay for a generic VR game, but feel like a let down for a Taskmaster fan. I will update this if/when patches come out.

As a fan of the show, I was looking forward to this and I was not disappointed. The feel of the show is there. Having Greg Davies and (Little) Alex Horne voice themselves was great. If i had any critiques it would I just wish there were more varied types of tasks, a multiplayer of some kind and more playful banter between Greg and (little) Alex. That being said, I love this game and I look forward to more content.

Almost - but not quite - fun. This game isn't like watching Taskmaster, it's like filming an episode - which very different from each other. If you haven't a friend over to watch you flail around, it's no very fun. If the task is like an escape room, it's pretty good - smash Melons, find keys - that's okay. When the task is more like taskmaster proper, "drive this robot around and cling glasses together" it quickly becomes tedious. Can I go to the kitchen, get a knife and cut the glass from the string, so I don't have to drive through the parkour? Well, I can get a knife, but cutting string/rope isn't programmed in, so no - you can't. You can only be as creative as the developers anticipated. Tasks involving throwing stuff (especially studio tasks) suffer from the zero weight syndrome of VR - Melons and ping pong balls may simulate different weights, but you can't tell. While you aren't disorientingly pushed out of solid objects anymore, I still got stuck on doors, one hand on the wrong side or furniture exploding around me. The scoring can only work by some numerical thresholds, so I'm not surprised Gregs banter is disconnected from reality, but it's also inconsistent, telling me what a high percentage of bubbles I popped - just to give me 3 points regardless. I don't feel accomplished by playing an episode and scoring 0-3 points each task, which weren't fun to do. As long as I'm playing alone, this just feels like wasting time.

Good for fans of taskmaster, just don't be too near a wall...!

First off, I really like Taskmaster and have seen every series a few times now. I was super excited about getting this however.. I'll go over the good points first. [b]The good:[/b] It's Taskmaster, it's familiar with the audio, sounds and musical queues. The dialogue too is great if a little... Greg talks then Alex says his line. Doesn't flow great but the unique dialogue is good. [b]The bad:[/b] The controls are awful, you've probably heard "jank" but it's so difficult doing anything. I was attempting to make a ramp in the 2nd game and boards wouldn't stay, would fly off or would simply fall through the world. It's clunky. As above I like the "familiar" with the series but the art style... I'm not sure what they were thinking, it's way too cartoony, Greg and Alex look okay? (Greg looks very evil all the time for some reason). But the familiarity of the house is off because it's so bright and colourful. A more realistic approach would have been better. The studio audience is freaky too, they're completely black figures with blinking eyes, and the cameras are operated by ghosts. It needs realism, and other guests? Co-op? I'm torn, I will attempt some more tasks tomorrow and either refund or keep the game. This is my longest review for a game ever but just want it to improve. I did like all the easter eggs at the start too.

Unplayable on the Quest 2. I love the show but as is can't recommend, and will be refunding.

So far, unplayable on Vive because it would not let us map controllers or buttons. There is no way for me to move. The game assumes you have one type of controller. This is the first game out of TONS of VR games that will not let me play. Very sad, was looking forward to this. How do you get basic VR moving wrong? Please patch soon, I want to play! :(

I've only played episode one so far, but I think I've played enough to give a recommendation, mainly for fans of the show. I will say that this game has some frustrating things in it. The way the engine is designed makes this game feel like it was made 5 years ago. For example, when I had to make a sandwich using spatulas, one of my spatulas phased through a cupboard door and got stuck. Also, objects in the game feel like they are made of paper. They have no weight to them and they all feel slippery, like they are covered in dish soap. in the 3rd task, I only managed to hit bowling pins with one melon out of 10. I got 3 of them, but that's not the point. You're going to want to practice your VR throwing because it is not like throwing in real life at all. These frustrations are not enough to ruin the game, but it does diminish the fun and I hope patches come soon. So I still recommend it and I look forward to playing some more, but know what you're getting into. Also, turn on the Half-life: Alyx style item pick up mode in the menu. Why that's not on by default, I do not know, but it helps tremendously.

Unplayable. Items get stuck inside each other and go flying. Controllers just won't move. Height settings are glitchy. Either too tall to reach anything on the floor or i am just on the floor. In the second task i couldn't see anything on the boards bc i was too short and the writing was so small. Not being able to see the writing is probably impacted by my visual processing problems but still too small. Game is probably fun if you have the patience for it but as a disabled person it's absolutely not bc i'm having to fight with my disability to play it and the game as well lol.