It wasn't that long ago that Maze Theory allowed players to immerse themselves in the world of the long-running sci-fi franchise, Doctor Who, with the "found-phone" mobile game Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins. But now, the game developer is taking things further than ever before with Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, a first-person adventure game that expands on the previously released, VR-exclusive Doctor Who: The Edge of Time. Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality now brings the game to players on all consoles, plunging them into a world filled with Daleks, Weeping Angels and Cybermen.
While the gameplay at the heart of The Edge of Reality clearly appears to be intended for a VR experience, the video game makes for an incredibly fun and riveting time that allows players to make their biggest Doctor Who fantasies come true.
In Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, users play as a regular, nameless human who becomes the Doctor's new friend and companion. At the start of the game, players find themselves in a London-based laundromat, but it isn't long before reality tears itself apart thanks to a catastrophic threat known as the Reality Virus. With time and space essentially hacked, reality itself shifts between the world we know and broken, alternate timelines where some of the Doctor's worst enemies reign supreme. In order to help save the world, and the universe itself, the Thirteenth Doctor (voiced by Jodie Whittaker) enlists the player's help through long-distance messages.
You see, due to the Reality Virus, the Doctor is trapped at the edge of time and space by a new villain known as The First, and the Doctor needs her new human friend to locate three Time Crystals so she may travel back to the here and now. What follows is a string of adventures that leads players to stories that could have been lifted straight from the television series. First, we start off on some distant alien planet that leads to the decks of a spaceship. Then, it's off to Victorian-era London and, after that, ancient sandy catacombs, the remnants of a long-forgotten civilization. Through it all, players come across Doctor Who monsters new and old, and they have to solve several puzzles to find these Time Crystals, help the Doctor and, hopefully, stop The First from destroying all of creation.
As the Doctor's friend, users get to truly experience what it's like to live in the shoes of the immortal Time Lord. In The Edge of Reality, fans get to wield the Sonic Screwdriver, wear the casing of a Dalek to blast their way through an army of Skaro's worst enforcers, and even run alongside the fan-favorite Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). And, perhaps most importantly, players get to walk through the doors of the TARDIS and step into the Thirteen Doctor's golden console room. It's an incredible feeling, to finally be able to walk into the bigger-on-the-inside TARDIS, and experience that complete sense of wonder that, so far, had only been lived by characters on the television screen.
Now, you are the companion, and you get to walk through those doors. It's something that's only rivaled by the satisfying punch of playing with the TARDIS' controls, and pulling the lever that will launch you on an adventure through space and time -- an action that will undoubtedly leave you shouting "Allons-y!"
The first-person gameplay of Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality makes the video game an immersive experience that is thrilling, engaging and, yes, at times even downright chilling. From the dimly-lit laundromat and the Dalek-infested scrapyard that open the game to literally running away from an all-too-fast-paced Cyberman, The Edge of Reality will have you on the edge of your seat.
But nothing compares to the Victorian era-set level which has you exploring a Weeping Angel-infested crypt with nothing but a flashlight. The Weeping Angels are stone creatures that can only move when they aren't seen, and The Edge of Reality uses that to great effect in a level that this reviewer will admit left him yelping out on several occasions. This is one level you might want to play in the light of day, folks.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is a game for fans of the franchise. It places players in the thick of the action, and it doesn't hold back, offering players a story that makes full use of the VR-inspired gameplay, and that taps into the full potential of a video game-based narrative. The universe itself is at stake here, and The Edge of Reality truly shows what broken time and broken space can look like, in a manner that even the television series never could. With the next season of Doctor Who just around the corner, now is the perfect time to play The Edge of Reality. The video game is your very own Doctor Who adventure, and it's as big, daring, and frightening as you would hope. It's like stepping through the television screen and becoming a part of your favorite show.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Steam and coming to Nintendo Switch on Oct. 28. CBR was provided a copy by the publisher for review purposes.