{"id":253486,"date":"2024-08-12T13:29:22","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T13:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/12\/taskmaster-vr-doesnt-quite-deliver-on-the-promise-of-the-tv-show\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:12:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:12:33","slug":"taskmaster-vr-doesnt-quite-deliver-on-the-promise-of-the-tv-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/12\/taskmaster-vr-doesnt-quite-deliver-on-the-promise-of-the-tv-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Taskmaster VR doesn\u2019t quite deliver on the promise of the TV show"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>I\u2019m a huge Taskmaster fan. The UK TV show pits five comedians (or funny-adjacent celebrities) against ridiculous tasks that are then arbitrarily scored by the titular taskmaster.<\/p>\n<p>Given that the tasks involve lateral thinking and physical movement, on paper, <a data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2017-07-28-video-irl-july-2017.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:the TV show was ripe for a VR spin-off;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the TV show was ripe for a VR spin-off<\/a>. Think <em>Job Simulator <\/em>with added jeopardy, in-jokes and British whimsy. Unfortunately, Taskmaster VR doesn\u2019t deliver on the fun and charm of the show. Two points.<\/p>\n<p>After being teased (and available to wishlist) earlier this year, the game launched last week across Steam, Meta Quest 2 and 3, and Pro. I played the game briefly on Quest 2, the lowest-powered option, before shifting to the sharper screens of Quest 3.<\/p>\n<div class=\"caas-iframe-wrapper\" data-embed-anchor=\"f096f5c7-dea7-5cfb-b0f9-b9244fd6e21c\">\n<div class=\"caas-iframe youtube\" style=\"padding-bottom:56%\" data-type=\"youtube\">\n<blockquote data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GGtuSmHLUJI?rel=0\" scrolling=\"no\"><p><noscript><iframe title=\"Taskmaster VR - Coming 13th June &#039;24 | Taskmaster\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GGtuSmHLUJI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to play it on a headset like the Quest 3 or better. The basic Quest 2 makes the whole thing very grainy. But that\u2019s not the biggest issue. The problem is it\u2019s not a great VR game. Collision detection is rough, and while it\u2019s not the first VR title guilty of this, the fine motor control demanded of the game\u2019s tasks makes things a pain.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the first game involves you trying to make a sandwich, matching Alex\u2019s arcane sandwich request, plating it up, and putting it on the plinth, ready for judgment. However, you have to do all of that with a pair of spatulas. Opening a fridge with a spatula in real life is challenging enough; in a virtual world, it sometimes felt more like luck than dexterity whether I got that slice of bacon into my sandwich.<\/p>\n<p>In another game, I was to launch an egg as far as I could but land it in a frying pan. I struggled to keep a frying pan in the same place while constructing a poorly-considered ramp of pipes, boxes and wheelie bins. The in-game physics are so simplistic that most object surfaces behave the same. And my pan slid to the floor. Again and again and again. You can crouch in Taskmaster VR \u2013 when you drop the pan again \u2013 but the physics engine conveys a degree of momentum when you press the button to stand upright again, adding a \u2018bounce\u2019 to anything in your hand.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the games are multi-stage and expansive, which I appreciated. Circling back to the sandwich task, some ingredients need to be cooked \u2013 and you\u2019ll have to turn on the stove burners to do so. Once you\u2019ve made your sandwich, Greg, the Taskmaster will scrutinize the result. One slice of bread? He\u2019ll go on a tirade about open-face sandwiches. Wrong plate? Your score will be dinged again. Something inedible? He\u2019ll notice.<\/p>\n<p>There are also easter egg references to the show everywhere, from the tutorial onwards. Look out of windows; even the bushes and garden are filled with items and references only a Taskmaster fan would get. Do Americans think all Brits (I\u2019m a Brit) are this whimsical? I hope so.<\/p>\n<p>In another game, you\u2019ll have to rush around the entire Taskmaster estate (a tiny home and garden) searching for dog food, but only after you\u2019ve escaped the garage. The tasks are considered, but I wish there were more. The TV show is famous for comedians\u2019 unusual lateral thinking and solutions that the task makers didn\u2019t plan for. I haven\u2019t seen those possibilities \u2013 at least not yet.<\/p>\n<p>Why not mix up the codes for the safe featured in a watermelon smashing task? This would be especially useful if you\u2019re playing with other Taskmaster fans who want to try the tasks themselves. A little bit of random number generation would work wonders. Having said that, there\u2019s a Taskmaster VR Creative mode, where you\u2019ll be able to craft your own levels and tasks, which could add longevity if it finds an audience.<\/p>\n<p>The banter between Taskmaster and his assistant is tonally accurate, benefitting from using the voices of Greg Davies and (Little) Alex Horne, but their in-game models don\u2019t convey the weird, awkward charm of the duo. Maybe I\u2019m just a superfan, and my expectations were too high, but there\u2019s something about the sound quality (with lines recorded in a booth) that pulls you out of the illusion of being on a version of the TV show.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m unsure if I\u2019ll ever replay the entire game again. Fortunately, once unlocked, you can choose to play each task standalone, which is the perfect way for me to share the game with visiting friends.<\/p>\n<p>If the <a data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/scallywag.drawandcode.com\/taskmaster\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:team behind Taskmaster VR;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">team behind Taskmaster VR<\/a> can offer some new tasks through DLC (how about replicating a task from the next TV series?), this might be more of a draw. Their time starts now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/gaming\/taskmaster-vr-doesnt-quite-deliver-on-the-promise-of-the-tv-show-130005486.html?src=rss\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] I\u2019m a huge Taskmaster fan. The UK TV show pits five comedians (or funny-adjacent celebrities) against ridiculous tasks that are then arbitrarily scored by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}