Robinson: The Journey
VR adventure is impressive but a bit short on gameplay.
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Robinson: The Journey
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Robinson: The Journey is a first-person virtual reality adventure game that drops you onto a planet teeming with dinosaurs. You must solve puzzles, avoid obstacles, and stay alive. There's some violence, such as seeing a T. rex eat another dinosaur or get crushed by debris. But there's no blood or gore, nor is there any other controversial content, such as sex, drugs, or foul language.
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What’s It About?
ROBINSON: THE JOURNEY is a first-person adventure game. You play as Robin, a boy who becomes stranded on a planet called Tyson III after a spaceship crash-lands there. Your resourcefulness is put to the test, as you must stay alive among man-eating dinosaurs and other threats and obstacles that stand in your way. With the help of a floating artificial intelligence (AI) orb called HIGS and a baby T. rex named Laika, you'll solve puzzles, collect memory cells, and test your reflexes as you search for survivors and try to find a way off this brutal planet.
Is It Any Good?
This beautiful adventure title gets a lot right with its presentation while it also falls short in some ways. Robinson: The Journey has a breathtakingly beautiful world that looks like it's ripped out of Jurassic Park. It's easily the best-looking game for PlayStation VR, with dinosaurs and lush jungle environments that are something to experience. Climbing and running from a first-person perspective is presented in a way that really makes you feel like you're there. But it can be difficult to handle and manipulate some objects, which unfortunately breaks the all-important suspension of disbelief.
Most of the puzzles are quite good, especially for fans of the old point-and-click graphical adventure games popularized in the '90s. Don't expect a run-and-gun shooter here, because that's not what Robinson: The Journey is all about. A good story, a cheeky AI companion, and environmental puzzle-solving is what you'll get out of this single-player title -- all wrapped in an immersive, 360-degree and near photo-realistic world. The lone issues are that the game is short (at about two to three hours), and the path to success is quite linear, so there isn't much replayability. It's also too bad that it costs between $40 (disc) to $60 (download), because it would be a lot more compelling as a $20 title like Batman: Arkham VR. Still, it's gorgeous, challenging, and a great showcase of what virtual reality is capable of.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about screen-time limits. Since virtual reality gaming can be more immersive than regular gaming, how do you effectively manage screen time?
Talk about virtual reality. Is this game a great showcase of what virtual reality is capable of, or is it more of a tech demo? Should we be embracing this new technology for the "wow" factor, or can it truly be an innovative art form that can transport you to new worlds?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
- Release date: November 8, 2016
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Dinosaurs, Magic and Fantasy, Adventures, Robots, Science and Nature, Space and Aliens, Wild Animals
- ESRB rating: E for Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language
- Last updated: October 30, 2019
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