A co-op experience that fails to hit its mark.
Playing with friends in virtual reality (VR) is different from regular gaming.
To start, you either need to have a wealthy group of friends who own headsets – all of whom also need to share your interests in gaming genres. Alternatively, you can hope that the game is one of the few on the market that packages some form of asymmetrical co-op built in.
With regards to the latter, these games are made so one person can play fully immersed in their headset and the virtual world. Meanwhile, a partner is playing alongside the VR user – they’re just doing it on a console or smartphone.
While there are not many of these types of games on the market – Seeker: My Shadow, Covert, Waltz of the Wizard – they’ve all had varying degrees of success with what they offer.
While Covert on the original PlayStation VR was the best game of that group – thanks to its use of a smartphone to allow for the secondary player to make a real impact on the game – another new release is trying to take the mantle.
Elsewhere Electric developed by indie team Games by Stitch is a puzzle game that sees a VR player team up with another using an app on their smartphone. With one player in headset – tasked with making their way through a facility – another “in a van” but to make it easier they should be on the couch – uses their phone to relay information, provide assistance, and type in the strange pictographs to their device.
Communication is key to success in this game, with puzzles getting significantly more difficult as you make your way through the levels.
It’s funny then that a game which prioritizes communication, has no built-in comms channels. This essentially means that the only way to hear the person you’re speaking to, it by having them in the same room as you. While this is definitely the best method for gameplay, like Covert, Elsewhere Electric fails to allow for seamless online play.
It’s a good thing that the Quest headsets on which this is playable, have built in speakers – because headphones would not work well here.
At any moment, you’ll find yourself yelling panicked descriptions of the symbols you see to your companion. So, it just makes sense that whomever you play with would be local. Adding a little extra immersion to the game though wouldn’t be the worst thing, after all your partner is sitting in a van while you wander through a dark, scary building; so why wouldn’t it make sense if you only hear your partner through a computerized chat channel.
If the developers had thought ahead, and built in a communication system to the game, this would probably be much better received as you’d be able to jump online and find someone with whom to play.
Instead, if you have no one to play with, this game won’t be for you.
In addition to being able to punch in the codes, your companion can move cameras, lights and even see if there are enemies around you. Now enemies is a bit of a strong word since no one ever really “attacks” you, but there are invisible things that steal the energy you collect to power the facility.
Now that we’ve covered gameplay, let’s talk about graphics.
For the most part, what you see on marketing materials for the game, is what you get when you’re in headset. Graphics are underwhelming, with issues making things in game look wonky and sorta distorted. It’s very reminiscent of graphics in games like Retronika or UnLoop, where you’ll see bright but blocky graphics. While the former game is free from bugs and the latter has yet to release, Elsewhere Electric certainly fits into the “futuristic but not so much” vibe when it comes to visuals.
As you progress through the game, your smartphone using friend will gain more abilities to help you along. This is where the need to explore comes in, as you won’t want to miss these upgrades that can help you move forward with ease.
Aside from this, there isn’t much left to Elsewhere Electric. And honestly, it’s not currently worth the asking price. Unlike other escape room games, there’s far too much of the same here and in order to make this better, the devs would have had to craft a more rounded experience that allows for more variety of content.
Overall, the new asymmetric game from Games by Stitch can be fun and engaging for the right users.
Despite the shortcomings and features that were left on the cutting room floor, Elsewhere Electric can be a fun experience that works well when you and your co-op partner are in sync.
Solving a difficult puzzle after playing a game of poorly thought-out Pictionary can feel fulfilling. However, this doesn’t happen often in game.
Instead, the game feels like a chore with no sufficient reward, as you slog your way through turning the power back on.
Or perhaps, the greatest reward is knowing that Elsewhere Electric isn’t going to be for everyone, and that you should wait for a massive sale discount.
Elsewhere Electric, was reviewed on the Quest 3 after purchasing from the Quest store at full price.
