The PlayStation VITA possesses some truly remarkable features, especially considering it’s a portable console that fits in the palm of your hand. Whilst there are several titles that put these features to good use there has yet to be one to truly capitalize on the augmented reality capabilities the VITA has. That was until Open Me escaped Sony Interactive Studios. This is a simple yet highly innovative PSN release that works on blurring the lines between reality and video gaming all whilst making your head hurt and your heart race.
Open Me revolves around opening a number of boxes (surprise, surprise) that are visualized using the Augmented Reality cards for the VITA. These boxes are locked in many different ways and require a combination of speed and an open mind (no pun intended) to unlock, especially as each box is a timed puzzle. The game includes one stage with 4 boxes however a further 13 can be downloaded for free from the PlayStation store. Each challenge uses the VITA’s touchscreen capabilities getting players to swipe, flick and tap the boxes in a hope that they’ll crack them open. Some boxes require a bit more lateral thinking however and Open Me encourages you to move the VITA around the box as the solution isn’t always head on. Open Me also enables players without AR cards to play, all they need is a flat surface in a well-lit room, however it would be really worth the extra effort of downloading and printing your own off the PlayStation website.
Although the premise of having to actively move around the virtual box that’s materialized on your lap is great, there are some immediate complications. To fully experience Open Me your best bet would be to play in a large room with a coffee table in the center so you’re able to wander the full 360 view on your VITA’s screen. As ludicrous as it sounds not many people carry a coffee table with them whilst on the move, in fact whilst on the move it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever find yourself in a comfortable location to start playing Open Me. This leaves it as a game to be played at home, a sadly limiting factor when it’s only available on a portable device.
Portability aside and back in that large room with a coffee table you start to realize that Open Me is actually really clever. Using the rear camera and the AR card, these boxes appear literally before your eyes, it’s immersion you can’t really get from any other game type. There’s something quite comforting about playing in an environment as familiar as your own front room, a novelty that thankfully doesn’t wear off. Getting to grips with this method of play, however, is a little trickier. The AR is completely dependent on the VITA system’s camera and therefore the visuals can get pretty shaky, depending on how stable you are. This also means when you’re manually thumbing every inch of the touchscreen to find the soft spot on the box, the image is going all over the shop forming a rather disappointing catch 22.
The boxes themselves are brilliantly designed and offer puzzles that are often a serious challenge and make full use of the VITA’s unique features. Open Me sells itself as a brain-training game and it certainly wasn’t joking. 8 boxes in and your gray matter will feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biceps. Some of the best challenges are the ones that require impractical movements and have you aimlessly walking around this invisible box. With that in mind it’s probably best not to play this with an audience, it’s surely quite a spectacle. Two other things that are worth mentioning is the irritatingly repetitive soundtrack (turn down game FX in the menu) and the constant requirement to accept the ‘terms of usage” everytime you boot the game. Hopefully the latter is dealt with in an incoming patch?
Alongside a single-player mode, there’s also a multiplayer mode enabling you to team up with another player to combine your intellect and unlock the boxes in half the time (well, hypothetically at least). Multiplayer mode brings totally new dynamics to Open Me, it raises the tension as you’re trying desperately not to look stupid or foolish in front of this helpful stranger whilst feeling so much more rewarding when your combined efforts crack a box open in record time. Each box has its own leaderboard meaning the replay value is limitless until you’re seeing cubes in your sleep and even then you’re able to design your own Challenge Box to get the PlayStation Network scratching its head at your cunning puzzle.
Open Me is undeniably clever, using aspects of the VITA you forgot it even had. Whilst the AR play is flawed, it’s an amusing novelty, which when combined with the deviously clever boxes, is actually really good fun. It’s certainly not a game designed for gamers, it’s more like the VITA’s response to Nintendo’s Brain Training Academy, take it all with a pinch of salt and the whole experience will taste a lot better. Open Me realizes the potential behind AR play and does so ingeniously, like any revolutionary peripheral it has its kinks to be ironed out but the principle remains: this is intelligent fun.
Have you played Open Me? What’s your opinion on the Augmented Reality play? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to add your own rating!
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