Taskmaster VR is a hilarious, well-designed VR experience that perfectly recreates the delightfully absurd world of the beloved show
I had never heard of Taskmaster, the British comedy show, before playing Taskmaster VR. But within minutes of starting the game, I was hooked on its unique hilarious concept. The show pits contestants against simple tasks given by 'Taskmaster' Greg Davies, who then judges their efforts along with his 'assistant' Alex Horne.
VR is the perfect medium to turn this into an interactive game. You play as a contestant in the virtual world recreating the Taskmaster house and studio set. Greg and Alex's banter and commentary felt so authentic, it was like being a part of the actual show. Their virtual avatars mimic the comedians' mannerisms and tone perfectly. The gameplay revolves around completing silly tasks within time limits, spread across 5 episodes. Locations include the backyard, shed, laboratory and TV studio set. Tasks can involve anything from stacking things so an egg can travel safely for as much as it can to controlling a robot through an elaborate obstacle filled course. Completing a task is easier said than done due to the intentionally absurd constraints.
Controlling objects with VR controllers adds an extra layer of challenge. But that's where most of the fun lies - messing about, coming up with ridiculous solutions on the fly and invariably failing in amusing ways. This perfectly captures the spirit of the show where success is secondary to the comedy of errors. Greg relishes mocking your hapless attempts while Alex eggs you on encouragingly.
After each task, they rate your performance with hilarious insults and backhanded compliments. Just keep in mind that British humor is an acquired taste so your mileage might vary. Some tasks also reference popular movies and TV shows to enhance the comedic value.
Once I got acclimatized to the controls, I started appreciating the game design. Tasks intelligently use VR interactivity, like throwing items into moving targets. Every task has multiple potential solutions to encourage creativity. Even seemingly simple tasks like sandwich-making turned into epic fiascos due to the absurd constraints. This keeps gameplay endlessly entertaining and fresh across multiple playthroughs.
Post-game, I got hooked on watching Taskmaster clips online for hours. Playing VR made me appreciate the comic brilliance of the show's format even more. It's amazing how easily this interactive video game manages to successfully transport that magical experience.
The level of detail in recreating the Taskmaster world is astounding. From the retro wallpaper and furnishings to iconic landmarks like Greg's giant statue, everything feels authentic. Freely exploring this familiar yet strange setting between tasks had me like a kid in a candy store.
The only disappointment was the lack of online multiplayer. While the single-player experience is fun, competing against friends online could have exponentially boosted replayability. Maybe that's coming soon in a future update. You see, there's already Creative Mode inside the game, although it is still in Beta, where you can spawn all of the objects and create taks which is perfect for challenging your friends in local play. Opening this up to support online play kinda makes sense so it'll be interesting to see if that's what is next for Taskmaster VR.
As nearly all other VR games, there's some jank to Taskmaster VR. Objects clip into each other or might fall through the world, throwing things properly doesn't like 90% of the times, you know, the usual VR specific issues things. Another thing that I need to mention is the performance. I played the game on a Quest 3 and while the frame rate is stable, I feel like it is currently below the minimum requirement of 75hz so the game doesn't feel smooth.
All things considered, Taskmaster VR is a hilarious, well-designed VR experience that perfectly recreates the delightfully absurd world of the beloved show. With incredible attention to detail, weirdly engaging puzzles and funny banter from Greg and Alex, this single-player experience kept me thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. While online multiplayer could have taken it further, this game more than achieves its goal of transforming Taskmaster into an insanely entertaining interactive romp. I highly recommended Taskmaster VR. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by the developers. Taskmaster VR is available on Meta Quest and PCVR.
