System: Valve Index, HTC Vive & Oculus Rift
Price at Time Of Review: Free
Comfort Rating: Green
Genre: 360 Video and Animation
Input: Keyboard & Mouse
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: No
Age Rating: 18+
VR Shop Score 1/100: 5
Description: Across the Line is an immersive virtual reality experience that combines 360°video and computer-generated imaging (CGI) to put viewers in the shoes of a patient entering a health centre for a safe and legal abortion. Using real audio gathered at protests, scripted scenes, and documentary footage, the film is a powerful hybrid documentary-fiction depiction of the gauntlet that many abortion providers, health centre staff, and patients must walk on a typical day in America.
The experience consists of three scenes. We begin inside the health centre, finding ourselves in an exam room with a young woman and a compassionate doctor. The scene fades as we travel back in time to follow the patient and her friend as they drive up to a health centre lined with protesters holding graphic signs and shouting.
The final scene uses computer-generated graphics. The viewer becomes the patient and must navigate a group of intimidating protesters shouting highly offensive remarks aimed at shaming and stigmatizing the patient. The audio montage, captured from protesters across the country, anchors the viewers experience in the reality of what thousands of people across the country face during anti-abortion protests outside of health centres.
Review: I am sure there are better ways to get across the controversial topic of abortion than with a poorly made app that doesn’t really show anything other than how not to act. Coming from Europe I struggle to see why this is something people are campaigning about anyway, but it seems in America it is a political stance rather than a personal one. This was a non-interactive VR experience that I could have done without and I see almost zero reasons why anyone would download it. If you are going to make something like this, at least bring both sides of the argument. Besides, you can just watch the 360 video below and experience the same thing even without a VR headset.
