Discovering Space 2 (Steam VR)

System: Valve Index, HTC Vive & Oculus Rift
Price at Time Of Review: £6.99
Comfort Rating: Yellow (Mild Movement)
Genre: Educational
Input: Tracked Motion Controllers, Gamepad
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: No
Age Rating: PG

Description: A breath-taking space exploration experience in virtual reality. Take control of your ship and transport yourself to anywhere in the Solar System. Experience the mood and atmosphere of worlds far away from home. Feel the awesomeness and remoteness of deep space. Explore at your own pace, and learn about what you see. Come back with a new sense of amazement of what is out there.

Review: There is a very good reason we have seen so many Solar system explorers and education apps in VR. It’s because they are believable and in VR you get a really appreciation of size. So when it comes to planets and how big (or small they are) VR helps you to understand this easier than any educational video or TV program I have ever seen. But do we really need another solar explorer app? Before experiencing ‘Discovering Space’, I might have said yes to that question. But after playing I know exploring our own solar system has never been so much fun.

To start with you have the autopilot tour that is pretty much the same as every other space educational apps, including all the planets from our solar system and it’s moons. But with ‘Discovering Space’ you also get one of the best moon flybys I have ever experienced, I could have sworn I was there it was that good! But this apps pièce de résistance is the ability to take control of the space ship yourself and fly around our solar system at your leisure. You are literally free to travel anywhere within our solar system. Sadly there are no epic fly-bys with this mode, but you do get planet and moon markers helping you would ever need to learn about the space around us.

The autopilot flyby was good and the self-explorational mode was even better. But I just wish the two could have been combined. Something like No Man’s Sky only just a few planets. Very much like was done with the moon. Sadly what I want is just wishes, but what you get with this game is still a wish come true for anyone who loves the stars and wants to know more about our little corner of the universe. This is the best factual space explorer app you will ever download and a must for anyone getting into Planetary science.