System: Valve Index, HTC Vive & Oculus Rift
Price at Time Of Review: Free
Comfort Rating: Green
Genre: Non-Interactive Experience
Input: Tracked Motion Controllers, Gamepad, Keyboard & Mouse
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: No
Age Rating: 15+
VR Shop Score 1/100: 75
Description: Experience the Kokoda story as you’ve never seen it before – in stunningly detailed, 360-degree Virtual Reality. Brought to life in real 3D locations and featuring original museum artefacts, historical interviews and videos; this interactive story lets you witness the famous Kokoda Track campaign of WWII. Across 12 chapters, spanning from June to November of 1942, the main events of the campaign play out, allowing you to see first-hand the equipment used, the men involved, the victories and failures.
A free Augmented Reality (AR) app is also available for mobile devices, for those that want to take a closer look at real 3D models of the weapons, equipment and uniforms used and the unique stories behind them. This experience comes with a full suite of educational resources linking app content to year 9 of the Australian History Curriculum.
Review: I love these WWII story experiences as I feel VR is a great medium for getting the emotional side of the story across by putting you into the same action as the person was. Kokoda VR is one of those non-interactive VR experiences that anyone with an interest in war stories or indeed the Kokoda Track campaign in particular. It’s free, it sounds amazing even if it looks a little basic, but it does a good enough job to make it emotional and interesting for the duration which is not long at all. Why not give it a go yourself and let me know what you thought about it in the comments below.
