Our First Experience With Virtual Reality at VR Here, Liverpool.

Before I start this blog, I must let you all know that neither me nor my husband are gamers. I’ve never played on a Play Station, or XBox and the last game my husband was ever hooked to was Pro Evo. But, we absolutely loved our time at the VR Here arcade!

I had to get that out there for any of my readers that might be thinking, how is this going to be relevant or interesting to us. Stick with me, and by the end I’m really hoping that you’ll fancy giving this place a visit.

Our Virtual Reality Experience

I was contacted by Bryan (Practically Geek on Twitter), to come and experience the VR Arcade. I said yes, as a rule of thumb for my 28th year of being Jessi, is I want to try things that I would usually shy away from. Thankfully, I was able to bring my husband along too, and knew there was a chance to play some games together, so already I was kind of hoping it was going to be mega fun.

When we arrived, Bryan showed us around the booths and explained how each of them work. There are 4 booths and each run off the highest form of Virtual Reality technology. There are headsets and headphones in each booth and they’re all connected to a suspended system above you so it is easy to move around with them on.

Getting used to the headsets takes a little while, they’re total black out, full immersion headsets. You need them on tight so they don’t come off whilst you’re playing the game. The controllers are great too, as they’re remotely connected to the game, so you’re free to move around with them.

The Games 

To get used to the feeling of Virtual Reality we entered an Under The Sea experience. You can walk around in your booth, without the worry of bumping in to anything, as when you approach the walls around you, a force field will appear in the game, warning you to step back or change direction. This is really handy, as you certainly become disorientated in there.

To get used to controlling the handsets we played a space game, where we had to defend ourselves against flying spaceships. We were using the controllers either as shields or lasers. It was pretty cool. Another warm up game had us using the controllers as bow and arrows. This was actually hard going as you actually had to fully pull the controller right back to fire the arrow.

Time to get intense

Once we both felt comfortable with the VR world, we were thrown in to an intense game. It was based in a spaceship and we were fighting off robots. It was actually like being in I-Robot. This was a double player game, so me and Ste got to team up and help each others characters survive. You are so immersed in the game that once the robots start coming at you, you forget you’re just in a booth, in Liverpool.

I loved playing this game, it felt great to pass through the levels. The controllers were guns, and remembering how to fire and reload them, at the same time as watching your back, gave you no time at all but to believe you were defending the galaxy.

I think if I were to go back and play, I’d really fancy a game of the Zombie World game. It looks a lot more intense and I imagine a lot more pulse racing.

If you fancy testing your fears as well, there is a “walk the plank” experience. The plank is suspended on a sky scraper, and even though I knew I was in a VR Game, I still couldn’t bring myself to step out on that plank. Madness.

VR Is For Everyone

I absolutely loved our VR experience, and would certainly try it again. I think there is a game experience for everyone, kids will love it, it’s a great idea for Stags and Hens, and it’s a unique gift for birthday’s and Christmas. It’s super easy to get to the VR Here Arcade, which is on Paul Street, just off Vauxhall Road in the city centre of Liverpool. I have linked their website so you can search for more information. The price of gaming starts at £20 for half an hour, and £30 for 1 hour, with £10 for each hour after that.

If you’re a new customer to VR Here, then when booking online use code “welcometovr” for £5 off.

Have you ever experienced anything like this before? What type of game would take your fancy?

Jessi xoxo

*Thanks to VR Here for inviting us to experience the arcade. This was a complimentary experience. All views and images are my own.