Smoke weed with Snoop Dogg or chase after the girl of your dreams in this outrageous 360 experience centered around a high school reunion.
Brought to us by writer/director Nora Kirkpatrick (The Office, Greeks) and produced by AOL VR production company RYOT, Door No. 1 is a comedic, multi-narrative VR experience loaded with various branching storylines, crude humor and even an impressive celebrity cameo.
Available now via Hulu VR, Door No. 1 puts you in the shoes of Alex, a high school graduate returning to his old stomping grounds at what may easily be the most dysfunctional educational facility on the planet. After reuniting with an overzealous school chum, it’s then up to you (Alex) how the rest of your evening plays out as gaze-based technology allows you to choose-your-own-adventure, unlocking linked, live-action scenes based on where your attention is focused. Relax and hang with the jocks, chase after your old crush, hit the dance floor for one last chance to “prove yourself,” treat the awkward girl to the night of her life, smoke weed with the unstable janitor in the bathroom, the choice is yours!
You’ll recognize many faces throughout the 10-20 minute adventure, such as Barry Rothbart (The Wolf of Wall Street), Ravi Patel (Wrecked, Meet The Patels), Steve Little (Eastbound and Down), John Gemberling (Broad City), Sheaun McKinney (Vice Principals), and Kyle Bornheimer (Casual), just to name a few. Of course the biggest appearance by far is Snoop Dogg, who makes a generous cameo depending at a certain point in the adventuyre on the choices you make. Don’t worry, it isn’t difficult to figure out where you might find him…
We actually had the chance to try out the comedic adventure ourselves during this years massive VRLA convention in Los Angeles, California. Sitting in a recreated imagining of the fictional high schools decorated gymnasium, we donned a Samsung Gear VR headset and immediately got to work avoiding the obnoxious high school bullies, politely declining the well-meaning, awkward girl, and making our way to meet Snoop – a move I assume many of our fellow convention attendees made as well.
There are moments where the script feels a bit forced and the acting a little too exaggerated, but overall Door No. 1 is an ambitious outing into the uncharted waters of VR comedy that had me genuinely laughing at times. Making decisions based on where my attention was focused also felt very natural, with many of my choices happening almost subconsciously.
Door No. 1 is available now on Hulu VR for the Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, and PSVR. For insight into the project, listen to our interview with writer and director Nora Kirkpatrick on the VRScout Report Podcast below:
Image Credit: Hulu VR
