When Adr1ft was announced at the end of 2014, the initial reports immediately compared it to Alfonso Cuarón's spatially dazzling thriller Gravity. At first glance this is not an unfair comparison. Both are near-future space adventures which are aesthetically similar, blending the deep black of space with the harsh whites of human endeavour and dramatic views of Earth in orbit. Moreover, both have become flagships for 3D, with Gravity helping to sell plastic glasses for cinemas and Adr1ft helping to sell plastic boxes for Oculus.
But if you arrive at Adr1ft anticipating thrills, spills and Sandra Bullock, you're likely to leave disappointed. In many ways Adr1ft is an anti-Gravity, a slower and more thoughtful affair for which the closest equivalent of an action-sequence is when you narrowly miss grabbing a passing O2 canister. I'd like to say this makes it a more fulfilling, intellectually satisfying experience. But if I'm being perfectly honest, I much preferred Dr. Ryan Stone whizzing around space with a fire-extinguisher.
Sadly, Adr1ft is not a very good game. It is a tremendous achievement in environment design, making use of 3D space in a way that few games do. It also has a couple of neat ideas, and the story which is scrappily tells is, overall, a decent one. But it's interactively barren and somehow manages to turn one of the most desperate survival situations imaginable into a monotonous routine.
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