Crow: The Legend VR Review

I first came across Crow: The Legend while browsing the PSVR store for free experiences. I decided to download it and put it aside. After all, how good could it be, I thought? The PSVR store is already riddled with a bunch of experiences that only showcase the potential of teh technology, but aren't good enough for mass consumption. That was my view until I actually bothered to check this one out weeks later.

The animation is very reminiscent of those DreamWorks animated productions, and this comes as no surprise since it's directed, written and produced by veteran animator, Eric Darnell, who worked on titles such as Antz and the Madagascar movies. The tale is something special as it's based on a Native American legend explaining how we came to know the crow as it looks like today. It essentially tells the story of Crow, a beautifully coloured but self-centred bird who will have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his friends from a terrible and neverending winter.

Clocking at 19 minutes, Crow: The Legend is a short but engaging experience. This isn't usually the case with a lot of VR experiences out there since I'm one with a short attention span. The simple fact that this one kept me going to the end speaks volumes of its quality. On its more technical aspects, the title also sports serious voice acting talent behind it, with the likes of John Legend, Constance Wu and Oprah Winfrey. I had no clue that Oprah could actually voice act, so I was surprised when she did. Overall, they all did a fantastic job at bringing the characters to life.

Additionally, the animation was irreproachable and I found myself fully immersed in the world and its inhabitants, thanks in part to the fact that you can actually interact with the environment in a few key scenes. That's right, if you're on PSVR like I was, you can use your move controllers to make the grass grow, make it snow, or even have the stars sing to you. The interactive aspect of this animation isn't absolutely necessary, but it's a really nice touch that I haven't seen other VR animations doing.

My only complaint is that since the film is in 360 degrees, I had to sometimes turn my head and look at the back to catch a piece of the action. I'm not a fan of that since those turns can cause some neck pain, not to mention it was rather uncomfortable to watch these scenes that way. To make matters worse, I was sitting on the sofa. Here's a note of advice: If you're going to watch this movie, make sure you do so standing.

Crow: The Legend isn't the first VR animation I watched but based on all of its strengths I noted above, it's easily the best I've seen so far. Baobab Studios, the team behind the animation also have other projects on the way and I have no doubt that whatever they decide to work on next will be as good or even better than what they offered up to this point.

In August of 2018, the Annie Awards set up a special award for VR animations, which this gem was recently nominated for. Now, big players like Disney have now entered the industry by announcing that they're working on their own VR animation as well. They too have realised the potential of this relatively new medium and are now exploring ways in which they can improve on it.

I always hear the naysayers say that the VR technology isn't there yet. I completely disagree. It's already here. What's lacking is not good tech, but the amount of great content. Compared to the terrific strides that the VR side of gaming has taken last year, I feel that VR animations are still only a blip on the radar. With titles like Crow: The Legend, I'm hoping more animators will start taking the medium more seriously. It deserves a second look.