Sure, it doesn’t really sound all that glamourous. However, Job Simulator seems to be able to make the most mundane tasks fun to perform, while mixing in some great humor to lighten the mood. You have four job cartridges to choose from in the main hub: Office Worker, Gourmet Chef, Auto Mechanic, and Convenience Store Employee. When you choose a job and put in the cart, you’ll be transported into that world.
My first attempt was becoming an office worker, a job which I’ve done to some extent in the past in real life, and it’s not fun at all. But, in virtual reality, I ended up with a stupid grin across my face for the entire time. The game gives you one task at a time, and reminds you that you typically like to start your day with a hot beverage, which prompts you to look around your cubicle and find the mugs, and the coffee machine. You can use your PS Move wands to twist items around, throw them in the air and catch, or throw at other virtual co-workers if you don’t like them. Little things make a difference in all games, including VR titles. I love that you can hear the sound of drinking or eating when you do the applicable motion using food and drinks.
My favorite job was likely being a gourmet chef. I love cooking, I’ve done the job on numerous occasions, and there’s lots of possibilities of what you can make. You can swap between a blender, flat grill, hot pot and more. At one point you’re tasked with making soup for a dining customer, and you can literally put whatever you want in the pot from produce to broken glass from a bottle. When it boils down, you’ll have good laugh as you end up with a labeled can of soup, resembling a Campbell’s soup can. Oh, don’t forget to feed the fish… they love bread!
Each task you are given has some level of common sense attached to it, but the game doesn’t completely hold your hand and tell you everything you need to do. Sometimes it takes things very literally, like burning a CD so you have some music. You had better have a lighter handy. It pokes fun at real life in so many ways and it’s guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.
Each of the four job simulations takes around 45-60 minutes to complete, sometimes a little longer if you’re not really sure what you have to do. Because of the short nature of each simulation, I do think the game should be $5-$10 cheaper, but admittedly I had a blast with each position included in the game, and there’s lots of fun little actions you can perform to interact with the world in unexpected ways. However, each person is different and some others don’t see the same level of enjoyment as I did.
Job Simulator VR is definitely one of my top five titles, maybe even top three but I’m still working through this new library of games to play. I’d really love to see some DLC jobs become available, provided they cater the same amount of gameplay and offer new ways to make fun of the given job. Of all the games I’ve played via PlayStation VR so far, Job Simulator has proven to be the most immersive so far. I literally forget about the real world for the time being.
Rating | Description |
8.5 | Gameplay Fully interactive environments with so many possibilities of what you can do. I would like to see more jobs become available though. |
9.0 | Graphics A colorful, blocky world, similar to that of a LEGO world in some aspect. It's lively and fun, and easy to forget that you're not really there. |
8 | Sound Not so much present for a soundtrack, but the computerized voice acting accompanied by well-written dialogue makes for a good time. |
8.5 | Final Score |