‘War Remains’ Brings an Immersive Memory Home (Review)

I’m in a bunker, underground.

The sound of artillery is deafening. The ceiling is low.

Everything around me is rattling.

And moments before, I saw a shadowy, soldier-like figure get up and stumble away, with the door swinging open behind him.

I’m in the Western Front of The First World War.

But I’ve been here before. Kind of.

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War Remains, presented by Dan Carlin (known for his podcast, Hardcore History), has made its way from the festival circuit to at-home VR systems. The piece is directed by Brandon Oldenburg, and produced by MWM Immersive with development by Flight School Studio and audio design by Skywalker Sound. Previously presented at Tribeca Film Festival in 2019 as well as a pop-up in Austin, the experience was planned to tour to a third city when the pandemic hit. But, now, the creators behind War Remains have pivoted quickly, converting the multi-sensory free-roam experience meant to be experienced in a huge set (one measuring 25 feet by 25 feet) to something geared for at-home VR platforms like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Steam VR. It is a well-polished, time machine-like virtual experience meant to showcase all the ugliness of war through recreating a real historical war.

In my previous experience with War Remains, I explored the vast set wearing a VR headset, headphones, and backpack, and feeling my way around with my hands and feet. The new version is more of a linear experience where I step into a hot air balloon, walk around a trench, and witness a tank battle. This PC VR War Remains experience feels more like a “dark ride” with Carlin narrating, taking me from scene to scene with the rendered environments around me fading in and out at appropriate times. There are moments where I am literally propelled forward through the story through a smooth zooming motion and I start to feel slightly queasy, but they pass quickly. I do miss the feeling of the wind on my face that I recall from the first time I was lifted into the hot air balloon in the piece, and the rumbling beneath my feet that let the experience feel so real. And while technically the participant can try to walk around within each scene in this version, it doesn’t fundamentally change their experience and the footprint of each scene is fairly constrained.

Additionally, in this version of War Remains for the home, I lack in-VR hands and a VR body, when I look down. This change makes it even clearer that I am a mere voyeur or just a ghostly time traveller in this experience; it really feels like I’m walking around a well-executed movie set rendered in a game engine to some extent (tech development was done using Unreal Engine, so the graphics are high quality). While the well-written content itself remains stark and weighty, its effect is not as visceral as I’m not surrounded by shaking walls and floors this time around. I’m merely standing in my kitchen so I can really pay attention to the details. Though I did gasp at the addition of a (what I assume to be) a motion-captured soldier running off when I found myself in a trench and I also made sure to take the time to really look around at each exquisitely detailed environment. And the sound design remains excellent; Carlin’s voice still sounds like it’s lodged into my brain, as his dulcet tones pan whenever I swivel around.

There is a bit more distance between myself and the environment I find myself in this time around. Perhaps it is better this way given the state of the world; the PC VR War Remains experience feels a little bit shorter than the one I did last year, though it’s also possible that my memory is playing tricks on me. And I certainly feel a bit more removed than when I went through the location-based VR version; I also remember participants opting out of the multi-sensory experience before it was fully concluded, given how intense it can be.

But lucky for us: the at-home version does conclude with a wonderful credits sequence — one I don’t recall from the version I saw in early 2019. So while you might be tempted to take off the headset at the “end,” don’t; be patient as Carlin recites a passage from Paul Nash about the ugliness of war. His narration does a beautiful job of tying a bow on his detailed, thoughtful experience. War Remains demonstrates that VR for the home doesn’t have to be all about video games; it can transport us back in time and show us a slice of our shared history as well.

War Remains is available now for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Steam VR. The experience is $4.99.

Listen to our interview with associate producer Brandon Padveen about War Remains.

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