Because No One Demanded It, Here’s a Guillotine Simulator for the Oculus Rift

Let’s face it — at one point or another, all of us have craved a video game that lets us relive all the most exciting parts of the French Revolution, only to be repeatedly disappointed by the glaring dearth of games that let you storm the Bastille or murder nobility in the streets. Thanks to a group of intrepid game designers, though, we’re one step closer to living the dream, as a 48 game design event has resulted in Disunion, a game for the Oculus Rift that simulates losing your head to a guillotine.

Developed over the weekend at Denmark’s Exile Game Jam by the team of Erkki Trummal, Andre Berlemont and Morten Brunbjerg, Disunion lets you finally experience the thrill of being decapitated before a throng of people screaming for chance to kick your severed head down the street like a soccer ball without the danger of that actually happening. So if you’ve ever wanted to see what a (particularly bad) day in the life of French nobility is like, this is your chance.

If you get a chance to play it though, you’ll want to have a friend there to issue a sharp chop to the back of your neck as the blade falls, as this small sample shows it’s pretty key to the “Oh my God I’m freaking the hell out what just happened?!” aspect of the game. And really, if you’re not looking for that moment of panic, why are you even playing a guillotine simulator in the first place?

While this isn’t necessarily on my must-play list — okay, the more I think about it, the more it probably is — it’s great to see some uses for the Oculus Rift that aren’t FPS-centric. Don’t get me wrong — I’m an FPS guy and I can’t wait for technology like the rift to make those games way more awesome. By the same token, though, it’d be a shame to see it turned into a glorified Call of Duty peripheral. There’s a ton of cool stuff that you can do with this sort of immersion, as Disunion demonstrates in a thoroughly unnerving manner. For once, having your head cut off could be just the start of something.

(via Gamasutra)

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