New Star Wars VR story invites you to step into Vader’s castle

Find me a worse boss than Darth Vader

Not to be overshadowed by Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, ILMxLAB has shown the first full trailer for Vader Immortal, a three-part “VR story series” for Oculus Rift and Quest.

The creators have gone out of their way to emphasize that this isn’t a “game,” but you will get to fend off blaster fire with a lightsaber and fight a droid, so there’s obviously some level of interaction.

I’m not expecting a mind-blowing VR experience, but it looks neat enough, and given where Star Wars is at right now in gaming, that feels significant. My favorite part of Vader Immortal has to be the setting. Vader’s fortress on Mustafar is gloomy and intimidating in all the right ways. It’s perfect for VR.

As noted by CNET, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode I will run for around an hour and it’s primed as a launch title for the Oculus Quest, the all-in-one VR headset due out later this spring. Along with the main story, there’s also a dojo for endless lightsaber training. I’m all about that part.

Also, your ears didn’t deceive you: that was totally Maya Rudolph.