MIB: First Assignment VR Experience

At some point, we will stop framing reviews in relation to the pandemic. But not quite yet. Over the last year and a half, many immersive and location-based attractions closed, including virtual reality frontrunner The Void. Yet as things start to get back to some semblance of normal, a ray of light emerges! Dreamscape, a different top-tier VR company not only survived but just opened a brand new experience. It’s their second one based on existing IP. Get ready, agents, for Men in Black: First Assignment.

Back in Black

To make room for the new attraction, Dreamscape had to get rid of The Blu, the one about rescuing whales. It was beautiful but also one of the more passive experiences, so I understand the thinking. I’ll still miss it, as I think it’s a great introduction to VR for newcomers. And the whales aren’t completely gone…if you know where to look. The travel agency vibe of the lobby is the same, although I think the decorations and exhibits were spruced up a bit, including the addition of some suitably sci-fi weapons from MIB.

Something smart that Dreamscape does here is not try to connect this to any previous movie. There are no famous actors or plot references to anything. Instead, they treat Men in Black as an open-ended world to create something new. And when your digital avatar shows up in the headset in the familiar black suit, it’s exciting to be the protagonist in a world you’re vaguely familiar with but still has room for surprises.

Supermassive Black Hole

First Assignment DOES include familiar supporting elements–the talking pug, the worm-like aliens that love coffee, and the huge M.I.B. Headquarters with numerous aliens surrounding you, all going about their business. There’s a lot of detail and almost certainly some Easter Eggs. Once you get your suitably quirky assignment from an alien bureaucrat, you’re off through a colorful sci-fi adventure.

Because this is in the same room as The Blu used to be, the scooters are still there. Underwater before, they are now repurposed as kind of airborne jet-skis. Interestingly, although I was by myself on this adventure, I could see a full roster of agents with me. So you always experience this with a crew. It also seemed to borrow some of the flying mechanisms from Dreamworks Dragons: Flight Academy, with you steering and choosing a path between a few options that all lead to the same place.

There’s a lot to like here. The story is exactly the right tone for a Men in Black adventure. It’s silly but also galactically important. The settings and scenery are colorful, diverse, and definitely alien. One particular interaction with one of the physical props that are a hallmark of Dreamscape definitely made me chuckle. There’s also a good sense of speed on the “air-skis.”

Fade to Black

A couple of aspects didn’t quite work for me though. Re-using the scooters from The Blu wasn’t my favorite choice, since they force you to remain largely stationary, and I think the most immersive VR comes from being able to walk freely, as in Curse of the Lost Pearl. The energy blasts from the scooters also seemed a bit perfunctory. I know the story continues regardless of someone actually pushing a button, but it should still feel like I was accomplishing something, and it didn’t. Lastly, I thought it was an odd choice to not include any handheld weapons. Those big guns in the lobby implied a certain type of action, and the movies have no shortage of blasting aliens. Yet it was entirely absent from this experience. I suspect the reason is to achieve a family-friendly vibe for First Assignment. I approve of that in general, and think less shooting in entertainment is a noble goal. Still…its absence was notable here.

Men in Black: First Assignment is a solid entry and the MIB world is a fun one to play in. At a price point of $20 (still the same as pre-pandemic), it’s a good value and I still think Dreamscape is the ideal entry point to the world of VR. Curse of the Lost Pearl retains pole position as my favorite, but First Assignment is a step up from their previous adventure, the kid-oriented Dragon Academy. Dreamscape is open every day at the Westfield Century City, with departures every 20 minutes during peak hours. More information, including ticket purchasing, is available at their website here.