Aboard the Cerberus
Learning ∙ Travel & ExplorationClimb aboard the historic HMVS Cerberus and travel through time alongside the Cerberus crew, as you stand in the shoes of a stoker, a helmsman, a gunner and finally don the gold-laced cap of Executive Officer.
Cerberus was the first British warship to be powered purely by steam and is the only remaining breastwork monitor class warship left in the world. She is now being used as a breakwater at Half Moon Bay (Melbourne, Australia), settling lower each year beneath the waters.
This significant piece of Australian naval history has been digitally revived in all her glory, welcoming you to experience life as part of the Victorian Navy.
From Cerberus’ maiden journey to the war scare of 1888, you’ll grow with and develop a sense of camaraderie toward your fellow crewmen. These include friendly new faces, as well as revered historical figures, such as Fleet Engineer James Breaks and Captain Alan B Thomas.
The bugle is calling and it’s time to raise steam. All aboard!
| comfort | ⦾ Not rated |
| age rating | 0+ Everyone |
| website | liminalvr.com |
| developer | LiminalVR |
| publisher | Liminal VR |
| connection | Internet not required |
| app version | 0.2.3 |
| languages | English |
Reviews 1
Library of Realities.com review:
Basing a VR experience on a warship that never saw any action or other notable event is something of a bafflement, but the experience does offer insight into what it took to operate a piece of late nineteenth century naval engineering.
Aboard The Cerberus is predominantly a hands-off experience, a 35 minute presentation that takes part in key positions around the ship with brief moments where you'll need to shovel some coal or winch a gun to continue. The interactive elements might add some fun for younger audiences and the script does provide meaningful enlightenment, but the story is told at slow pace that it struggles to engage. Graphics are uninspired for a 2022 experience, but they do illustrate enough detail to be educational.
Though this is mostly a stationary experience you'll need to be standing to see whats going on around you. Poor camera placement makes it difficult to enjoy as a seated experience, and the lack of snap-turning support is unforgivable for a modern VR production.
Overall Aboard The Cerebus is underwhelming in both subject and presentation. The basic interactive features and the limited viewing positions don't make for a compelling virtual reality experience, and if you're interested in the subject matter we honestly think you'd be more comfortable with the static YouTube playthrough that we've embedded below. Also, for an app that hopes to educate we were disappointed that the production team didn't seem to know the difference between the words naval and navel in the credits sequence.
✅ Detailed storyline with educational content.
❌ Slow presentation that's hard to engage with.
❌ Basic VR interactions don't add much value.
❌ Stationary but not suitable for seated experiences.