BATTLESCAR: Punk Was Invented By Girls

As a Gen-X guy who grew up on 70s Punk, Battlescar is a compelling, authentic tale that captures what it was like during that era. What's on offer is an approximately 30-minute story, rendered (beautifully) in VR with 3D models--it's a lot more compelling than it probably sounds. The artists did an exceptional job, including small details many folks won't notice but lend authenticity. For example, early in the story there's a tiny poster for the grindhouse film "Amin" which played on 42nd Street for years. This is adult-only fare as it contains copious depictions of heroin, cocaine, glue sniffing, and violence. Kudos to everyone who worked on this because everything from the voice performance to the animation, to the music/sound-design is executed perfectly. The film is non-interactive and can be experienced seated or standing. If the price seems fair to you for an extremely memorable 30 minute film then absolutely grab it--I'm glad I did.

Deep story. Decent visuals. Nothing mind blowing but worth a watch!

Wow!! Was not expecting such a deep and powerfully dark story. This one is for adults only and unlike any immersive animated film I've seen in VR. Very edgy with a lot of style!! Loved it!!! The devs of this short film should be super proud because they've created a masterpiece. We'll done!! 🔥🔥❤️❤️✌️

Really good. Get it.
Warning: drug use.

Battlescar: Punk Was Invented by Girls is an animated virtual reality short film set in 1978's New York City, focusing on struggles in young life and finding identity. The tricks of VR are used well here to keep the viewer engaged as the story of two teen girls unfolds, depicting life on the dangerous and grim city streets while striving for expression through punk rock music.

The camera is rarely in the same place twice as scenes cut between immersive shots, overhead views and animated sets that play with scale and look like miniature stages. Text and doodles from the main character's journal hit the screen as they punctuate and echo the dialog of the story and the emotion. Great color and lighting sets the atmosphere, though we found visuals to be lacking in detail and design flair, particularly on the principal characters. Thankfully Rosaria Dawson's masterful vocal performance lends a depth to the characters that makes up for any shortfall in the graphics.

It's hard to find a new tale to tell and Battlescar's 30 minute story is somewhat generic, though thankfully the high production values keep this short film interesting throughout. We were a little underwhelmed by the ending however - the final act took a turn that lacked foreshadowing or reason in a way that felt under developed.

Battlescar is available on Meta Quest and Oculus Rift devices. Though it's also available on Steam, reports suggest that the app will not function on non-meta headsets so we can't recommend it on that platform. Controllers aren't needed for this app, and though snap-turning is not available it is mostly unnecessary as all the scenes are positioned within a 180 degree viewing angle.

✅ Story told in an engaging way with plenty of VR tricks.
✅ Excellent voicework by Rosario Dawson.
❌ Unlikey to work on non-Meta headsets.

First thing I bought and can say very unimpressed, it's a computer generated graphics thing and completely boring and pointless.