The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is a maritime tale that’s been retold countless times and reimagined just as many. 2018’s Titanic VR is the most notable in the VR space, aiming for historical accuracy to help educate players on the tragedy. Titanic: A Space Between, on the other hand, weaves a futuristic, time-travelling tale in amongst the events of that fateful night. Whilst chaos is going on all around you have a mystery to solve, but other dangers are stalking those water-logged corridors. Shame it’s all third-class cabin fever and not more first-class survival.
You step into the shoes of Hendrik van Eden, who comes from a dystopian future. Food is scarce but they’ve managed to invent time travel. However, something is wrong with the process. As an investigator, your job is to uncover the mysterious disappearance of a previous traveller, Diana, who was sent aboard the Titanic. You were supposed to be sent there 24 hours before the iceberg hit. Alas, you get there just as it happens, making the mission fraught with danger.
Investigate the Titanic
What actually transpires is that during the levels you’ll switch between van Eden and Diana, playing out different parts of the same story. And it’s a fairly decent narrative, spinning the sci-fi tale into the iconic Titanic sinking. You get fed information from a colleague in the future, who’ll tell you details regarding the area you’re in and the items you need to find.
You’re equipped with one little futuristic toy, that serves as a multitool, torch, communicator and weapon. Everything else has to be found on the ship. Chained door, find an axe. Locked door, find a key. You get the gist. The thing with all of Titanic: A Space Between‘s puzzles is that each location is so confined that the solution is fairly obvious, you know it’s in the cabin you’re in or the couple of corridors you have access to.
The problem, however, is that even the simplest puzzle can turn into a frustrating mess. This is mainly due to hands struggling to grab items or objects getting stuck in the environment. In one section I drowned because it took so long to operate a rope pulley. In another, one of the dark shadowy creatures got me due to my hands being caught on wooden panels blocking the door. If you want to do anything at pace forget it, interactions just aren’t stable enough.
A Titanic Horror
Globiss Interactive has done a wonderful job of recreating the Titanic, from the opulent cabins to the poorer decks below. It’s full of interesting details from the era, giving that air of authenticity. Objects like the sealed doors and the steam valves all have a physical element to their operation, grounding you in the experience further.
Yet I wish there was more to do. Few of the doors open and most of the objects you can interact with are key items. There’s little chance to play, and no ability to wander the ship. Titanic: A Space Between is very linear, focused purely on getting you from A to B. But what irked me was the unnecessary horror element. You’re on the Titanic, as it’s sinking into the icy waters of the Atlantic. With doorways and passages blocked, water rushing in and the lights failing there’s already an incredibly intense, claustrophobic atmosphere. Once the water reached my neck I found myself rushing, frantically trying to get out of the room I was in. What it didn’t need were unkillable spectres suddenly appearing. They disappear with a quick flash of the multitool but that’s not the point, their appearance was the wrong kind of horror.
Thankfully, once the main campaign is complete after a few hours you unlock a chapter select and Explore Mode. However, how much exploring you’ll want to do after that fact is debatable.
Titanic: A Space Between Review Summary
Titanic: A Space Between promises a fusion of sci-fi narrative with real-world tragedy. It partially achieves that goal but to see it through to fruition is a slow amble with the chance of the odd jump scare. There are occasional highlights but the issues are far more frequent and even progress halting. Plentiful accessibility options are mired when walking backwards is suddenly lost, or having to restart because the screwdriver fell through the floor. The story is intriguing enough to draw you in but let down with the average voice-over work. Titanic fans may find this of interest, for most Titanic: A Space Between is a very average horror puzzler.
