by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Folks in the community, as well as director Duncan Jones himself, have been reporting that Legendary has updated their VR mobile app with a new feature called “The Skies of Azeroth.”

This is Google cardboard. VR on a budget. Works surprisingly well! Want to fly over Stormwind? 😉 pic.twitter.com/syIlfMFZQ9

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) July 9, 2015

Downloading the somewhat sizable app will give you the experience of flying on the back of a gryphon as she does a pass over the city of Stormwind as it will appear in the upcoming Warcraft film.

The experience is purportedly better if you’ve actually got a Google Cardboard viewer, but even just holding your phone up and turning around in order to take in the view is still a pretty amazing feat, especially if this is your first dance with a VR app.

I don’t want to set expectations too high here, but in terms of giving a view of the city that is both a) delivers on the fantasy of a sprawling medieval metropolis while appearing realistic and proportional while b) resembling the in-game version of Stormwind that we’re all familiar with, it’s a thing of beauty.

Now, at the back of my head is a really pedantic know-it-all who wants to point out that the in-game Stormwind shouldn’t look like a pre-First War Stormwind since the city was literally razed by the Doomhammer Horde, but that’s entirely beside the point. The city looks beautiful from the back of a gryphon and if your phone can handle it, you should take the time to check this experience out.

Briefly, the steps to do this are the following:

1. Download the VR App from Legendary’s site. Options for both Android and iOS devices are available.
2. Once the app is downloaded on your device, open it up and swipe right until you see “The Skies of Azeroth” as an option. Select it and choose download.
3. Choose Launch, follow the remaining few directions, and get ready for a ride.