We Happy Few: Uncle Jack Live is a Cool Little VR Advertisement

I'm quite excited about We Happy Few. It's a world I could get lost in thanks to just how weird it all is. While I have to wait to pick up a copy, I was surprised when a free PlayStation VR game was both announced and released on the same day. Titled We Happy Few: Uncle Jack Live, this experience has you hanging out with the titular TV host and helping to run his program for a day.

It's a simple game, to the point where it's a bit of a stretch calling this a game and not an advertisement. You play as a winner of a fan contest who has to help Uncle Jack run his show for the day. All you have to do is pick one of three news stories to feed him. Naturally, Uncle Jack wants you to give him the happiest ones, however, there's nothing stopping you from tossing him sad stories and watching him improvise. After you toss him a few stories, there's a Downer outbreak that requires you to pump Joy into the ventilation shafts, ending Uncle Jack Live.

Altogether I'd say it'd take about five to ten minutes to actually finish it. The real fun is in watching the rather incredible performance by Uncle Jack. He's so charismatic that it's impossible not to feel a bit of joy even as he alters somewhat horrific stories. Unfortunately, feeding him these stories is a bit difficult. The game has you simply looking at the buttons corresponding to the stories and hitting X when it's highlighted. However, there's no cursor to help you look, so it's extremely difficult to actually line this up correctly.

Once you've fed Uncle Jack the news you can wander into the archives. Here you can watch episodes of Uncle Jack's show, watch trailers for the game, and listen to the music. This is a fantastic idea, hampered by a weird system. You only start with five videos unlocked. Every time you watch five videos you can unlock a set of five more. Want to see a few specific videos? You're going to have to watch a bunch of videos in between. I can't really figure out why this was done this way, but at least you can "watch" a video just by skipping to the next one right away.

Look, We Happy Few: Uncle Jack Live would be disappointing if it cost money. However, as a free advertisement made to just show off a part of the game's world, it does its job. Simply put, this brief experience makes me more excited to play We Happy Few. It also makes me genuinely wish the main game had a VR mode. Let's hope that's coming in the future.

How would you further convert the 60s dystopia of We Happy Few into the realm of VR? Let us know in the comments below!