Hello there! My name is Blake, and I’m excited to share another review from The Virtual Reviewer with you. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you’ll know that Dave & Buster’s has always been a great place for family fun with its arcade games, sports bar, and lively atmosphere.
Recently, I discovered that there’s a Dave & Buster’s in Austin that boasts a dedicated VR arena. As a tech enthusiast, I was thrilled to check it out and see if it lived up to the virtual reality hype. In this review, I’ll share my experience and thoughts about the VR setup at Dave & Buster’s.
First Impressions of Dave & Buster’s Austin
We arrived at the massive gray warehouse building on a bustling Saturday evening, greeted by the glowing purple neon signage out front. The parking lot was packed, but we managed to snag a spot right by the front door. Hopping out of the minivan, my kids were already squealing, “This is gonna be so AWESOME!” while I helped herd them inside past the chatting groups of teens and families filing in.
Stepping into the blazing bright entry hall, we were immersed in the audiovisual assault that is the D&B experience: blaring Top 40 songs, arcade game sound effects gone wild, and flashing colored lights in every direction. My wife Patty cringed while John and Jenette zoomed ahead, enraptured by the glowing prize shelves and towering 6-player consoles surrounding us.
We checked in at the front desk and loaded our Power Cards with gameplay credits. However, please note that virtual reality games are charged separately at a rate of $15 per session, per person.
We locked up our stuff in a little cubby and headed left down the long, packed corridor leading to the arena entrance glowing at the end: TRON-like neon strips backlighting sleek metallic text “Enter the Omniverse VR Arena.” Cool tagline, I dig it! My VR senses started tingling as we made our way past laughing groups waiting in line for multiplayer racers and shooter games. Everyone just looked so darn happy and EXCITED to be here!
VR Arena Experience
At last, we arrived at the OmniVR arena entrance, where we were sized up for vests and VR headgear by the attendant. We were lucky: Being early Saturday evening, there was only a short 5-minute wait before we were beckoned into the gaming bay. Once inside, my jaw literally dropped: this was NO mini golf course VR gimmick. Oh no. We’re talking about a near airplane hanger-sized room WITH INTERACTIVE OMNI-DIRECTIONAL TREADMILLS! There were already two teams of 4 zipping around in their mechanized Omni spheres, gunning down zombies in what looked like a post-apocalyptic cityscape.
We eagerly stepped onto the gently sloped concave machines, strapped the VR backpacks onto our vests, donned our headset goggles, and WOOSH! We were inside a gorgeous high-definition desert combat scene! John and I played a team-based sci-fi shooter called Outpost Siege, darting around alien bases, zapping baddies, collecting power-ups, and high-fiving mid-air when we shared kills. We could run freely in all directions by just naturally shuffling our feet – the Omni spheres responded to even subtle leans and steps with precision movement detection. Crouch to sneak up on enemies, then blast em up close! Sweet!
Meanwhile, my wife Patty teamed up with Jenette for a deep-sea rescue adventure called Neptune Salvage Ops. They dove down in mini-submarines to repair underwater structures amidst lurking sharks and troublesome giant squids, unlocking power cells and hidden caches when big objectives were met. Patty isn’t usually one for shooters, but I could see her really getting into mission-based problem-solving!
After 15 minutes of sweaty wave-battling action, our headsets started beeping red to signal the end of Game 1. We shed our gear feverishly As the next crew of eager gamers hopped on board, now amped up and strategic on how best to maximize firepower in Round 2!
Snacks, Prizes & Impressions
After another exhilarating VR battle defending miners from space marauders, we were exhausted! We headed to the D&B sports bar for a food pit stop. We refueled on hot wings, cheesy fries, and blueberry lemonades (the perfect balance of sweet and tart!). Bellies replenished, it was time for arcade games and PRIZES! We had collectively racked up a couple of thousand tickets between our VRPoints, shooter games, and Skee ball rounds (Jen is a skee BAWSS).
The kids eagerly traded their piles for plastic strawberry-scented erasers, kaleidoscope slinkys, finger flashlights, and whoopie cushions galore. We, parents, passed on the trinkets, but feeling buzzed on family bonding endorphins, we traded our leftover tickets for hilarious his-and-hers D&B logo trucker hats to commemorate this EPIC day.
All in all Dave & Buster’s VR arena experience was AWESOME! The Omni treadmills were super responsive and made running around feel astonishingly fluid. The graphics were stunningly realistic and the gameplay adrenaline-pumping. It was PRICEY, though – nearly $250 just for our power cards, VR passes, and victory bar chow session. Probably best saved for special family recreation splurges vs. weekly hangouts. But for immersive virtual adventuring and next-gen multiplayer excitement, this VR arena scored a perfect 10 in the Howse household ratings! Two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Dave & Buster’s: Yay or Nay
Well, folks, there you have it – my honest impressions from a Saturday evening getting my VR geek on with the wife and teen tribe. Dave & Buster’s new OminiVR Arena in Austin offers a truly cutting-edge, exhilarating team gaming experience that transports you across space, sea, and sand dunes. Their motion-capture treadmills allow unprecedented freedom of movement within magnificently rendered worlds brimming with missions to conquer, enemies to quash, and treasures to dig up.
If you’re a fan of multiplayer shooters and realistic fantasy worlds, I recommend saving up your tickets for special occasions and treating your family to some heart-pumping VR hero action at Dave & Buster’s. They have a new OminiVR Arena that’s worth the visit alone.
Pro tip: On Wednesdays, they run 50% gameplay specials all day, but it’s valid only on arcades. So, choose a Wednesday if you’re looking to play arcades. You can find their location just off 35. Maybe we’ll see each other there for a friendly VR laser tag bout in the dystopian future wastelands. Happy gaming, Austin!