0.9 hours played
Written 1 year and 6 months ago
As a Muslim, I really wanted to be able to recommend this, but I just can't. I think there's potential and I certainly believe that there's benefit in an interactive experience about the Qur'an, I just don't think this was effective.
First there's the navigation within the program. It seems like something best suited for a seated experience, but there are no movement controls for rotating around you move forward by aiming at a space in front of you. The aiming is very imprecise and you can go too far past the target and essentially make it impossible to interact with until you move a little bit further out. It makes exploration or the different settings difficult. This could have all been made much better by allowing free movement using the joystick on the controller or a directional pad or whatever to freely explore an area with more ease. Secondly, because this seems to have been designed for standing instead of sitting, the items you need to reach can really only be reached if you're standing.
The experience has several "chapters/stages/levels" you move through and in each one there is an item or book that you pick up to listen to a section of the Qur'an which is related in someway to the theme of the environment you are standing in. You are given a choice between English, Turkish, or Arabic in most stages (although two stages lacked an English option). This format and execution leaves a lot to be desired. For example, you have to grab and hold onto the item or book for the audio to play and if you let go it stops. If you pick it back up you don't start from the point you let go, it starts over from the beginning. Holding onto the item for several minutes without being able to let go is frustrating and made my hand tired. Another issue is that there's nothing to do while listening. I think a single book you can open and choose language settings from that you could read along with as well as hear the recitation of would be far better and having a simple play/stop button would let you select it to play and then not have to worry about holding onto the button on the controller the entire time. I think also listing the Surah that's playing would be nice along with the playtime especially so you know how long you'll be holding the item to get all the way through.
Another issue I had was the audio. I am a native English speaker. I learned Arabic, but it's not my native language and I wouldn't even say I'm fluent in it. I don't know Turkish much at all beyond a few words. When I listen to the Arabic and Turkish recitations they sound very nice, are recited in a way that has an almost musical quality, etc... The English audio is weird. It sound like an overly dramatic Shakespearean recitation from the late 60s to early 70s. It sounds so out of place and can be difficult to listen to. If only it were a different recitation that sounded cleaner and more modern without the overacted drama. There are plenty of excellent recitations in all three languages and I feel again that a single book that lets you pick the language and reciter would be a better way to go about this. Heck they could even add in-game purchases to unlock certain recitaters. I know a lot of people who'd pay to have Abdul Basit and I'm sure that would make it more possible to pay fr the licensing of their recitations in the experience if you paid for the reciters you want.
Finally, there's the quality of the graphics. First, the initial stage inside the mosque is actually very nice. Subsequent stages however get less realistic looking and more blocky, pixelated, and cheesy. It at times looks like bad early 3D animation. Some better textures, better resolution, and maybe better models would be a big help.
So overall,I just can't recommend this, It's not particularly enjoyable as an experience and I find it more enjoyable to simply listen to a good recitation or read the physical copy of the book. There's just too little to explore and too many issues for my taste.
