'Groundhog Day' Video Game Trailer Lets You Stick A Fork In A Toaster

Have you ever wondered what happens after the credits rolled on Harold Ramis's fantastic 1993 comedy Groundhog Day? A video sequel is on the way to answer that question, and it appears the Connors family might be cursed. Bill Murray's movie character, Phil Connors, has a son named Phil Connors Jr., and since the game is called Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, Junior is pulled into a time loop of his own. Check out the new trailer for the virtual reality game below.

Any game trailer that begins by informing me that I have to record a virtual vlog doesn't exactly start off on the right foot. But vlog talk and tablet functionality aside, why does this game look like it came out in the mid-1990s? I'm far from a VR aficionado, but I've played a handful of VR games over the past few years and this may be the worst-looking one I've ever seen. It doesn't help matters that the game's primary storyline seems to consist of forcing you to do menial tasks all day, from making breakfast to helping your pissed-off brother fix his espresso machine.

I understand that on a meta level, most video games can essentially be boiled down to the act of doing a series of tasks over and over again, whether it's as complex as performing assassinations in Assassin's Creed or as simple as mashing the same buttons over and over again in something like Street Fighter. But this trailer doesn't indicate that this game is interested in exploring that notion at all. Who knows – maybe the game proves to be a fascinating deep dive into questions of ethics, morality, and creativity. But based on what we've seen thus far, it just looks like a worse version of the educational PC games I used to play on my family's home computer as a kid.

Oh well, at least this game lets you...go to a diner and watch old Ned Ryerson (who can't hold a candle to Stephen Tobolowsky's memorable performance in the film) wear glowing gloves and dance around? What in God's name is going on in this thing?

We'll find out when Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son hits shelves on September 17, 2019. (Well, it won't be me, but somebody's going find out, anyway.)