It's not quite BioShock, it's not quite a Saw escape room, but like its tasty fry gravy it's definitely a combination of many things: the KFC VR Training Game throws users into a training kitchen as the all-seeing Colonel watches their every move, coughing and chuckling his way through a five step training process. The strange virtual reality experience is now part of the official training program at Kentucky Fried Chicken, where gamers are told they won't be allowed to leave until they make his signature original recipe correctly.

It's certainly a unique take on the way training can be done, and the 10 minutes it takes to complete this bite-sized game is certainly shorter than the 25 minutes it takes to prepare and cook the chicken in real life - though KFC has assured the public that employees still have to go through the real life training before they cook up patches for the public, too. That's a good thing, because it looks like those that fail the Colonel in the VR game are likely to be turned into cooked meat themselves:

One might say it's unusual to turn your beloved former military mascot into a Saw-esque madman who locks employees into rooms until they complete a set of tasks correctly, but in terms of free advertising it's certainly doing a fine job: the video has made waves across the Internet, proving that, at the very least, this Oculus Rift tie-in is finger clickin' good. Featuring everything from demonic clocks and horror-themed lighting to the Colonel shooting laser beams out of his eyes, this is one experience we're a little surprised made it beyond the concept phase - though that isn't to say it's not entertaining.

Kentucky Fried Chicken has gotten into the technology trend more than one would think, as the food chain has recently tried out food takeout boxes that can charge phones, or even a chicken bucket that can print photographs. While those products saw limited runs and were evidently PR Stunts, this week's reveal of a training VR program will actually be used to help aid new trainees on a wider scale, turning even the most green of new employees into grizzled survivors in about 10 minutes. Still, KFC insists it's all in good fun:

The game is intended to supplement the existing Chicken Mastery program, not replace it...This is intended to be a fun way to celebrate the work KFC’s more than 19,000 cooks do every day in every restaurant across the U.S. in an engaging way.

KFC isn't the first chain store to jump onto the VR chain, nor is it likely to be the last. Outlets like IKEA have tested the waters by allowing customers to check out their products within free VR games, though only time will tell if KFC invites the public to its VR Training Kitchen. For now, it'll remain an employee-only activity.

Truthfully, we're not sure if the public is ready to be locked in the room with a demonic Colonel and still trust his smiling face in a restaurant later.

The KFC VR Training Game is not currently available to the public.

Source: Eater