One reader extols the virtues of the PSVR2, claiming that VR modes for future big-name games will give PlayStation a major advantage over Xbox.
I know. The state of play wasn’t very good and, in all honesty, it probably would have been better if Sony hadn’t had one at all. But I’m sure Warner Bros. paid for all that Suicide Squad commercial months ago, so Sony didn’t really have a choice. Suicide Squad smelled like a skunk eating garlic, in a dump, next to a petroleum plant, but that’s not Sony’s fault, so instead I want to talk about something much more positive: PlayStation VR2.
I’ve always been fascinated by VR and own both a PlayStation VR and a Meta Quest 2, so I pre-ordered the PlayStation VR2 right away, even though it was a drain on my wallet. I didn’t order games though, because I wanted to wait for the ratings. In the end I decided to buy Horizon Call Of The Mountain despite the mixed reactions, but in the end I agreed GC’s reviewthat it was little more than a technical demo – and an only occasionally interesting one at that.
While the wasted money burned a bit, it wasn’t the disappointment you might think, as the three best things about the headset are completely free: the updates to Gran Turismo 7, resident evil Village and No Man’s Sky. However, they’re not good because they didn’t cost me anything, but because they might be the best video game experiences I’ve ever had.
Obviously I haven’t had that much time with either of them yet, but Gran Turismo 7 is so realistic, it’s well… unreal. Especially if you have a racing wheel and pedals, which I have, it’s hard to imagine it ever being more realistic than this. People have been saying that about video games for decades, and of course they’re always wrong, but to me this is a Super Mario 64 moment, where you feel the whole technology of gaming shifting.
It’s not that it’s doing anything completely new, but the original PlayStation VR was such a compromise on technology that it’s only now that the promise of VR has finally come true. It’s a shame it’s not wireless, but the graphics are so much better than Meta Quest 2 that it’s clearly the better option.
Resident Evil village isn’t it a very scary game if you play it on a TV but in VR? Everything is terrifying about it. The sense of immersion is great and the graphics look so much better than I remember the first time around, which is usually the opposite of how things work when a game starts to age. The way the weapons work, the interaction with the environment, the torch, everything is just fantastic and it’s all part of a complete game – not a six hour demo like Call Of The Mountain.
No Man’s Sky is the same – because you’re already wearing a spacesuit and often piloting a spaceship, the sense of reality is almost as good as in Gran Turismo 7, even though this is clearly sci-fi. I hadn’t played the game much before getting it into VR, so I’m not yet familiar with everything it can do, but it definitely looks and feels like you’re an astronaut explorer discovering strange new worlds.
The PlayStation VR2 is great, but what excites me most is the idea that many more current and upcoming games will be treated in a similar way. The idea that every new big-budget game that comes out has a reasonable chance of being turned into a VR experience of this quality is mind-blowing. Especially if it can be proven that third-person games also benefit in a similar way.
In terms of hardware itself, I think it’s the best Sony has ever made, but if they can also convince publishers to add VR modes as a matter of course… I honestly think it could win them the generation on the spot . It’s a major point of difference from Xbox, and it’s also slightly different from the previous generation.
Take it from someone who’s used it: PlayStation VR 2 is awesome and I highly recommend that if you can get the money for it, it’s totally worth it. We hope to hear about VR modes for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Final Fantasy 16 soon. It’s just a shame Starfield will never take advantage of a VR mode on consoles…
By reader Banshee
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