PlayStation VR Review

There are a few significant factors to take into account when considering virtual reality as a viable option for gaming and consuming entertainment. The exposure and influx of VR hardware over the last couple of years asks two questions. Which is the one to get (if any), and is it really worth the cash?

If it comes down to the lowest common denominator – price, then I’m not sure the quality of the experience on entry level ‘hardware’ will do VR justice. Google Cardboard might be a distracting impulse buy based on curiosity (5 million sold as of January 2016, with version 2, known as ‘Daydream’, recently announced) but now, with the PlayStation VR, the commercially real (and financially heavier) deal is here.

The theater mode of PSVR, combined with reports of functioning on pretty much any device with a HDMI port, surely sweetens an already intriguing deal. But the PlayStation VR will truly sink or swim based on its exclusive content, with advocates for open source like the $600 Oculus Rift currently relying on developers’ interest rather than the consumers.

I experienced PlayStation VR a week before launch at an event with REZ Infinite, a 15-year-old on-rails shooter set to trance music with a predominantly wireframe, neon ‘Tron’ like aesthetic. I reflected on my impressions of REZ Infinite not when I took off the VR headset, but after leaving the cyber chic, techno drenched underground Tokyo venue the game was being previewed in. I was walking up the concrete stairs to ground level, looking up at a dull, grey, skyscraper filled sky. Fifteen minutes prior, I was gazing up into a pure white portal that had exploded into existence from a flowing virginal figure stuck in a vortex of polygonal pests and wireframe mechanoids, reaching an electronic crescendo and shattering video game audio visual conventions.

With the final boss of area X defeated, I exhaled triumphantly, realized I was physically shaking and had a joyous grin on my face achieved very seldom while playing games in my adult life. I was sitting upright and rigid with the controller outstretched like the cheesy 80s game commercials. I was nervous going in. Reports of motion sickness, the cumbersome set up, even my nostalgia for the game from 15 years ago, kicked in. It was the moment where the lady assisting me gently lifted up my left head phone and said ‘back’ that I clicked. Initially, I had no clue what she meant, but then, I looked behind me, and with it, the epiphany that not only REZ is a perfect fit for VR struck.

VR as a medium itself can be justified by increasing its distance from replicating realistic experiences. A giant, neon coloured hexagonal dragon type creature was floating, ducking and weaving behind me, until it swooped over my head to a thunderous techno soundtrack and peppering bleeping and clicking sounds of me trying to take it down. As a game, REZ always excelled as making the player want to improve not by getting a high score, but increasing the cohesion between an otherwise decent shooter and striving for the perfect synchronization between player, gameplay and music. Hold X and move the left stick to lock on to patterns of numerous targets at a time. Release and the music builds layers of intensity. Massive, flowing bosses amaze and intimidate. The sense of satisfaction in victory is palpable. Along with fellow music rhythm game Thumper, PlayStation VR has two fantastic examples of how to use the tech to generate a truly immersive experience.

I’m inclined to think that it could (and probably should) take fifty one-hour ish experiences like these, as opposed to retro fitting a Fallout type game to cement VR as the ‘game changer’ it’s being touted as. The headset was light enough and comfortable (although I have no other point of reference) and I am more than curious to see how a game like Thatgamecompany’s gem ‘Journey’ would fare on a virtual 225 inch screen on the aforementioned theatre mode and a decent pair of headphones.

With all brand new tech, it’s quite difficult to justify based on its initial launch line up, but the potential, once experienced by even the most skeptical consumer, can’t be ignored.