It’s All About The Games
Of course, every gaming platform is only as strong as the lineup of games on it, so it’s critically important to take a look at what exactly PSVR owners have to play so far. I haven’t played absolutely everything there is, but what I have played has given me a good idea of the range of available experiences on the system. Of course, we’ll have many, many reviews of launch software going up soon here, so stay tuned.
As I mentioned before, my personal picks for the best games so far are Thumper and Rez Infinite, two musical experiences with stunning visuals, visceral feedback and addictive gameplay. As far as I’m concerned, these are the best things to get your hands on if you want a seriously fun intro to VR, although I’ve heard great things about Driveclub VR and SUPERHYPERCUBE as well.
Other games, like Wayward Sky, Job Simulator and PlayStation VR Worlds, are more middling experiences — they’re fun for what they are, but they’ll probably only ever be remembered as launch software. Down at the bottom of the barrel are horror games Here They Lie and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, both of which are disappointingly ugly and nauseating — I’d suggest horror fans go play the Resident Evil VII demo in VR mode instead, which is a tantalizing tease for what might be an early killer app for virtual reality.
It’s not quite clear what sort of things will make for these VR killer apps in the future, but I did see an interesting point brought up by Drool co-founder and Thumper developer Brian Gibson in a Gamasutra interview the other day. “VR works best as a simulation of reality, not film,” he said, “and most of those traditional film effects only pull you out of the sense of immersion.” I think it’s pretty common for many of us to forget just how much the “language” of film has influenced the gaming medium, so I think PSVR owners should especially look forward to experiences that shed their film influence and make the best use of what is essentially a new and different medium.
In Summary
I’ve still got a bit of lingering denial about VR being a consumer product now, but I’m sure I’ll be over it soon — that headset is in my drawer, after all. While PlayStation VR may have a mixed launch lineup and seem relatively underpowered compared to its competitors, the strongest experiences on the platform are the most telling.
Playing games like Thumper, Rez Infinite and the Resident Evil VII demo is an absolute blast in VR, and the potential for sharing via PS4’s Share function and Social Screen is a force to be reckoned with. For the first time in a long while, I feel like we’re standing on the cusp of some real breakthroughs in the gaming world, and that sort of excitement is desperately needed in an industry full of consumer cynicism and AAA stagnancy.
