Since Sony announced PlayStation VR (PSVR for short) there has been a whirlwind of rumours and speculation interspersed with a few official announcements. In all of that time, most of us haven’t had the chance to try it and have been relying on the 2nd hand experiences of the mainstream press; IGN, Eurogamer, Gamespot etc. Well, now you can be overjoyed with the 2nd hand impressions from me, very much an amateur, Adam.
First off, the big one, it is being demoed on standard PS4s. Not PS4 Pro or modified PS4s or High-End PC’s disguised as PS4s. I asked several of the staff and they all said the same thing, which is immensely reassuring. The rumour mill was awash with people wondering if PSVR would be demoed on the PS4 Pro because games ran poorly on the standard PS4 – thankfully those rumours are untrue. Arkham VR (which I played) and Driveclub VR (Which my girlfriend played) ran smoothly like a dream.
The headset itself is really comfortable, surprisingly so in fact. I barely noticed I was wearing it which bodes well for longer use than the 15 minutes or so that the demos lasted for. The screen door effect was hardly noticeable which is fantastic news as that is a real problem on the mobile VR headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR. The only real issue was I felt like mine was slightly out of focus, which is entirely down to the setup of the headset and moving the screen closer or further away from my eyes. There is a sweet spot and given a bit more time to fine tune, I’m confident that would cease being an issue.
Arkham VR itself… well… it was fantastic. I really am impressed at how good it was at making me feel like I was actually in Wayne Manor and then The Bat Cave. Suiting up and collecting my gear – the grappling hook etc. I’m really bowled over by it, that this is a Gen 1 Launch title game and it is already great. They will only get better from here and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
PSVR is the real deal. Coming from someone that hates 3D films and TVs as a pointless and irritating gimmick… that is saying something.
Thanks for reading. Have you tried PSVR? Let me know your thoughts and for more from EGX follow @OutoftheXfire on Twitter!
Excellent article 🙂