Anyone that was nervous about PSVR support this gen can take a breath.

After PlayStation confirmed there will be more coming, they have announced their new controllers. These are a big step up from the PS Move controllers, and bring the tech in the DualSense to PSVR.

A release date or details on how they handle old PSVR games remains to be seen, but exciting times are ahead.

Features

●      Adaptive triggers: Each VR controller (Left and Right) includes an adaptive trigger button that adds palpable tension when pressed, similar to what’s found in the DualSense controller. If you’ve played a PS5 game, you’ll be familiar with the tension in the L2 or R2 buttons when you press them, such as when you’re drawing your bow to fire an arrow. When you take that kind of mechanic and apply it to VR, the experience is amplified to the next level.

●       Haptic feedback: The new controller will have haptic feedback optimized for its form factor, making every sensation in the game world more impactful, textured and nuanced. When you’re traversing through rocky desert or trading blows in melee combat, you’ll feel the difference, magnifying the extraordinary visual and audio experience that’s so central to VR.

●       Finger touch detection: The controller can detect your fingers without any pressing in the areas where you place your thumb, index, or middle fingers. This enables you to make more natural gestures with your hands during gameplay.

●       Tracking: The VR controller is tracked by the new VR headset through a tracking ring across the bottom of the controller.

●       Action buttons / analog sticks: The Left controller contains one analog stick, the triangle and square buttons, a “grip” button (L1), trigger button (L2) and Create button. The Right controller contains one analog stick, the cross and circle buttons, a “grip” button (R1), trigger button (R2) and Options button. The “grip” button can be used to pick up in-game objects, as one example.

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Ready to shit your pants in VR?

Well Doom 3: VR Edition is coming to PlayStation VR in 4 weeks and how do I put this bluntly. Nooooooooooooope from me.

Check out the trailer below for why I said nope.

Just…nope.

Complete and Enhanced DOOM 3 Experience

Featuring both DOOM 3 and its expansions – Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission – DOOM 3: VR Edition retools id Software’s horror-action classic for PSVR technology. 

Uncover the truth behind the UAC’s dark experiments, fight unholy creatures in terrifying environments and wield an arsenal of iconic weaponry with new textures, shaders and sound effects as you survive against the forces of Hell across over 15 hours of heart-stopping action.

Refined for VR

Immerse yourself deeper in the terror thanks to all-new enhancements for virtual reality, including head tracking to peer around corners, angling shots with your flashlight-mounted weapons, 180-degree quick-turn functionality to catch sneaking demons in their tracks and a wrist-mounted display to track your health, armor and ammo.

Combined with the original DOOM 3’s critically acclaimed action-horror gameplay, virtual reality fans are in for one Hell of an experience with DOOM 3: VR Edition. 

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The ever expanding community of creativity enters a new dimension when Dreams is updated for PlayStation VR on July 23.

Featuring new tools, tutorials, how-to’s and kits to get players creating for PS VR, Dreams players will be able to download the free update from approximately 12.01am NZT Thursday 23^rd July.

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When Batman: Arkham VR released at launch with PSVR, it gave a real insight into what a super hero video game could feel like, especially for those just dipping their toes into VR experiences. Even though it was a short game, looking at your hands and seeing the Batgloves, and looking in a mirror to see the Batmask, was surreal, going to the bathroom and seeing the…  Anyway, a few years have passed and we have a higher expectation of VR games, both in length and depth.

Marvel’s Iron Man VR is having a crack at being the full VR game you always wanted.

The biggest make or break aspect of Marvel’s Iron Man VR is obviously the flying. If it feels clunky or the movement makes you feel sick, then the whole game is a flop because it’s unplayable. Somehow the clever developers have managed to make the flying feel fantastic. There’s a knack to it that takes a while to master, but for the most part it works how you would expect. Put your hand behind you and fire your thrusters to go forward, fire them down to go up, fire them left to strafe right, etc.

C’mon, we’ve all seen Iron Man.

And, having watched Iron Man in so many movies at this point, you know what to expect and the game plays like that.  The other thing you need to do, while flying of course, is to shoot at enemies, ideally hitting them, and this is where the real challenge comes in. Using your thrusters to move, shoot, then keep moving is the right kind of tough.  It’s fluid enough that you feel you should be able to do it from the first try, but takes a while to actually get good at it. Basically you have to, as legions of Dark Souls fans have said countless times, git gud.

One of the other concerns, which is one with every VR title is whether it makes you feel sick.  I didn’t often, but if I tried to do too much movement changes at once I didn’t feel 100%.  Appropriate breaks are a must with all VR games, people, I can’t stress that enough. But if you handle most PSVR games then you should be fine, which is that much more of an achievement when you consider the kind of movement we’re dealing with here.

One problem I have had with games where the action comes at you from all angles, is that I seem to find myself turned around in the real world.  Even when I consciously try to keep my feet planted I somehow wind up facing the other way and only realise it when the camera loses sight of the move controllers. Well, the team at Camouflaj has solved this one with a simple system; when you turn away from the TV, it brings up some arrows to point you towards the TV again.  So simple but so useful.

Now I just need it in real life.

The biggest issue with the game is the amount of borderline repetitive content. The majority of your time will be flying and killing basically the same four enemy robot types.  Given the nature of the game, and in VR, I’m not overly fussed about this. Flying around killing enemies is fun as hell, and too many types with different weaknesses could be overwhelming. 

This only gives limited play time to the free play modes and time trials, as that gets super repetitive.  The storyline isn’t super deep, so I won’t spoil it here, though it is easily entertaining enough to justify the time. We aren’t talking Avengers: Endgame level story here, more like early 2000s comic book movie story. But hey, it’s still fun.

One thing you need to get right at the start is the calibration by standing where you plan to play.  I thought I was playing Fantastic Four for a bit, and couldn’t figure out why Iron Man had such stretchy arms. After an hour of fumbling around with battling, I restarted and the game got heaps easier.

You also need to make sure you are ready for some serious load times. There are plenty of loading screens, and they are fairly lengthy. Thanks to the medium of VR you have to sit there and wait for the bar to fill up which is so much more excruciating than in normal games where you can look at your phone and the time zips by.

At the end of the day, Marvel’s Iron Man VR is exactly what I wanted from it. A fun story wrapped around gameplay that is as easy to learn as it is fun to master, even if I wouldn’t exactly call myself a master. Am I Iron Man? Probably not. But if snappy, flying fun in a well-crafted VR experience is what you want, then you have found it here.

It may not be a system seller, but it’s another great feather in a pretty awesome cap of PSVR exclusives.

The post Marvel’s Iron Man VR Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

If I were to tell you to picture a VR game published by Devolver Digital, known for some cartoony violent stuff, where you were a gladiator in an arena fighting other gladiators, I am pretty sure you will have a pretty good idea of what that would look like.

Having played it for many hours now, I can confirm that what you are picturing is exactly what GORN is bringing you.

I laugh in the face of danger!

GORN is a simple game.  You go into an arena, pick up a weapon, and face waves of enemies coming through the doors to fight.  The main campaign has you making your way through stages where you are introduced to a new weapon, fight some gladiators, get handed a new weapon, and fight some more gladiators.

Oh and eventually you fight a boss before taking on a new arena with new weapons.

It’s a simple premise, for a simple game.  Well simple if you stretch first.

Lie down before you hurt yourself.

The hardest part of the game is swinging your arms around so much.  GORN uses the PS Move controllers and you will be using both of your arms, a lot.   From rocking a mace and a shield, to dual wielding a hammer and a sword or using a two handed flail to smash your enemies to bits, your arms will definitely get a workout.

This has you working up a real sweat at times, as enemies come at you slowly, but you will be swinging your axe at one and not notice the three that have slowly caught up to you from behind.  This brings one of the games weaknesses with the port which is it doesnt tell you if you are facing the TV.  

Everything the light touches, is our kingdom.

It is well known that the move controllers are a limiting factor for PSVR.  This game especially is hard to keep your feet planted on the ground.  You turn in the game using a button and move by swinging your arms back and forth holding a button which actually works well for the format, yet somehow I kept winding up facing backwards.

Seriously I didn’t think I was moving my feet at all and yet my hands in the game would start bugging out because I was facing the opposite way and the camera couldn’t see the move controller behind my body.  Every time I played the game, without fail.

Some arrows like the Iron Man demo uses to give you an idea of which way you face would have been a godsend.

Slimy yet satisfying

Of course if this game was realistic, it would be terrifying. Fortunately GORN is as cartoonish as it gets.  Characters have the aspect ratio of a person in a pixar film, and you slice off chunks of them with cartoonish blood and gore going everywhere.

This cartoonish nature is helped massively by the silly physics at play in the game.  Gladiators tumble towards you slowly. By removing their legs you will have them trying to move towards you and attack as they lay face down on the ground.  One of the early bosses even flings himself into the air to try and slam into you.  It’s slow and frazy chaos, and oh so much fun.

I’m only brave when I have to be

If you are looking for a game that is silly, fun and will get your heart rate up, GORN could well be for you.  Some limitations like getting the floor right so you can pick up weapons is easily overlooked as you hack your way through cartoonish enemies for the silly heads that represent your masters in the stands.  It’s what I expected, and I’m happy about that.

The post GORN Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Since getting PSVR at launch I have continued to be impressed at what developers are doing with this tech.  Wildly swinging from short experiences to in depth stories, their short and punchy games have been going from strength to strength, so I couldn’t wait to see what Marvel’s Iron Man VR could unlock in this format.

Fortunately we don’t have to wait any longer thanks to a generous demo available now.

Moves like Iron Man

The demo of Marvel’s Iron Man VR kicks off with a tutorial where you are outside of Tony’s home doing some drills.  It quickly covers moving around where you pull the trigger on the move controllers and depending on your hand position, uses the hand thrusters to fly.  This makes moving in every direction super easy and comfortable, except when you want to turn around where you need to use a button to do a fade out fade in turn that VR knows so well.

Facing the wrong way is the most annoying thing because the movement feels so seamless until something is behind you.  Fortunately if you start to turn like I do in VR a lot, it shows arrows on the screen so you keep facing in the direction of the sensor. This needs to be implemented in PSVR ports of every game.

Never gonna leave this suit

The tutorial then shows you how to fire using that big button in the middle of the move controllers, and using a smaller button do slam punches followed by a quick time trial.  Then it drops you into the first chapter of the game where you are on a plane with Pepper when a mysterious figure takes over controlling the plane.  You jump out, fight some flying enemies, and save the day of course, then the chapter comes to a close.

All of this took an hour or so, which is a decent chunk of VR game time.  On top of that are some challenges where you can take out waves of enemies making this meaty for a VR demo, given some VR games don’t take two hours to complete.  

VR will be loved

There are a few things that were not perfect, like the process of turning which is only bad in relation to the thruster movement which is so seamless, and load times can be a bit long.  This is much worse in VR than it is in normal gaming as using your phone to kill the time isn’t quite the seamless option to make load times disappear.

Aside from that this demo gives the impression this is going to be an excellent VR title that could well justify the purchasing of a PSVR unit for those holding out.  Try not to fall over when you lean in the direction you are boosting though, like I nearly did.

The post Marvel’s Iron Man VR Demo Preview appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Marvel’s Iron Man VR has a demo available on PS Store now!

The demo includes:

• “Malibu” tutorial mission
• Interactive Stark Jet cinematic starring Tony, Friday & Pepper Potts
• “Out of the Blue” Stark Jet gameplay mission
• Flight Challenge optional mission
• Advanced Combat Challenge optional mission
• The above is just a small slice of the main game, but by the end of the “Out of the Blue” mission, you’ll start to feel like Iron Man as you fly, shoot, and Rocket Punch through some of Tony’s Ghost-hacked, Stark Tech drone problems.

What’s more, download this free demo to unlock the exclusive Molten Lava Armor Deco when you purchase the full game!

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Good news gladiators!

Previously just on PC VR, the ludicrously violent VR gladiator simulator GORN by Free Lives (Broforce and Genital Jousting) is now available on PlayStation VR.

It features a unique, fully physics driven combat engine where combatants creatively execute their most violent colosseum fantasies.

The post The gladiator fighting game Gorn has landed on PSVR appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

To celebrate the release of Blood and Truth on PlayStation VR, CultureJam has an amazing prize for all you budding crime lords, courtesy of our friends at PlayStation NZ.

This prize pack includes a copy of Blood and Truth (which is pretty bloody good), a PSVR Starter Pack, and a couple of Move controllers to help you navigate the underbelly of London with grace and gusto.

To enter, let us know where you’d like PSVR to take you after you get back from Blood and Truth’s gritty London. Lisbon? Los Angeles? The literal Moon? Nothing’s impossible.

Competition closes at 12 noon NZT on Friday, June 21. Find images of this amazing prize pack below.

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Falcons and robots and dress ups, oh my!

Did you know humanity has practiced falconry since 4000-6000 B.C? Sadly, in my concrete jungle existence, my own chances of befriending a bird of prey were slim to none…

…or so I thought! Outerloop Games has arrived with their new virtual reality adventure game Falcon Age to fill the falcon-shaped hole in your heart.  

And not to worry; if you’re not a PSVR player, Falcon Age is also playable on the good ol’ PlayStation 4 with DualShock controllers.

Reach for the sky

Falcon Age allows you to take on the role of Ara as she fights to save her planet from its robot overlords, armed only with an electric baton and her best bud falcon. You’ll spend your time directing your falcon to hunt wild game, picking fruit, arguing with your prickly aunt and whacking robots on the head.

It also involves considerable walking and backtracking. So much backtracking. By all the falcons above, this game needs a fast travel mechanic. At the very least, all that exercise allows you to appreciate the bright and beautiful environments, accompanied by a solid selection of ambient music.

Best bird friends forever!

You meet your falcon partner when she’s but a wee baby fluff-ball. And she’s gorgeous. It’s obvious that Outerloop Games have poured countless hours of love into creating an animal companion that acts and moves like the real deal.

Needless to say, I formed an emotional bond immediately.

She doesn’t stay a baby forever, and before long she has grown into an imposing adult – taking up half the screen when she alights onto your forearm. Happily, there is an item that allows you to change her back into her baby form when you’re feeling nostalgic. Or for when you need to see more of the screen.

Outside of duelling robots to the death, you’ll spend 90% of your time hunting wild animals as a team (a joy!), playing with and buying cute outfits for your bud. I really can’t overstate the joy of this.

Fair warning – your falcon can’t actually die, but she gets so beat up that it’s actually pretty traumatising. If you’re not careful, she gets stuck full of horrifyingly large needles that must be plucked out by hand. One. By. One.

Bird vs. Machine

Battle involves hitting robots with your baton, stunning robots with the baton’s whip function (admittedly, very cool) and calling down your falcon to distract/attack/ lift robots by the foot so you can brain them.

While this sounds deep and entertaining at first, it becomes repetitive quickly. A five hour game runtime hardly calls for a wide array of enemy-types, but if I’m feeling the repetition after less than five hours, the balance isn’t quite right.

Also, I love my falcon friend, but her battle AI was kinda janky, yo. I’d be swinging wildly stunning ‘bots, whistling her down to do her bit (“Now, Windsong, now!”) and… nothing. I look to the skies and see her still spinning her way down, or a few times, stuck inside a building with an open door.

For some, a romantic hunting trip with their falcon will be sufficient entertainment, particularly within a virtual reality environment. Outerloop Games recognises this, and in a win for accessibility, has a menu option to remove combat from the game.

Join the resistance

Somewhere within all these bird playdates is a story. An account of an indigenous people whose planet and culture are being sucked dry by a colonial presence. A tale of persistence (or not) in the face of overwhelming odds. Of partnership with nature.

Like the combat, the story doesn’t reach its promised heights. Themes aren’t explored in any depth, disserved by pacing, shallow character interactions and a frankly disappointing ending. A niggly point, but conversation trees don’t always branch correctly, and contain a number of typos.

While we’re on the topic of errors, I need to mention the glitches. I experienced enemies disappearing into walls, jittery animation, and missing environmental textures during the five hour play time.

Buy it when it’s cheep

There’s a lot to love about Falcon Age – namely, its falcon. She is a majestic, perfect creature, trapped within an imperfect game.

I’ve picked apart a number of flaws in this review, but truly, what Outerloop Games have achieved with this animal companion is exemplary. When you get past its issues, it’s worth picking up for bird dress up times alone.

So, if you’ve always wanted a falcon but your landlord ain’t so keen, this is your game.

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