Category: Ace Banana

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Something for the Weekend: PSVR Halloween Hijinx (2018 Edition)

As we’re only a couple of days away from a major holiday – though how ‘major’ Halloween actually is probably depends more on where you live, than anything – you’d expect there’d be Halloween sales on all over the place. And you’d be right, as we’ve already featured several offers for suitably spooky virtual reality (VR) experiences on the site throughout October. Viveport being a recent example.

PlayStation VRHowever, this week’s scheduled platform for Something For The Weekend is PlayStation VR; and there hasn’t actually been anything much on the PlayStation Store expressly for VR.  That said there are still titles on sale, and ones that are a part of their own Halloween offer. So, let’s look at those titles and content packs that have made the (price) cut.

Please note: Deals are accurate as of the UK PlayStation Store and may not be available in all regions. Also, PS Plus membership may also result in additional money off on some titles.

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

To quote VRFocus’ review on the title: “Until Dawn is a story driven horror videogame, with the player’s in-game decisions having a direct influence on the outcome for each of the characters involved. A convoluted journey through an unwelcoming world. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a far more straight forward affair. It’s a shooting gallery, pure and simple, but when played in VR it’s far more appealing than could it could ever sound on paper.”

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is currently available for £7.99 (GBP), effectively half price from its usual mark of £15.99.

Kona VR Bundle

The first of several bundles featuring VR to get a price drop on the PlayStation Store this week, the Kona VR Bundle includes the full game Kona, plus the upgrade to VR DLC. Kona puts players in the role of a detective hired to investigate the vandalism of a businessman’s summer home. The local Canadian community is suspected of being behind things, but  the detective finds the area deserted. So, what is really going on?

The Kona VR Bundle is currently available for £7.99, half price from £15.99.

The Exorcist: Legion VR – Complete Series

To quote Rebecca when she recently reviewed chapter five of Wolf & Wood’s VR excursion into the greater world of The Exorcist: “NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!” If you want a good scare, this bundle of all five chapters is right up your street.

The compete series is 28% off currently on PlayStation Store, from £24.99 to £17.99.

The Exorcist: Legion VR - Chapter 4 Samaritan

Oasis Games Shooter Bundle

Not everything with money off this week can be classified as a horror game.

While the VR releases from Oasis Games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea (see: Ace Banana) there are some that are worth a look (see: Pixel Gear). This bundle gives you the option to check out both ends of the spectrum, with the pair getting a hefty discount from £19.99 to a far more reasonable £6.19 – a 69% discount. You can find it on the PlayStation Store here.

DOOM VFR

“DOOM VFR brings the fast-paced, brutal gameplay fans of the series love to virtual reality.” Says the PlayStation Store description. “Immerse yourself in the UAC facility on Mars and the depths of Hell, as your skills are put to the test through intense combat and challenging puzzle-solving. Play as a cybernetic survivor who is activated by the UAC to fight the demon invasion, maintain order, and prevent catastrophic failure at the Mars facility. ”

What more is there to say? Get ripping and tearing for £12.99, just over a third off the regular £19.99 price.

DOOM VFR screenshot

Killing Floor: Incursion

A standalone experience based on Tripwire Interactive’s Killing Floor franchise, Killing Floor: Incursion takes players into the world of the Horzine Security Forces as they team up with allies to fend off the horrific Zed hordes using pistols, shotguns, blades and more.

Save 36% on Killing Floor: Incursion now from £24.99 to £15.99.

Killing Floor: Incursion screenshot

Weeping Doll

Another Oasis Games title, Weeping Doll is only £2.49 for a short time. Playing as the maid of a Japanese family living in a very Victorian looking home, Weeping Doll has players exploring different environments to solve puzzles as a tortured girl’s doll takes revenge on her parents.

Weeping Doll title

Arizona Sunshine

Its Halloween, so of course Vertigo Games’ zombie shooter is in the deal. There’s a hefty 60% off the title, clocking in at £12.99 (down from £32.99) and it’s also one of those titles that has a possible PS Plus discount.

Find out why so many want to play it and why it’s one of the titles making the leap to becoming a location-based experience (LBE). Just try to keep your brains and blood inside yourself when you do.

Arizona Sunshine PlayStation VR screenshot

The Inpatient

“Discover true fear at the abandoned Blackwood Pines Sanatorium. Awaken into a living nightmare as a patient with no memory of who you are – in a spine-chilling mystery set 60 years before the events of PS4 hit Until Dawn. Live the horror through the immersion of VR as deep, personal fears, psychological terror and heart-shredding jump scares wait in the darkness.”

Get ready to wrestle with more than a few moral dilemmas as you figure out who you can trust in the PSVR title from Supermassive Games. Save £14 on the regular store price for a limited time, with the price at £15.99.

Random Note of Appreciation: Whoever changed the “Key Features” on the standard store description to “Key Symptoms”? Well done. We loved that little detail even if no one else noticed it.

Check out more titles on next week’s edition of Something for the Weekend as we head into November.

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PlayStation VR Party: The Best Games for a Fun Night with Friends

The launch of the PlayStation VR has been deemed a success by many, with even Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) seemingly caught unawares by the demand for the virtual reality (VR) hardware. But satisfying the early adopters is a much easier task than achieving mass market appeal, as has been seen time-and-again with peripherals in the videogame industry. One ideal is for those early adopters to become evangelists for the hardware, but doing so takes just the right kind of software.

Keen to ensure that VR can be enjoyed by families and friends as well as the core videogame demographic, every early adopter of the head-mounted display (HMD) should consider a purchase of PlayStation VR Worlds. A selection of mini-games both family friendly and more maturely themed, PlayStation VR Worlds offers a taste of the potential of VR without daunting newcomers with the possibility of a ten hour experience; or even just an hour, for that matter. Once that initial boundary has fallen what else can PlayStation VR offer to get the party swinging?

The Playroom VR

Playroom VR – Sony Interactive Entertainment

Playroom VR is a free download for all PlayStation VR early adopters, so why haven’t you got it yet? Well you probably have, and already have dived into the couch multiplayer style mini-games included. The essence of Playroom VR is that players armed with a DualShock 4 controller both work with and against the player wearing the PlayStation VR HMD. Monster Escape grants the solo HMD wearing player the ability to crush their foes as they combat one-to-four players who are trying to evade the large green beast towering down upon them, while Ghost House has the players working co-operatively to hunt supernatural beings in a cartoon haunted house. Playroom VR is a fantastic way of demonstrating this new technology without the fear of the many complicated implications of VR.

Werewolves Within screenshot 1

Werewolves Within – Ubisoft

A somewhat underrated PlayStation VR title, Werewolves Within is the essence of social interaction in VR. Although there’s no local multiplayer option – meaning the laughs will come from sharing the HMD around your friends opposed to getting the better of one another – Werewolves Within is an elaborate guessing game that is as fun as you choose to make it. Don’t underestimate the comedy value of merging new players online with the friends sat next to you on the couch.

Carnival Games VR-Alleyball

Carnival Games VR – 2K Games

One of the biggest selling franchises on the hugely successful Nintendo Wii console is also available on PlayStation VR, however this time around things are a bit different. Those looking for an immediate and accessible videogame to play with their family or a friend unacquainted with VR – or videogames as a whole, for that matter – could do far worse. Carnival Games VR promises a palatable experience with extremely low barriers for entry.

Ace Banana – Oasis Games

Ace Banana tasks the players with defending a pile of bananas from evil invader monkeys. Who doesn’t want to do that? You’ll have to put your archery skills to the test using PlayStation Move controllers in a VR experience that is designed to increase in difficulty as players choose their own play style: from short bursts to longer endurance tests. What’s more, the entire videogame can be played co-operatively. How’s that for multiplayer monkey-wrangling?

Sports Bar VR - checkers

Sports Bar VR – CherryPop Games

Much like Werewolves Within, Sports Bar VR isn’t social multiplayer for local players. However, it is the most social VR experience currently offered across any HMD. Originally launched as Pool Nation VR on HTC Vive, the PlayStation VR version lags a little behind the debut due to the lack of roomscale tracking, however CherryPop Games has worked very hard to ensure that the experience of being in a virtual space with complete strangers is just as entertaining. The name change came about due to the fact that pool became just one element of the videogame, with air hockey, ball games, darts and more now included as standard.