If you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably missed this summers deals that Oculus has rolled out. Those that have been paying attention will have seen the Oculus Rift get $200 USD/ £200 GBP knocked off for a limited time (it’s still going), as well as plenty of content discounts. As August draws to a close the virtual reality (VR) company has veiled two new bundles, each with four games apiece.
First up is the Rift Summer Hits Pack. As you may expect these are four of the most popular videogames – so it’s great for new Oculus Rift owners – covering first-person shooters (FPS), role-playing games (RPGs) and some comedy gameplay. Included are: The Mage’s Taleby inXile Entertainment, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality and Job Simulator from Owlchemy Labs and Arizona Sunshine by Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive.
The Rift Summer Hits Pack retails for £69.99/$89.99, offering approximately 35 percent off the regular price of all four.
The second bundle is the Rift Essentials Pack, made as an introduction to VR for newbies. Here there’s The Climbby Crytek, Survios’ Raw Data, SUPERHOT VR and Apollo 11 VR. This bundle retails for £44.99/$59.99, offering the bigger discount of around 50 percent.
Both of these deals are only available for the next week, ending on 4th September 2017.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Oculus Rift, reporting back with the latest offers.
For any new videogame hardware to have any impact at launch it needs some killer titles for consumers to get enthusiastic about. Due to arrive later this year will be Microsoft’s Mixed Reality (MR) head-mounted displays (HMDs), coming from manufacturers like Acer, Dell, Lenovo and HP. There hasn’t been a great deal of info released on what sort of content Microsoft has planned for the actual launch, but it has confirmed some of the experiences that’ll feature on the Windows Store, as well as working alongside 343 Industries on some Halo projects.
In regards to Halo, via the Windows Blog, Microsoft’s Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow and HoloLens creator said: ‘it’s my pleasure to let you know that we are working with 343 Industries to bring future Halo experiences into mixed reality. We are not providing specifics right now, but it is going to be a lot of fun to work with them.’ So while the possibility of attacking the Covenant in a brand new virtual reality (VR) experience maybe just what the headsets need to succeed, that may not happen at launch.
While Microsoft may not be too forthcoming with Halo details it has at least announced some of the content consumers can expect to see this coming holiday. Some maybe more Chinese orientated apps but there are plenty regular VRFocus readers should recognise.
Title’s such as zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine, ARK: Survival Evolved spin off ARK Park, Esper, Floorplan, Bullet Sorrow VR, Dreadhalls, Jaunt, Hulu, SUPERHOT VR, vTime, Rec Room, Obduction and many more. Presently there are 67 apps or videogames listed.
Popular zombie-shooting title Arizona Sunshine has sold very well on the PlayStation VR, and its developers and publishers at Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive are sufficiently pleased that they have announced that all players who own Arizona Sunshine on PlayStation VR will be able to download post-launch DLC for free.
The DLC is planned to launch later on this summer, and will feature two new Horde maps, set in the Old Mine and Undead Valley, a place that requires players to trek across the border to the zombie-infested casinos of Las Vegas, Nevada.
In addition, the developers have announced various updates and bug fixes will be introduced in update 1.02, which the developers say has taken into account feedback from the PlayStation VR community on improvements they wish to see. Though the PlayStation VR version of Arizona Sunshine is, in some ways, more limited than the room-scale version on the HTC Vive, the developers and the community have seen room for improvements such as:
Improved aiming down the iron sights for the PlayStation Aim controller
Co-Op multiplayer support for two-handed mode
A system to stop the floating effect when tracking is lost
New control scheme options for more play style customisation
Full patch notes can be found on the Arizona Sunshine official website. The update is currently live and will be fully rolled out to all regions for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro in a couple of days.
You can check out the review for the PlayStation VR version of Arizona Sunshine Here.
VRFocus will bring you further news on Arizona Sunshine and other PlayStation VR titles as it becomes available.
Last month Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive launched their acclaimed zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine for PlayStation VR, having previously released on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. This week the developers have launched a new update for the PlayStation VR version, 1.02, bringing with it improvements for the Aim controller, Move controllers and more.
PlayStation VR players will find a new chaperone system that aims to prevent ‘floating’ due to lost tracking, while the Aim controller addition improves aiming down the sights. Adding to the controller options, the Move controllers now have a run option plus there are additional control scheme options for players that want to customise their playstyle.
Elsewhere, the co-op multiplayer now supports two-handed mode and levels unlocked in the mode are now open in the standard campaign.
If you’ve not played Arizona Sunshine yet, checkoutVRFocus’review which says: “Vertigo Games has created a hugely enjoyable FPS videogame for the early days of VR.”
As ever keep reading VRFocus for any further Arizona Sunshine updates.
PlayStation VR changelog for 1.02 release:
Added a chaperone system
Added gun sights for aim assist, this can be disabled in the settings
The two-handed weapons campaign can now be played in co-op mode
The horde mode can now be played with two-handed weapons
Zombie kill trophies are now unlockable with combined kills from multiplayer
Levels unlocked in the two-handed weapons mode are now also unlocked for the normal campaign
A setting has been added for the rotation speed
A setting has been added to disable the 180 flip on certain controls
A setting has been added for adjusting the grenade belt height
Multiple gameplay tips have been added to the loading screen
Single-player games can immersive and rewarding, but when the campaign is done and all the AI foes have been slain, you need to know when you finally hit that ‘multiplayer’ button that can play with actual human beings. Here we take a look at multiplayers games that will let you play together—be it on PC VR headsets through Steam or Oculus, or on PlayStation VR.
VR’s overall playerbase—even across the major headsets—is still a pretty small community in contrast to console/PC gaming. So while the multiplayer lobbies won’t be busting at the seams like you’re used to in flatscreen games, you’re still bound to find a group of casuals, die-hards, and try-hards populating the servers.
Here’s what we think are the best cross-compatible games for Rift, Vive, Index, or Windows MR players on PC, and for console players on PSVR. You’ll find a longer explanation below our top 5 list detailing more about PSVR cross-play (spoiler: there’s only a few).
5 – Sparc
CCP’s 1v1 sports game Sparc was their last virtual reality title before shuttering their VR studios late last year. While CCP has basically called it quits on VR for now, there’s still plenty of reasons to pick up Sparc if you’re looking to connect up with a buddy.
Sparc is by all measures a great game, but it’s even greater that you can play mano-a-mano against any one of your VR headset owning goons you call friends. Sparc suffers from the same issue as many cross-platform VR games though, i.e. no support for friends lists outside of the platform you’re on, but you can always host a game and hope for matchmaking serendipity—the silver lining to a smaller user base means you’ll probably be able to match up with your friend easily.
Catan VR (2018) brings the best-selling board game Settlers of Catan to pretty much every VR headset out there, with dedicated community of players on PC VR headsets, PSVR, Oculus Go and Gear VR. You’re certain to meet Catan-lovers from all over the world, so who knows how your game will improve or what friends you’ll make along the way.
Although online play is the main focus of Catan VR, there’s also a single-player mode with ‘Catan AI Personalities’, which were designed with guidance from Catan creator Klaus Teuber.
Space Junkies (2019) is a team shooter from Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio that puts you into zero-g for some pretty familiar Unreal Tournament-style action. Although Ubisoft pulled the plug on development only a few months after the sci-fi arcade-style shooter was released, there’s still a sizable chunk of meat on the bones here, making it one of VR’s most finely-polished and fun team shooters out there.
Full cross-play adds some disparity in input; PSVR players could technically have a leg up on the competition due to DualShock 4 allowing for quicker target acquisition, although you may just find dual-wielding with motion controllers way easier and ultimately more satisfying.
You don’t have to be a Trekkie (or Trekker) to see why sitting at the bridge of a star ship, cooperatively taking down hostile aliens is a really engrossing way to lose an entire afternoon/evening. With its 4-player multiplayer, you can go through the game’s half-dozen campaign missions, or alternatively experience an infinite number of procedurally-generated missions in the company of other PC VR and PSVR-owners.
Created by Ubisoft’s Red Storm Entertainment, Star Trek: Bridge Crew is worth it if only to say you’ve been where no man’s gone before.
Social apps are a fun way to talk and interact with people in VR, but if you don’t have something fun to do while you’re actually there, the novelty ultimately wears off. Anti Gravity’s Rec Room is a great way to experience fun activities like paintball or dodge ball, but the real meat of the game likes in their co-op ‘Quests’ and PvP battle royale game Rec Royale. Of course all of this is served up in a lovable cartoony environment while you have a chat with people from all over the world, or just your best buddies if you so choose. Did we mention it was free. Yeah, we can’t believe it either.
Rec Room isn’t only a great game, but it allows all players regardless of platforms to meet up, create friends and sally forth to take on all activities without the issues we mentioned above.
Let’s face it: there aren’t many other cross-play multiplayer titles that currently work on all three major headsets. It’s a fact we’ve been living with since the headsets launched in 2016, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better due to two very real roadblocks outside of the friends list issue a large portion of cross-platform games suffer from. While platform exclusives wall out a large percentage of would-be users, the ugly truth is studios simply aren’t going head-first into VR multiplayer games like they once were. Time after time, VR games that primarily feature multiplayer support have fallen to the wayside because of low hourly active user numbers, and perfectly fun games like Werewolves Within and Eagle Flight stand as testament to this.
If you buy a game and the servers aren’t populated with players, you probably won’t wait around too long for a match; it creates a vicious cycle that tends to spell the death of a game if a hardcore playerbase isn’t built-in due to things like active Discord servers or subreddits to keep people engaged outside of the matchmaking screen.
Thankfully for SteamVR headsets owners, Steam is a great resource for guaranteed cross-play on multiplayer titles; many games available through Steam offer VR support for Rift, Vive, Valve Index, and Windows VR pretty much on a de facto basis. Conversely, with a SteamVR headset and ReVive at your disposal, many Oculus Rift multiplayer titles are technically cross-play capable if you’re looking to hack your way in. It’s a pretty strange way of vaulting over the friends list roadblock, but entirely feasible if you’re motivated.
Update (January, 20th 2020): We’ve done a long-due overhaul of the list reflecting the latest developments in the games, and their cross-play abilities. We’ll be periodically updating this list as new games come out.
It’s a busy time to be a PSVR fan! There’s a healthy amount of games on offer for Sony’s headset this week, and some of them are really worth checking out. If you’re a fan of shooting things then we’ve got plenty to check out. If you’re a fan of wall-crawling… well maybe still skip Spider-Man VR.
If you missed the previous entry of this list you can see those new releases here. UploadVR has launched the ‘UploadVR PS VR Community’ on PlayStation 4! Join up, find other gamers to play with, and engage in discussions with them.
Also, don’t forget to check out our list of the 9 Best PlayStation VR Games if you need any extra inspiration.
Arizona Sunshine, from Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive
Price: $39.99 (currently discounted)
If you’ve been craving another full FPS following Farpoint then Arizona Sunshine is here to answer the call. Wake up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse in the heat of the Arizona desert and make your way through its canyons as you fend off hordes of the undead. Supports PS Move, DualShock 4, and the PSVR Aim Controller.
Recommendation: The game’s definitely watered down from its PC release, but it’s still a lot of fun. Grab it.
Ancient Amuletor, from Ti Games
Price: $19.99 (currently discounted)
A tower defense game where you are the tower. Choose from a handful of classes and defend a series of crystals from incoming enemies using guns, spells, or a bow and arrow. Cooperative multiplayer for up to four people gives the game a social edge and the PlayStation Move controls put you in the experience more completely.
Recommendation: Amuletor is fun, though it’s a little light on content.
Spider-Man: Homecoming VR Experience
Price: Free
It’s finally time to put on the webs and become Spider-Man for the first time in VR. This tie-in experience to the upcoming Homecoming movie gives you just a taste of what it’s like to be Peter Parker, letting you fire off different types of webs and have a close encounter with the villainous Vulture.
Recommendation: Sadly, the Spider-Man experience isn’t really worth checking out even though it’s free. It’s short and uninspired.
Cavernous Wastes, from Pounching Kitten Games
Price: $9.99
This one’s probably going to slip under your radar, but if you like six degrees of freedom (6DOF) shooters then it may be worth checking out. Jump into a vehicle and explore maze-like caverns, fighting off enemies. Visually it’s not very impressive but its gameplay could be a winner for the right person.
Recommendation: Fans of the 6DOF shooters should check it out.
Editor’s Note: The majority of this review focuses on the game as it was at launch on Oculus Rift with Touch and HTC Vive. Since then it has been updated with full locomotion and new maps. For our thoughts on the PSVR version, you can read more here and see the updated section at the end of this review, which was contributed by Staff Writer Jamie Feltham.
Standing back-to-back with my fellow zombie slayer, UploadVR’s very own Joe Durbin, I peer down the barrel of my pistol at the walking corpse that’s stumbling toward me. I glance down at the ammo belt around my waist and notice I’m running low — only about 4 shots left after this clip is done. The hulking mass of a former human is only a few feet from my face now, so I level my sights at its head and squeeze the trigger. Click. Out of shots. I frantically release the magazine, then slam a new one into place by bringing the gun down to my belt, and raise my arms again just in time to blow a huge chunk of its head off, dropping it to the ground, just before it gnaws on my face.
Wave completed. I take a deep breath and get ready for the next onslaught.
This happened in Arizona Sunshine’s multiplayer horde mode — a small slice of the game that would have been enough for most developers to sell as a standalone product. Instead, with Arizona Sunshine, Vertigo Games have packed in not only a single player and multiplayer horde mode with endless waves of zombies, but they’ve also thrown in a robust campaign mode that can also be played both alone and with a friend. It combines together into a deep and diverse overall package that leaves me wanting more as I write these words.
Before approaching this review, I had to ask myself: What really makes a good zombie game? Obviously, zombies are at the core of the experience. They’ve got to be scary, first and foremost. In Arizona Sunshine there are a handful of moments that raised my hairs and gave me goosebumps, but it wasn’t as frequent as other games that bill themselves as primarily horror experiences. Instead, just like its approach to everything, the horror elements are only a small part of a much more complex puzzle.
You’ll hear them shuffling toward you, growling and moaning with each step, and you’ll feel the terror as an entire horde of them comes pouring over a gate or down a mine shaft after you. That’s all here. But what you won’t find is the inability to escape, or reposition yourself, or at least move out of the way. So many other zombie shooters in VR right now are obsessed with either locking you in place, neutralizing your ability to move other than what your room allows, or location-based teleportation to pre-defined areas. Luckily, Arizona Sunshine’s movement system offers flexibility, even if it’s still a form of teleportation.
By pressing forward on one of the Oculus Touch controllers’ analog sticks, or pressing the touchpad of a Vive controller, and then aiming out in front of me, I can choose where I’d like to teleport in the world, which results in a blink of the screen to simulate the movement. You’re faced with managing an endurance meter so you can’t just endlessly teleport across entire levels. It’s an effective solution to the movement problem, one popularized by Cloudhead’s The Gallery, and it avoids motion sickness. However, it would have been nice for the option of a more traditional control scheme for those that don’t suffer from motion sickness.
Even though the zombies in Arizona Sunshine retain a lot of what make zombies so scary in pop culture, it loses some of that effect once you realize how simple the A.I. is in the game. They either slowly walk around until noticing you, crawl on the ground if shot in the leg, or sprint toward you. One thing I really appreciated is that, regardless of the type of zombie, they’re lethal. If you make the mistake of letting one get close enough to hit you, they’ll start wildly flailing their arms making it tough to shoot their head and dealing severe damage very, very quickly. Within seconds, a single zombie can drop you from full health to death without much trouble. Luckily, there’s no risk of turning from a bite to worry about that I noticed.
Throughout the campaign mode I grew fond of the main character’s wit and humor. I began the journey waking up inside of a cave, presumably a hideout location. A zombie head rolls into the cave after getting lopped off by a bear trap — a safety precaution the main character took before resting. Jokingly, he refers to the dead monstrosity as ‘Fred’, a comical moniker he uses to refer to any and all zombies throughout the game.
After exiting the cave, I hear a human voice over the radio for the first time. I set out on my mission to find the source of the transmission and, ideally, a safe haven from all of the madness. It’s a simple story that never veers off track and has zero twists or turns, but it gets the job done. The focus isn’t so much on the overarching narrative, but more so on the world and the main character’s relationship to the apocalypse that makes it so pleasurable to play through.
Over the course of the 4+ hour campaign, the character’s humor is effective at offering a foil to the otherwise horrific hellscape of the Arizona desert during the apocalypse. Between scavenging for food and ammunition it’s refreshing to hear the protagonist remark about how ugly one of the Freds appears to be, or how the horde of Freds is ruining the intimate get-together he had planned for the single dead zombie in the middle of the room. Hearing my character exclaim, “You just had to invite your entire damn family, didn’t ya Fred!?” is much more entertaining than the stock grunts and complaints.
That personality shines through in the end, as well as his anger and frustration mounts and all serves to mark the ending of the campaign in a huge climactic battle. That personality was enough to make it an adventure worth taking, but it never ascends to he heights of other narrative VR games, such as The Gallery, in its storytelling. The utter lack of any other characters, or at least diversions in the plot, make this a very by-the-numbers story of the zombie apocalypse, one that we’ve all heard before, even if it’s exciting to play again in VR.
Which is what a lot of the experience boils down to. In terms of game design and mechanics, there isn’t a whole lot to make it sound very exciting on paper. You can move around large environments, point flashlights in the dark, shoot zombies, and fight for your life — but that’s been in games for years. The difference between a game like Arizona Sunshine and anything you’d play on a 2D display is that in this game, you feel like you’re part of the world. You embody the character, rather than piloting them through the window of your television.
My memories of playing the game feel more like I visited this place and vividly recall getting lost in the mines, scared for my life. In this way, it’s much more than just a simple video game. By crafting a full campaign mode that lasts several hours, Arizona Sunshine effectively transports you to this other world in such a convincing way that you feel what your character feels much more so than you would in any other traditional game.
Playing the campaign in multiplayer offers the exact same experience, but increases the difficulty in just as many ways as it decreases it. While you have a second pair of guns and pair of eyes in the world, you don’t have twice as much ammo to go around, forcing you to share and ration out each stash. The dark levels also require immense teamwork as only person is afforded the use of the flashlight. You better trust whoever you’ve asked to watch your back.
Then going one step further, Arizona Sunshine also offers a dynamic horde mode as well. You can play this endless wave section of the game either alone or, as we would recommend, with up to 3 other people, scaling it from either 1-4 players total. Each time we tried it out the zombies came from different locations, in different quantities, and different styles. Just like in the campaign mode, some of them were wearing helmets, while others were not. In later waves they started running and pouring into the arena in larger numbers, amping up the intensity even further.
Each time we tried to plan out our positioning, watching each other’s backs. It never panned out how we’d have liked. Eventually we got overrun, chaos ensued, and we died. But hey — at least we put up a good fight, right?
The horde mode is great, addictive, and immensely exhilarating, but I came away wishing for more. There only appears to be a single map with the same layout and time of day settings. There’s no progression system other than spawning newer and better guns as the rounds go on, and once you play it a few times, there isn’t much else to see. I’d love for some unlockable customization options, the ability to increase rank, acquire abilities, place environmental defenses like walls or barricades, or at least try out more than a single level. Those would make for great additions in an update.
Over half a year on and Arizona Sunshine finally arrives on PSVR as a slightly watered down but still very much enjoyable experience. You get all of the same modes and features, but an added twist on the campaign that lets you play with the new Aim Controller. Graphically the game’s taken a big hit, though it’s by no means unsightly and playing with the rifle-shaped device is a real joy.
PSVR’s tracking and feature limitations are never too far from your mind; the Aim jitters when looking down the sights, and walking/turning with the Move controllers is cumbersome at best. Still the game gives you plenty of options to fine-tune the experience and the core gameplay is just as fun as it is on PC. If you can’t go Rift or Vive, then the PSVR version is still a great choice.
Final Score:8.5/10 – Great
Vertigo Games proved that even in the most saturated genre we’ve seen for VR games this year — shooters with zombies — there was still room for something fresh. Arizona Sunshine combines the narrative power of a fully-featured 4+ hour campaign mode, with the intensity of a wave-based horde mode, and then adds multiplayer to both experiences. The protagonist’s witty humor make it worth recommending on his charming personality alone, with enough depth and variety to keep people coming back for several hours. By doing so many things so well, Arizona Sunshine quickly rose to the top of the pack as the best overall zombie shooter we’ve seen yet in VR.
Arizona Sunshine will be available on Steam for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, as well as on the Oculus Home Store for the Rift. The game is also now available on PSVR with optional Aim Controller support. You can find more purchasing options on the game’s official website. Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.
Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive’s Arizona Sunshine finally hit PlayStation VR (PSVR) earlier this week, but not everyone is satisfied with the results. A lot of players have been reporting issues with the game’s presentation and support for the new PSVR Aim Controller. The developers are listening, though, and you should be seeing changes soon.
Vertigo itself took to Reddit yesterday to reassure players that it was listening to feedback, presenting a list of areas that the studio was looking into addressing. Highlighting the list is improving looking down the sights of a rifle when using PSVR’s Aim Controller. When players raise the device to their heads for a better aim, the PlayStation 4’s camera can get confused between tracking both it and the headset. As a result the gun becomes jittery and starts to bounce around.
Some players have suggested Vertigo takes a similar approach to Farpoint, which offered raised sights to keep the two devices further apart. Hopefully Vertigo can come up with a similarly elegant solution.
The developer is looking into other issues with PSVR tracking, as well as adding a sprint option for users playing with the Move controllers and more.
“Our team is currently investigating what feedback we can address to improve the experience on PS VR,” the developer said. “We will need time to make sure that suggested implementations work with the game’s free-roaming gameplay and room-scale roots.”
For now, Vertigo and Jaywalkers already have Arizona’s first patch submitted to Sony for approval. This is set to address a lot of bug fixes, including frame rate drops that some players are experiencing.
Hopefully these issues can get cleared up as soon as possible; Arizona won Upload’s Game of the Year award when it released on Rift and Vive last year, so it’s a shame to see anything detract from the experience on PSVR.
Vertigo Games released Arizona Sunshine for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive several months ago and the popular first-person shooter (FPS) has now come to PlayStation VR. VRFocus has reviewed the videogame here. VRFocus interviewed Lead Programmer Trevor Blom about the technical changes that Vertigo Games did in order to make Arizona Sunshine suitable for the PlayStation VR.
Nothing has dramatically changed, it is essentially still the same videogame. That was exactly the intention. Blom explains that a lot of the physics behind the killing of zombies and lighting design is too much for the PlayStation VR to handle. So they’ve had to use a lot of tricks and optimizations to make it work. For example, they use ragdoll animations instead of the same physics as the PC, re-did the lighting and had to remove the physics for destruction. All of this luckily doesn’t effect the number of zombies attacking the player or their death animations.
He also gives a few pointers for developers looking to make a virtual reality (VR) game and building it for the PlayStation VR. Watch the video below to find out more. If you want to find out more about Vertigo Games, VRFocus also did an interview with co-founder and Managing director Richard Sitselaar about the future of the company.
Launched for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift several months ago, Vertigo Games has taken its time to bring the critically acclaimed Arizona Sunshine to PlayStation VR. However, in doing so the studio has tailored the experience to take advantage of the unique properties of the PlayStation 4, and thus delivered a commendable first-person shooter (FPS) experience on the technically weakest premium virtual reality (VR) format.
The videogame, for all intents and purposes, is the same as it appeared on the PC VR formats. A single-player campaign offers a story-led experience which comes complete with ham-fisted b-movie style dialogue and its fair share of exciting set-pieces and bottlenecks. The campaign is far from perfect, but remains hugely enjoyable. Far more so than the original HTC Vive release – a lukewarm wave shooter – would let you believe. In the months that have passed since its debut, Arizona Sunshine has transitioned into a fully free-movement FPS, and this is the version that has launched on PlayStation VR.
The campaign will take you through the red-rocked Arizona as you face-off against zombies on rocky mountain paths, through underground mines and atop train carts. You’ll be given pistols, SMGs, sniper rifles and more along the way in order to take on the overwhelming numbers, and you’ll also find a few new additions to the arsenal designed specifically for the PlayStation 4’s unique attributes; namely the PlayStation Aim controller.
Arizona Sunshine comes complete with three different input options. A DualShock 4 controller can be used as standard, however two PlayStation Move controllers can also be used. These two differing control schemes offer a tough trade-off: greater precision in movement versus greater precision in aiming. Arizona Sunshine does offer a basic teleportation system, which the PlayStation Move players will no doubt rely heavily upon. So too with those who choose to play with the PlayStation Aim.
The PlayStation Aim control scheme is arguably the best option for PlayStation 4 players. While far from the precision of Farpoint – the videogame designed alongside the peripheral – Vertigo Games has done a good job of bringing the new PlayStation VR exclusive accessory into Arizona Sunshine. The slightly muddled layout doesn’t provide too much in the way of a barrier for those who have already experienced Farpoint, and given that the accessory is typically sold as a bundle with Impulse Gear’s VR debut title, that’s very much likely to be the case.
On the subject of PlayStation hardware, it would be remiss not to mention the graphical detail that Arizona Sunshine delivers. On a standard PlayStation 4 console the visual quality is of a good standard, despite the dumbed-down animation and frequently dimwitted enemies. However, on PlayStation 4 Pro, Arizona Sunshine comes very close to replicating the quality of its PC brethren. Draw distances are pushed back significantly and other visual effects make for a much more impressive presentation. Arizona Sunshine’s gameplay doesn’t change at all on PlayStation 4 Pro, but it’s easy to see why many VR early adopters champion the upgraded PlayStation 4 with this title.
Arizona Sunshine also offers multiplayer gameplay in addition to the single-player campaign, with the co-operative gameplay for up to two players or a four-player horde mode on offer. The set-up process is simple and the lobby system a fairly standard affair, yet the action is arguably much more satisfying with more players. It’s easier to forgive the comparatively weak graphics and awkward movement systems incorporated into a VR videogame when you’re simply having fun with a friend.
Arizona Sunshine is by no means a masterpiece, however it is a significant step closer to the VR experiences that early adopters know the technology is capable of. Hesitating to innovate too much, Arizona Sunshine cleverly picks-and-chooses from the key mechanics that have proven to work in four years of PC VR development and brings them to PlayStation 4 feeling almost new. Vertigo Games has created a hugely enjoyable FPS videogame for the early days of VR, but one which will undoubtedly look dated in just a few months.
The videogame, for all intents and purposes, is the same as it appeared on the PC VR formats. A single-player campaign offers a story-led experience which comes complete with ham-fisted b-movie style dialogue and its fair share of exciting set-pieces and bottlenecks. The campaign is far from perfect, but remains hugely enjoyable. Far more so than the original HTC Vive release – a lukewarm wave shooter – would let you believe. In the months that have passed since its debut, Arizona Sunshine has transitioned into a fully free-movement FPS, and this is the version that has launched on PlayStation VR.
The 
Arizona Sunshine is by no means a masterpiece, however it is a significant step closer to the VR experiences that early adopters know the technology is capable of. Hesitating to innovate too much, Arizona Sunshine cleverly picks-and-chooses from the key mechanics that have proven to work in four years of PC VR development and brings them to PlayStation 4 feeling almost new. Vertigo Games has created a hugely enjoyable FPS videogame for the early days of VR, but one which will undoubtedly look dated in just a few months.