As shown in no particular order, these are our top five PSVR games that we’d love to see on PSVR 2.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil Village is one of PSVR 2’s major launch games, so we’re hopeful that Resident Evil 7 will eventually follow. While official VR support remains PSVR exclusive for RE7, Capcom remastered the flatscreen version of this acclaimed survival horror for PS5 last year, adding ray-tracing support, improved framerates, haptic feedback and resistance triggers. This remains one of VR’s scariest games, and we’d love to see it back with further enhancements.
Blood & Truth
PlayStation VR Worlds might have been little more than a PSVR demo disc, but the London Heist minigame remains a standout. Sony London expanded this into a full release with Blood & Truth, which sees you saving your family from a London crime boss. With its high production values and entertaining set pieces, London Studio’s hit FPS deserves a second chance.
Wipeout Omega Collection
As the remake of a remake, Wipeout Omega Collection can feel overfamiliar for long-term fans, but it’s one of the best entries in this beloved sci-fi racing series. Elevated further through its optional PSVR support, Wipeout’s campaigns for HD, Fury and 2048 are all playable alongside multiplayer, and you can access three VR-exclusive ships. Omega Collection is highly polished, thrilling, and easily worth a second look.
Astro Bot Rescue Mission
Astro’s Playroom is an enjoyable showcase for the DualSense controller’s abilities on PS5, and we would love to see Astro Bot Rescue Mission back on PSVR 2. Initially featured in Sony Japan’s The Playroom VR mini-game compilation, Rescue Mission took this petite and adorable robot on a 3D platforming adventure to save his friends. It’s an absolute joy that remains the no.1 pick in our best PSVR games list.
Star Wars: Squadrons
Star Wars is already on PSVR 2 in Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge – Enhanced Edition, but we’d never turn down more adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Alongside Vader Immortal, EA Motive’s Star Wars: Squadrons also released on PSVR and provided something completely different. Swapping lightsabers for X-Wings and TIE Fighters, this space dogfighter comes with a full campaign, online multiplayer, and optional VR support. Considering EA ported Jedi Fallen Order to PS5, we hope Squadrons will follow one day.
Obviously, the PSVR headset is not capable of 4K visuals, but this boost to the native resolution, performance, and everything else will result in a much sharper, clearer, and more detailed image inside the headset still.
Another bottleneck here is that, in my experience, when you have a PSVR headset plugged into the PS5, the share function does not allow you to capture 4K footage directly like it does in non-VR games. I haven’t been able to test if that is still the case here or not. This shouldn’t affect things for playing, but it makes it difficult to show what it’s like for others to see.
We already covered this news, but we’ve got a lot more specific details now from PlayStation London Studios’ Technical Director, Bruno Ribeiro. Here’s what he had to say:
“Blood & Truth uses dynamic resolution in all platforms, that means that it adapts its internal resolution to the action so that we achieve a perfect frame rate at all times. The PS4 Pro version tops out at 1440p (2560×1440) and on PS5 we allow it to go up to 4K (3840×2160). Even though the PSVR display is only 1080p, all those extra pixels will be combined for a higher quality final result!
Like most high end PSVR games, Blood & Truth on PS4 runs at 60 frames per second, with a re-projected 120hz output on the headset. On PS5, it runs at 90 frames per second, with a 90hz output, leading to a more responsive game and better image quality under motion.
On PS4, we use different levels of detail for assets depending on distance and scene complexity. On PS5 we use the highest detail version available at all times…We’ve tweaked this on PS5 to force higher quality output across the whole game.
The increased speed from the PS5’s SSD (solid state drive) also means we can load textures much more quickly, so as you move around the levels we can stream the best possible resolution. It’s things like this that make the game world come alive!”
Hopefully more PSVR games get this kind of treatment. Upping the resolution, framerate, and texture quality across a large chunk of the library would make the PS5 a much more appealing purchase for PSVR gamers.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Obviously, the PSVR headset is not capable of 4K visuals, but this boost to the native resolution, performance, and everything else will result in a much sharper, clearer, and more detailed image inside the headset still.
Another bottleneck here is that, in my experience, when you have a PSVR headset plugged into the PS5, the share function does not allow you to capture 4K footage directly like it does in non-VR games. I haven’t been able to test if that is still the case here or not. This shouldn’t affect things for playing, but it makes it difficult to show what it’s like for others to see.
We already covered this news, but we’ve got a lot more specific details now from PlayStation London Studios’ Technical Director, Bruno Ribeiro. Here’s what he had to say:
“Blood & Truth uses dynamic resolution in all platforms, that means that it adapts its internal resolution to the action so that we achieve a perfect frame rate at all times. The PS4 Pro version tops out at 1440p (2560×1440) and on PS5 we allow it to go up to 4K (3840×2160). Even though the PSVR display is only 1080p, all those extra pixels will be combined for a higher quality final result!
Like most high end PSVR games, Blood & Truth on PS4 runs at 60 frames per second, with a re-projected 120hz output on the headset. On PS5, it runs at 90 frames per second, with a 90hz output, leading to a more responsive game and better image quality under motion.
On PS4, we use different levels of detail for assets depending on distance and scene complexity. On PS5 we use the highest detail version available at all times…We’ve tweaked this on PS5 to force higher quality output across the whole game.
The increased speed from the PS5’s SSD (solid state drive) also means we can load textures much more quickly, so as you move around the levels we can stream the best possible resolution. It’s things like this that make the game world come alive!”
Hopefully more PSVR games get this kind of treatment. Upping the resolution, framerate, and texture quality across a large chunk of the library would make the PS5 a much more appealing purchase for PSVR gamers.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Developer Sony London says that its latest update to PSVR exclusive Blood & Truth will feature some key improvements when playing the game on PS5.
According to a tweet from the studio, Blood & Truth will feature higher resolution, higher framerate (up to 90fps), the highest level of detail on assets and improved textures on PS5. This relates to the main game and all of the free DLC that was added post-launch.
Blood & Truth PS5 Updates Detailed
What’s not clear from the tweet is if ‘latest update’ means a new patch releasing today (or in the near future) or one of the game’s more recent updates from the past few months. We’re also not sure if this list of improvements pushes past what players can expect on a PS4 Pro, but we’ve reached out to Sony itself to ask.
Blood & Truth remains one of our favorite PSVR games. Expanding off of The London Heist minigame from PlayStation VR Worlds, it casts players as an elite soldier that returns to his home in London where his family becomes tangled up in a crime war. A focus on storytelling, unique interactions and blockbuster shootouts make it something of a must-play for Sony’s headset.
If Blood & Truth is updated specifically for PS5, it could mean big things for Sony’s headset on the new console. So far we know that PS5 only supports old PSVR games from the PS4-era, meaning cross-generation games with PSVR support on PS4 like Hitman 3 and No Man’s Sky don’t support the headset in their next-generation versions. However, if developers can patch old PSVR games to feature improvements specific to PS5, that could hold a lot of potential for revisiting older titles.
We’ve actually already found improved load times in multiple PSVR titles on the new console but, to our eyes, these games actually performed as if you were using a PS4 Pro. That was before we’d heard of any updates for PS5, though. We’ll be sure to take another look at Blood & Truth with these updates detailed and let you know what we find.
Are you excited by possible Blood & Truth PS5 updates? Let us know in the comments below!
Following the launch of Half-Life: Alyx and subsequent spikes in virtual reality (VR) adoption rates (more on that later), there’s a real buzz around VR at the moment which is highly encouraging but tempered slightly by one key omission: the lack of AAA videogames in VR. As with most new technologies, game development to date in the VR industry has been almost exclusively the preserve of small, independent studios. The reasons for that are clear: small studios can operate off reduced budgets and so are more willing to experiment with new technologies and game design techniques.
These indie studios have done an incredible job, but it’s undeniable that as the VR space matures and grows the lack of large, highly polished AAA titles, particularly from key third party studios, is a notable weakness in the overall offering. Anyone who’s recently finished Half-Life: Alyx and then craves a similar experience will know that feeling only too well. However, I would argue that now is the perfect time for AAA studios to take the plunge. The key reasons being:
Flatscreen AAA game design has largely stagnated and gamers are desperate for a proper ‘next generation’ experience when the new console generation begins.
Core VR game design principles are now well established and have been successfully implemented in a large range of titles.
Unlike in the over-saturated AAA flatscreen space, there is not much competition in the AAA VR space – any new AAA game is a big event.
AAA flatscreen games have lost their sense of wonder and excitement
I’ve been playing a lot of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey during lockdown as I managed to snag it cheaply on Steam during a sale. It’s the first AAA flatscreen game I’ve played in a long time. Its a fun videogame and I’m enjoying it, but I find that it just washes over me and that it very much feels like a game I’ve played before. The incredible amount of polish and craftsmanship on display is impressive, but it can’t help but feel generic and similar to any number of other flatscreen open-world titles. There’s no moment of genuine excitement when I discover a new area, enemy, weapon or mission. There’s no sense of wonder as I’ve seen variations of what it has to offer many times before, just at a lower resolution and graphical fidelity. This is not an issue specific to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Look at any AAA flatscreen videogame released in the last three years and it’s hard to escape the thought that there really hasn’t been much progress – outside of improved visuals and scale – since the PS3/Xbox 360 days.
It’s a well-recognised problem in the AAA space that developers have been struggling with for many years: how do you make the latest iteration of a game feel new and exciting when the input method – a gamepad or mouse and keyboard – is essentially the same as it has been for two decades. How do they make a videogame feel truly next-gen outside of improved graphics? VR is the answer. Half-Life: Alyx demonstrated how powerfully new an established franchise can feel when it leverages the potential of VR. It absolutely felt like a Half-Life game, even down to having a very similar, linear structure to previous outings. However, by being in VR, and leveraging what VR does best (and notably by not taking any big risks with VR mechanics – most of Alyx’s mechanics have been seen before), it is elevated far beyond a typical sequel. The ability to actually stand in City 17 and manipulate objects in that environment with virtual hands while shooting and reloading a gun and using real-world objects like you would in real life instils a sense of presence and wonder into an existing template that is fresh, fun, immersive and feels truly next-gen.
Just imagine what Ubisoft could do with Splinter Cell or Assassin’s Creed in VR, or Rockstar with Grand Theft Auto or Activision with Call of Duty. As discussed further in this piece, the building blocks are already there. In many ways, it’s the simplest way for the big studios to breathe new life into their existing franchises.
Core VR game design principles have now been established
Crucially for AAA developers, many key VR mechanics have already been discovered and tested with a sizable player base and so they wouldn’t be starting with a blank piece of paper. Movement in VR can be implemented effectively via smooth locomotion or teleportation. There are well-established comfort settings for those who suffer from motion sickness. Climbing is huge fun in VR and numerous videogames have been built around that core mechanic. Gunplay in VR is realistic and intuitive and games like Boneworks, PavlovVR and Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades have shown how immersive it is to use a virtual gun just like you would a real life gun. Inventory systems, physics simulations, hand interactions, throwing and sword fighting have all been implemented in numerous videogames and so there is a blueprint for how to successfully incorporate these mechanics into a VR experience.
Hell, one really simple way for a AAA studio to effectively implement VR into their franchise would be to buy an existing VR engine and use that as the foundation for their game. Imagine a Call of Duty that is built off of the Boneworks physics engine and gunplay. That’s a mouth-watering prospect. The key point here is that we’re now several years into VR development and a lot of the significant design barriers to entry have been removed.
The install base is already sizeable and growing at a fast pace
As has been widely reported, the latest Steam survey pointed to some highly encouraging VR adoption figures during April 2020. Even with coronavirus supply shortages making it difficult to buy a headset – the Valve Index has been sold out for months and Oculus headsets have only just come back to the market – the launch of Half-Life: Alyx saw almost a million additional VR users connecting headsets to Steam VR over the previous month and overall the userbase has been growing rapidly month on month over the past year.
This huge spike in users now means that it’s estimated that 1.91% of Steam users actively use a VR headset which equates to roughly 2.7 million VR users on Steam (and it’s worth noting that a considerable amount of Oculus PC VR users don’t use Steam). Sony has sold over 5 million PlayStation VR headsets and while Oculus has never been forthcoming with sales numbers we know the Quest has been a big success – Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that “Quest is selling as fast as we can make them”. All of this is to say that across the various platforms there is a significant amount of existing users and crucially the install base is growing rapidly month-on-month. With the next generation of consoles around the corner and with Sony reportedly committing to a PlayStation VR 2, Oculus seemingly about to bring out a new headset and Valve fully supporting VR, not only is there a sizeable market already but it looks highly probable that it will be an exponentially bigger one in the coming years.
Any AAA VR release will be a BIG event
As of today, we’ve only really had one proper AAA title in VR – Half-Life: Alyx. Lone Echo, Asgard’s Wrath, Blood & Truth and Stormland come close, but in reality the scale of those projects and the teams that worked on them were relatively small compared to a flatscreen AAA project. I’m also not including AAA titles that have been adapted for VR – such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR and Fallout4 VR– as while enjoyable they weren’t built from the ground up for VR and so don’t fully take advantage of what the technology has to offer.
As such, and as seen with the release of Half-Life: Alyx, a AAA release is a big event in both the VR space and in the broader gaming community as players react (sometimes not so positively) to seeing a beloved franchise in a new medium. The VR community were hyping Half-Life: Alyx for months before its release and the gaming community is still talking about it now, mainly due to how it’s unlike anything anyone’s seen before. With so many AAA games releasing in the flatscreen market – most have annual releases – gamers find it hard to keep up with and play each AAA release and they have in many ways lost that ‘big event’ release buzz.
Half-Life: Alyx has reportedly sold over 1 million units since its launch at the end of March, it was played by over 40,000 players concurrently on Steam just after launch and was also watched by 300,000 Twitch viewers on release day – by far the most viewed VR title ever and comparable, and in many cases surpassing, AAA flatscreen games. Furthermore, the amount of press coverage and articles written about Half-Life: Alyx has been huge. Sure, some of this has been down to the return of a gaming franchise that hasn’t had a release for over 10 years but much of it is due to the decision Valve made to make it in VR. There has been a big and enduring buzz around the game and it has felt like a real video game milestone event.
VR as part of the AAA space
This is all not to say that somehow AAA VR videogames should replace indie VR titles or that we should no longer have flatscreen AAA games. There is, of course, a place for both of them in the wider gaming ecosystem – I’ve enjoyed Assassins Creed Odyssey and find it relaxing, and we need indies to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible – but it’s undeniable that flatscreen AAA games have lost some of their wonder and excitement and a bump in resolution and fidelity will not be enough to provide that crucial next-gen experience. Whilst at one stage developing in VR was a daunting prospect, the core mechanics have now been worked out and there’s a healthy and rapidly growing user base that’s craving AAA content. It’s time for the big studios to get involved.
Crisis VRigade 2 doesn’t have a release date yet, but the latest teaser trailer shared on Twitter by Sumalab co-founder Diego Martin. Check it out right here:
We don’t know a lot about Crisis VRigade 2, but taking even a cursory glance at the footage and screenshots compares to the original shows a dramatic difference. The entire art style has been transformed from a low-poly bright and colorful design, a la Job Simulator, to something much darker, gritty, and realistic. At first glance, I thought it was footage for new content in Blood & Truth or something along those lines. Kudos to the team at Sumalab, it looks very impressive.
From what we’ve seen this will still be a cover-based shooter more than likely, so the gameplay will likely expand and evolve from that, rather than dramatically shifting tones like the art style did.
According to the Steam page:
Crisis VRigade 2 is a virtual reality action filled first person shooter that lets players take on the role of a SWAT trooper. Duty calls again! Crisis VRigade 2 take up the baton of the first chapter and take it to the next level: more action, more shootouts, more weapons, more difficulty, more blood, more everything!
Judging by the hashtags in Martin’s tweet above, this one will likely come to the same platforms once again, including Steam, Oculus, and PSVR. There is no date but the tweet does say “soon enough to entertain your isolation” implying it will release during the international lockdown periods in effect as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is a Steam page with more details as well. It’ll be in Early Access initially “for up to 6 months” before a full launch.
The 23rd annual D.I.C.E. Awards were held this week and there were some surprising winners and losers across the various categories, not least the virtual reality (VR) sections. While big-name titles like Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding only took home two awards from eight nominations, Cloudhead Games and Sony London Studio were the big VR winners from the event.
In the category of ‘Immersive Reality Technical Achievement’, Asgard’s Wrath, Blood & Truth, Pistol Whip, Stormlandand Westworld Awakening were all nominated. Blood & Truthwas the eventual winner.
One of VRFocus’favourite PlayStation VR titles of 2019, Blood & Truth mixes high action gameplay with a tightly woven storyline and cinematic cutscenes as you play a Special Forces officer trying to take down a crime lord. It got a full five-star review: “While you don’t have the freedom of Borderlands 2 VR for example, with Blood & Truth you have a far more focused videogame that knows what it wants to achieve, and that’s put a smile on your face. From start to finish Blood & Truth is one hell of a ride, a finely choreographed John Woo movie that’s all about sheer entertainment.”
The other category was ‘Immersive Reality Game of the Year’ with Asgard’s Wrath, Blood & Truth, Pistol Whip, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Petsand Trover Saves the Universe all up for the coveted award. That went to Cloudhead Games’ rhythm-action shooter Pistol Whip a videogame which has received lots of positive feedback from players. VRFocus’ review went onto say: “Pistol Whip is huge amounts of fun even on the easiest difficulty setting, suitable for VR players no matter their skill level.”
Pistol Whip arrived in November 2019 supporting Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. December saw the studio release the “High Priestess Update” adding a new scene and updating the modifiers. Cloudhead Games recently released a new scene called “Akuma”, inspired by the Neo-Tokyo of anime action classics like Akira and Ghost in the Shell. The update also laid the groundwork for monthly content updates, each including a free new scene, leading up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2020.
After revealing a list of finalists across 20 categories in early January, the winners were revealed at the 23rd Annual DICE Awards in Las Vegas. Out of the 20 categories, two were dedicated to VR — the award for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement and the award for Immersive Reality Game of the Year.
Cloudhead Games’ VR rhythm shooter Pistol Whip took home the award for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement, with the PSVR exclusive title Blood & Truth taking home the award for Immersive Reality Game of the Year. Both these games appeared in multiple categories in our own Best of 2019 awards, but neither took home the Overall Best VR of 2019 award, which went to Asgard’s Wrath. At the DICE Awards, they were up against some tough competition such as Asgard’s Wrath, Stormland, Westworld Awakening and more.
Some other VR games, or games with VR support, were nominated in other categories at the DICE Awards as well. Concrete Genie, which has a VR mode on PSVR, was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Outstanding Technical Achievement but did not win either. Likewise, PSVR exclusive titled Golem was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition but did not take home the award. DiRT Rally 2.0, which is a VR-optional title, was nominated for Racing Game of the Year but lost out to Mario Kart Tour.
Although no VR games were nominated in the overall Game of the Year category at the DICE Awards, that coveted title went to Untitled Goose Game, winning over Control, Death Stranding, Disco Elysium and Outer Wilds.
With over 20 different award categories, the 23rd annual DICE Awards have released their list of finalists, including two entire categories just for immersive reality, and it features lots of VR games across multiple awards.
The winners will be announced at the DICE Awards ceremony on Thursday, February 13th at Aria Resort Las Vegas as the culmination of the week-long industry gathering at the 2020 D.I.C.E. Summit. For the fourth year in a row the show will be hosted by Greg Miller and Jessica Chobot.
At the DICE Awards the two VR-focused categories are Immersive Reality Technical Achievement and Immersive Reality Game of the Year. You can see the full list of nominees below:
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
Pistol Whip
Stormland
Westworld Awakening
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
Pistol Whip
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
Trover Saves the Universe
Both are very good lists. Every game nominated in these two DICE Award categories made appearances in our own Best VR Of 2019 Awards and they’ve done a great job picking titles that represent a wide gamut of what VR can offer. And it’s focused on actually new releases.
Beyond those we’ve also got some VR and VR-optional games showing up in other categories too. PSVR-exclusive Concrete Genie, which includes some side VR content, is nominated in both Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Outstanding Technical Achievement — deservedly when taking the entire game into account. We’ve also got another PSVR-exclusive getting some love with Golem showing up in the nominee list for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition. Finally, the VR-optional DiRT Rally 2.0 is nominated for a DICE Award in the Racing Game of the Year category.
Who do you think will take home the honors for each category at the DICE Awards next month? Let us know down in the comments below!
In fact, only one 2019 release shows up on the EU chart (Blood & Truth) and only two show up on the US chart (Blood & Truth and Five Nights at Freddy’s VR) which isn’t too surprising–Sony appears to be holding back at this point to prep for PS5 and PSVR2.
Despite there not being a ton of big releases on PSVR in 2019, the headset still continues to hit sales milestones. Just this week at CES 2020 Sony revealed that they have sold five million PSVR headsets, then they revealed the unsurprisingly traditional PS5 logo ahead of its Holiday 2020 release.
What was your favorite game of 2019 on PSVR? We awarded that honor to Ghost Giant in our Best VR Of 2019 Awards not long ago. Let us know down in the comments below!
