Vader Immortal [full review], the three-part Star Wars VR story from ILMxLAB that debuted on Quest and Rift previously, is coming to PSVR this month on August 25, 2020.
We already knew Vader Immortal was making its way to the PSVR, but today during the latest State of Play presentation we learned the package is actually releasing this month. In Vader Immortal you infiltrate Darth Vader’s base on Mustafar and eventually come face to face with the Sith Lord.
Notably, it features a highly immersive narrative experience that we describe as “story living” more than playing a game. It’s like being at the center of your own Star Wars film. In fact, if you don’t have interest in playing it or don’t mind spoilers, you can watch an entire cinematic-style playthrough from start to finish right here:
It doesn’t sound like there will be any new content in the PSVR version of Vader Immortal as far as we know. In addition to the campaign itself there are also lightsaber dojo training levels that pit you against droids that swing electrified batons and shoot blasters at you from all directions.
On Oculus Quest spinning around to deflect and attack in Vader Immortal is no problem, but PSVR is a 180-degree platform primarily with only a single tracking camera. We’ll be interested to see how the dojo training translates to the more limited tracking environment.
Today PlayStation also revealed that Hitman 3 is coming to PSVR and the first two in the new trilogy will be getting updated with support too. Let us know what you think of the Vader Immortal news down in the comments below!
Racket: Nx, a virtual reality fusion of tennis and Breakout, is soon to get a major update with new features like co-op, avatar customization, and in-game tournaments. The studio has also teased that the game is heading to “another VR platform,” very likely PSVR.
Having launched initially in Early Access back in 2017 and then in its full version in 2018, Racket: Nx is by now a VR classic. Playing out like an immersive, 360 degree version of a ‘brick breaker’ game, the sharply designed title has maintained consistently excellent review scores, though it has remained something of a hidden gem.
After its release years ago on Steam, Oculus, and Viveport, the game’s moderate traction seemed sure to keep it from growing beyond its initial scope. But after the game launched on Quest in 2019—and in one year generated 10x the number of reviews as the Rift version—developer One Hamsa is now preparing some major updates.
Major Updates Coming to Racket: Nx
In an email yesterday (the one-year anniversary of the game’s Quest launch) the studio outlined big changes in store for all versions of Racket: Nx, which are due “in the coming year:”
Coop Mode – we’ve wanted to do this one forever, and finally have the chance. Coop will allow friends (or strangers) to play together, as a team!
Avatar Customization – customize your racket, your avatar, and a bunch more elements we’re still keeping secret ;)
Custom Mode – we’re going to give you all the knobs and checkboxes to play with – game speed, gravity, powerup type and frequency, rules, and much more.
Monthly Challenge – a special monthly Solo set that will keep changing, allowing us to regularly introduce new content.
Tournaments – an easy way to setup and spectate tournaments in-game.
The studio also shared a new trailer for the game:
And there’s more in the plans, including deeper integration with Oculus’ latest social features to make it easier for players to connect and compete, new options for leaderboard filtering, and improved matchmaking to match players of equal skill.
PSVR Release for Racket: Nx Likely
Included in the studio’s announcements is a tease about the game coming to a new platform:
“Developed a [a Racket: Nx] port for another VR platform, including an extensive language localization system (not out just yet).”
PSVR is the only major VR platform that the game isn’t currently available on, so that’s our best guess for now. This would be a similar trajectory to other indie VR studios with well-rated but lesser-known games which have prioritized getting their titles onto Quest and PSVR, like we see with Until You Fall which will launch on both platforms this Fall.
Quest Success Spurs More Development
Developer One Hamsa says that as a small six-person studio, Racket: Nx’s success on Quest gave them the nudge needed to expand the game beyond its original scope.
“[…] with RNX on Quest selling reasonably well, we’ve gained the resources (and confidence) to expand the game further. We’ve actually already started several months ago, with lots of invisible infrastructural work that is a prerequisite to developing the features we’ve mentioned above,” the email read. “But recently the work on these features has started in earnest, and we felt it was time to share the news with you all.”
Racket: Nx on Quest stands as the 9th best rated game on Quest at our last check, holding a user rating of 4.75 out of 5. As a game designed around 360 degree gameplay, Quest’s lack of tether makes it especially well suited to the game.
Cyan, the studio behind iconic puzzle adventure games Myst (1993) and Riven (1997), garnered their fair share of success with their April 2019 Kickstarter campaign, which sought to bring to life their next VR-compatible title, Firmament. Now Cyan says the long-delayed game finally has a release date: May 18th.
According to a Kickstarter backer update, Firmament is now set to launch on May 18th, coming to PC VR headsets including Meta Rift and Rift S, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Meta Quest headsets through Quest Link. A flatscreen mode is also available for play on MacOS and Windows. A previous version of this article claimed it was coming in March, however this is untrue, as the game is confirmed to release on Thursday, May 18th.
The studio says it’s also set to target PSVR 2, PS4 and PS5 at some point “down the line.”
Two months ago the studio released an extended look at some of the game’s preproduction footage, which we’ve included below:
Once targeting a July 2020 launch, Firmament has slipped again and is now targeting a Q1 2023 launch date. Here’s that statement is full; we’ve also included a 9-minute look at the work-in-progress game, embedded below this update:
“As a result of discussions with key team member and staff, Cyan is making the important decision to move the launch of Firmament to Q1 2023. The game is very closed to complete, and the development is rapidly approaching its final phase.
To our Backers, Fans, and Friends, thank you for your continuing patience and support. Your enthusiasm and excitement lifts our spirits daily. We cannot wait to share launch day news with you in (early!) 2023.”
Original Article (July 13th, 2020): Firmament’s launch window seemed a bit tight from the onset, however from an experienced studio that had previously created its latest VR-compatible puzzle adventure game Obduction to both PC VR and PSVR, it seemed not all together impossible.
The reality of creating a game however is admittedly “often quite a bit messier,” the studio says in a recent Kickstarter update.
Here’s a bit of Cyan’s reasoning behind the delay, which is said to push the game’s release date possibly to 2022.
With that in mind, Firmament’s Estimated Delivery date of July 2020 was- as it turns out- a wildly optimistic one. We know some of you had your heart’s set on playing Firmament this summer, and we’re genuinely sorry that you’re not going to be able to play it yet! We’re really bummed about that too!
Although there is no Release Date to announce today, we can tell you a couple things with some level of certainty: Firmament is not coming in 2020. And unless the stars align (which we all know happens rarely in game development), it is unlikely that Firmament will be coming in 2021.
In the studio’s own defense, Cyan says it has “always been about shipping things when they’re ready to be shipped, not picking a date and then trying to shoehorn the game into the box in an artificially limited amount of time.”
Firmament is said to be “something bigger than a studio [of Cyan’s] size would ordinarily be able to produce,” and that it will include a “richer and more substantial story” than was previously planned.
Whatever you thought of Obduction (and its initially uneasy technical performance on both PC VR headsets and PSVR) Cyan has a good track record of delivering, leaving the only real concern to when Firmament will arrive, and not if.
Food for thought: a prospective 2022 release of Firmament is slated to happen well within the lifecycle of next-gen consoles and PC hardware—and possibly VR hardware as well—so there’s no telling what technical advances the studio will need to adopt along the way if it’s looking to significantly lengthen the development roadmap. I guess we’ll see in a few years. As it is, Firmament is targeting PC, SteamVR headsets, macOS, and PS4 & PSVR.
The verdict is in. After several days of playing you can read our Iron Man VR review right here to see how this superhero adventure stacks up!
Making superhero games is already very difficult. Not only do they have all of the typical stressors and difficulties that any other game has, but they have a pre-existing fan base of comic readers and movie watchers that have a specific idea in their head of what that hero is supposed to do, say, and look like. Add in years of idolization, the lack of any really reputable games about the character, and the astronomical task of making a good VR game in and of itself, and Marvel’s Iron Man VR had a tall order at hand.
Despite the odds, it absolutely delivers.
Camouflaj set out to make an Iron Man game that would feel both like an authentic portrayal donning the suit as Tony Stark and a completely fresh and original take on the character. They didn’t want to copy the MCU version of Iron Man (this is totally separate from any other versions of the character and uses comics as inspiration) and didn’t want to retell an origin story.
The end result is an entirely captivating and thrilling action game that features an incredible narrative full of stand out performances and unexpected twists. The voice cast here (featuring the likes of Josh Keaton and Jennifer Hale, to name a few) is one of the best I’ve seen in a VR game with excellent development over the course of the 8+ hour adventure. That being said though, Hale’s portrayal as Pepper Potts is excellent but she plays a painfully small part in the overall story. For the vast majority, she’s absent and it feels like a missed opportunity given her rapport with Keaton’s Stark.
Iron Man VR is structured like a linear action game with a central hub in the garage of Stark’s Malibu, California mansion. From the hub, you can tweak your armor loadout, pick missions to play (or replay,) explore and play around with things like a basketball game and home gym, or do flight and combat challenges. It’s a good structure with as much content as I’d expect from a AAA-quality game.
My playthrough clocked in around 8 hours and felt very well-paced. I spent a tiny bit of time doing optional challenges and poking around environments. If I had tried to unlock everything in the garage, get every suit design, and look for more Easter eggs it could have easily taken several more hours. There are also new pieces of content that open up after you finish the game and three difficulty modes to pick — I played on normal and never died, but that isn’t to say it wasn’t challenging or fun. I had several near-death experiences and frankly enjoyed feeling like a powerful superhero. Hard would likely be better if you’re looking for more of a challenge.
As good as the story is in Iron Man VR though, the real highlight here is how it feels to be Iron Man. A lot of the time you’ll see people say games like Spider-Man on PS4 or the Batman Arkham games made them feel like a superhero, but even those can’t measure up to the attention to detail here. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that embodies feeling and being a superhero so completely. From the super-powered highs to the depressing lows.
Holding the PS Move controllers down by your waist, you tilt them backwards to aim your palms behind you and pull the triggers to engage thrusters and fly. This is the core of Iron Man VR’s gameplay. From this stance you can then twist your wrists to turn subtly in the air, point your palms up to go down, let go of the thrusters, then switch the direction you aim your palms to engage boost and sort of “drift” through the air as well.
Boosting to the side to dodge, then engaging hover to stop in place and line up a powerful blast was my bread and butter in tight combat scenarios. Mastering the art of flying with one-hand and shooting with the other, while moving, is another key tactic that feels amazing to pull off — even if a little imprecise at times.
But as cool as it all can feel, it’s mostly in spite of the PS Move controllers. They were outdated in 2016 when the PSVR launched and they’re just showing their age even more now.
Iron Man VR Review –Comfort
You’d think Iron Man VR would be an intense game not for the weak-stomached, but Camouflaj have actually done an impressive job making it palatable for people. In addition to the usual trimmings like snap vs. smooth turning and plenty of vignette tweaking if you need it, even at full blast there is always a HUD inside the Iron Man suit to ground you. While flight can get very fast (over 200MPH technically) it never feels nausea-inducing thanks to how it’s represented. When you’re on foot, it’s a node-based teleport movement system only.
At first I was worried combat would get extremely repetitive and just involve boosting, punching, and shooting, but there’s a lot of customization and nuance here. You start the game with basic repulsor beams and smart missiles that lock onto targets, but in the garage there are lots more. You can change the repulsor to a chargeable beam, unlock bombs, cluster bombs, missiles, and more. And yes, you’ve got the iconic Unibeam as a special as well.
As you enter each mission you see Tony’s breath reflected back on the metallic interior of the helmet. As the onboard systems activate, the HUD initializes and fades into view as your eye sockets appear and zoom onto your face. It really, really feels like you’re wearing the armor. VR developers of sci-fi games or helmet-based games really need to look at this and take notes.
At first the HUD is a little distracting because of just how much information is shown at all times, but it not only helps with immersion, it’s all useful information. It would be nice if you could adjust the size and placement of some elements though.
To its credit, Iron Man VR really feels like it’s pushing the PSVR to its limits. Despite what the developers say about designing the game around the PSVR and PS Move Controllers, I can’t help but feel like it would be so much better on a headset with higher resolution and more horsepower to eliminate jagged edges, no wires to avoid the tripping hazard from constantly spinning, and better controllers so I didn’t have to participate in mental gymnastics to remember which buttons do what. Mapping things like rotating, punching, and hovering all right there next to each other was still confusing even after nearly 10 hours of play time.
Iron Man VR Review –Like This? Try These
Iron Man VR is the best superhero VR game we’ve seen yet, but if you want to take control of other iconic Marvel heroes then look no further than wave-based co-op game Marvel Powers United VR on Oculus Rift. Or if you want some free thrills, the movie tie-in VR game Spider-Man: Far From Home VR on PSVR and PC VR is simple, but effective at keeping its web-slinging promise.
I’m still in awe that the pseudo-360 tracking works as well as it does. I never really had issues regardless of which direction I was facing in my room, even if my back was to the camera. The camera can always see your head and if it can’t see the controllers it uses the gyroscopes to estimate position and movement.
The absolute worst parts about Iron Man VR though, something that have zero concessions to make them not so bad, are the load times. I cannot stress enough how brutal some of these load times are.
I’m talking literally minutes on-end standing in silence. To Camouflaj’s credit they did a good job of providing useful tips, story recaps, and concept art to look at for around half of the load screens, but it’s still awful. You literally have enough time to go get a snack between missions. And to make matters worse, most missions begin with a load screen, then you get ready in the garage and pick where to go, then another load screen, do part of the mission, another load screen, do the rest, and then load screen back to the garage.
It’s almost comical how bad the load times are and really underscores the need for PS5 from a VR perspective. I’m eager to see what this game plays like on PS5 (fingers crossed it’s supported) even using the original existing PSVR headset.
Iron Man VR Review Final Impressions
Despite a few setbacks like horrendous load times, sometimes janky controls, and a few missed opportunities with its (surprisingly excellent) story, Iron Man VR is an absolute triumph. Camouflaj absolutely delivered a AAA-quality campaign-driven VR game featuring one of the world’s most iconic superheroes, all while showing him in a new light with an original story that isn’t weighed down by the baggage of the MCU and comics. Flying as Iron Man feels amazing, talking to characters as Tony Stark is full of wit and humor, and from top to bottom it’s an exhilarating and well-paced adventure that feels like it only grazes the surface of how high this developer can fly in VR.
Marvel’s Iron Man VR will be available from July 3rd, 2020 exclusively on the PSVR headset for PS4. We conducted this review using a PS4 Pro. For more on how we arrived at this verdict, see the UploadVR Review Scale below and check out our review guidelines. Like our Iron Man VR review? Let us know in the comments below!
Iron Man VR is far from the first VR superhero game out there—in fact, it isn’t even the first Marvel VR game—but with unique mechanics, strong storytelling, and a full course of content, it’s the first great VR superhero game.
Iron Man VR Details:
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Camouflaj Available On: PlayStation Store, Blu-ray Reviewed On: PSVR (PS4 Pro) Release Date: July 3rd, 2020 Price: $40
Gameplay
‘Iron Man’ may be in the title, but Iron Man VR focuses almost as much on putting you into the suit and tie of the man behind the mask, Tony Stark.
The game explores Stark’s transition from arms dealing profiteer to superhero, and the challenge of leaving that life behind. His past dealings haunt him, quite literally, through the antagonist, Ghost, which drives most of the game’s conflict.
Though the action leans in the arcade direction in function and form, Iron Man VR weaves a worthwhile, well-paced story throughout which gives context to the thrilling flying and explosions.
In opting to make this game, developer Camouflaj took on a challenge that many may not fully appreciate. Iron Man simply wouldn’t be Iron Man without the ability to fly. While we’ve seen plenty of VR games that put players in planes and other flying vehicles, none have managed to bring such exhilarating agility to the table—at least none that have alsomanaged to keep the experience highly comfortable, a feat that Camouflaj should be quite proud of.
True to form, in Iron Man VR, you’ll be getting around almost exclusively with the repulsor jets mounted on your palms. And you control them exactly as you’d expect: thrust with your palms down for lift, back for forward motion, and any other direction you want to go. Double-tapping the PlayStation Move triggers offers an instant speed boost which is both fun and useful throughout the game, especially for quick changes in direction, escaping key enemy attacks, or blasting off from the ground after a ground-pound attack.
Speaking of attacks, you’ve got two primary means of shooting down baddies. The first is your repulsors, which are your basic attack, and the second is your choice of several auxiliary weapons which are more powerful but have a cooldown. Oh and there’s the Unibeam, which functions as your most rare and powerful attack, capable of wiping out the game’s most powerful enemies in short order.
Guns are good, but punching is fun too, and you’ll find the rocket punch and ground pound attacks to be quite useful throughout the game.
For the most part, all of your weapons and capabilities can be swapped and upgraded via points you’ll earn throughout the game’s campaign. To earn extra points, you can tackle optional ‘challenge’ missions (like time trials and wave combat) which are fun and integrated well enough into the core game that they feel like nice bits of extra fun rather than pure padding. All levels and challenges also feature leaderboards and you’re encouraged to play missions again to do well enough to earn the maximum number of upgrade points.
Aside from it being a little too easy to accidentally trigger auxiliary weapons when you wanted to use the basic repulsor, combat works quite fluidly with the game’s flying mechanics. While it’s tempting to always use both hands to attack, you can also fly with one hand while attacking with the other, keeping you mobile while on the offensive.
At first it felt easy to get overwhelmed, but with more practice as the game progressed I started to feel like… well, like a superhero.
While the game’s basic enemies lack character (they are mostly autonomous drones, after all), they all serve a well defined role in the overall combat sandbox, each compelling different tactics and reasons for prioritizing their destruction.
With nothing else, the game’s flying and fighting mechanics would be well executed but surely get old with too much repetition. Fortunately, Iron Man VR wraps it all up in a well-paced story that’s more than just set dressing.
You’ll spend a fair bit of time outside of the suit. Much of it will be hanging out in Stark’s garage where you’ll have frequent interactions with the game’s two artificial intelligence characters. While the ‘AI companion in your ear’ is an entirely overdone trope, Iron Man VR gives the AI characters physical manifestations and spends considerable time building their characters and integrating them into the story, making them far more than a voice shouting instructions into your helmet.
Although the game has you revisit the same locales on occasion, it does so in a smart way that doesn’t feel quite like blatant content recycling. This is also made up for by some interesting one-off environments and bits of gameplay that I didn’t expect to see but add more depth to the experience.
You’ll also see a few ‘boss fight’ scenarios which are generally well executed, save for one which felt a bit too ambitious.
It took me about seven hours to complete the game’s main campaign and a few of the optional challenges. The challenges felt like morsels of extra fun in their own right, and I appreciated that they felt at home in the game’s campaign rather than being in some separate mode; I would have liked to hop into a few more if I had extra time.
Immersion
Image courtesy Camouflaj
For a game about masquerading around like a walking, talking fighter jet, Iron Man VR sprinkles thoughtful immersive touches throughout that give character to the game’s world. Things like being able to hear servo motors whirring in your arms as you move the suit, or being able to pull grapes out of the fridge in Stark’s garage and pluck a single grape off the stem to eat, reward the player for spending time outside of the core combat gameplay.
Stark’s garage acts primarily as your mission and upgrade menu, but it manages to feel like much more. In the center of the garage is the suit station where you can view and upgrade your suit with a fully interactive menu.
To the left you’ll find the place where Gunsmith (the AI which ran Stark’s arms-dealing business) tends to hang out. There you can also find an interactive touchscreen table which catalogues the game’s enemies. On the right you’ll find the globe from which you launch missions, which is also where Friday (Stark’s assistant AI) usually hangs out.
Behind you there’s a loft area with a handful of mini-game-like interactive stations like weights, boxing gloves, a free-throw arcade machine, and more.
Though flying around in the game certainly feels thrilling thanks to your speed and agility, it feels less immersive than other parts of the game because you’re ultimately shooting at far away enemies and generally having less intricate interactions. The aesthetic of the interface (with its huge weapon reticles which are easy to mix up) comes off as a bit too arcade-ish, though they may be a necessary concession for the game’s visually busy shoot-and-smash gameplay.
Luckily, combat is peppered with occasional interactive moments that help keep immersion up. You’ll do things like seal doors shut with your repulsor beams, remove power cores to shut things down, or freeze things with coolant. These are typically near-field interactions that let you get more hands-on with the world even while you’re otherwise cruising around and blowing stuff up at a distance.
Speaking of immersion, one of the game’s early suit-up sequences felt so cool that I wished it was used more than once in the game.
Fairly frequent and long loading screens unfortunately prevent the game’s larger moments from flowing smoothly together, though I’m glad they at least added some stuff to read in the loading screen and little particles at your feet to play with.
Comfort
Image courtesy Camouflaj
Considering how fast and far Iron Man VR moves the player around, I didn’t expect it would feel perfectly comfortable. And yet, I was able to play the game easily for an hour or more without feeling any issues. There was the occasional moment which induced a sense of lurching motion, but these were rare and, surprisingly, mostly found in the grounded cinematic moments.
Other VR games have featured free-form flying (Stormland comes to mind) but Iron Man VR is by far the fastest and most agile. I really enjoyed being able to ground-pound from the air all the way down to the earth below, and then blast off with a boost to gain hundreds of feet of altitude in seconds, all while feeling comfortable.
The feeling of moving with such comfortable freedom is something that few other VR games have managed, and it feels like an achievement on Camouflaj’s part. It’s clear the studio has taken much care in designing specifically for flying comfort; that made it surprising to see a few minor comfort mistakes (like the HUD boot-up sequence which initially renders some elements too close for comfort, and a few cinematic moments where the game moves you around).
Beyond the achievement in flying comfort, Camouflaj also did an exceptional job building around the limitations of PSVR’s tracking. There were vanishingly few moments where I remember even thinking about the tracking, and I found absolutely no tracking issues during the flying and shooting gameplay.
While the game employs snap-turning and peripheral blinders by default, those who want the unbridled experience can enable smooth turning and disable blinders.
Cleared your schedule for the weekend? We hope you have, because the PSVR exclusive Marvel’s Iron Man VR is headed for launch on July 3rd. To drum up even more hype, developers Camouflaj released the game’s launch trailer featuring plenty of high-flying action and story.
We’ve seen a fair bit of Iron Man VR in the months since we first went hands-on with the game last year. From what we’ve seen and experienced, the game has huge potential, which is part thanks to its innovative flying mechanic that—without exaggerating—makes you feel like Iron Man.
If you’re looking for a better breakdown of everything you’ve seen in today’s launch trailer, Camouflaj actually released a bunch of gameplay and story info just last week, which should help you understand some of what you’re seeing here.
Provided you drag your eyes across this article before July 3rd, you can still pre-order Iron Man VR in either a digital or disc Standard Edition for $40, and a Digital Deluxe Edition for $50 which includes four Iron Man armor skins that are unique to the Deluxe edition, extra upgrade points, the full soundtrack (digital), and an Iron ManVR PS4 theme.
If you’ve been hoping to make and experience some wild VR things in Dreams (2020), the content creation suite from Media Molecule, you won’t have to wait too much longer. On July 22nd, Dreams is finally getting that PSVR update we’ve all been waiting for.
Dreams launched into Early Access on PS4 late last year, and then released its full version in February 2020; ‘full’ was definitely a misnomer, since we were always hoping to play Dreams in VR form the start. Better late than never.
The free update will include new VR-specific tutorials, kits, and playable content. Watch out: it sounds like there’s plenty to learn before you can go crazy and build that quadruple loop-de-loop space rollercoaster you’ve been dreaming of, including Best Practices, new building gadgets, and plenty of how-tos.
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Image courtesy Media Molecule
Image courtesy Media Molecule
Image courtesy Media Molecule
Although Media Molecule didn’t go into extreme detail in their PS blog announcement, Dreams is also set to include some form of VR comfort mode, vignette sliders, static sky, and “more”.
“We have also created a whole range of different experiences ready to play and inspire Dreamers for their own versions. From games such as Box Blaster, which sees you testing your sharp-shooting skills, to our Inside the Box Gallery which features sculpts and art pieces from different members of the team, including an ultra-fabulous mech. Games like Box Blaster will also have their own respective creation kits,” Media Molecule Communications Manager Abbie Heppe reveals.
The studio says creators will also be able to specify whether or not their content is made for VR, and include a comfort rating from players.
In the end, it sounds like Dreams for VR will be just as an open creation experience as it is on flatscreen, although it doesn’t sound like there will be any overlap in VR content and the stuff that’s already available. That’s probably for the best though, because VR inherently has its own design limitations (and benefits) that new creators will be experiencing first-hand in a meaningful way.
After years of teases and then finally a full non-VR release earlier this year, Dreams is finally getting its long-awaited PSVR support on July 22nd, 2020 as a free update.
Until right now the last we had heard about Dreams PSVR support was that it was in the final QA and bug fixing phase back in late April and then VR user testing in May. Two months later, it sounds like the work is finally completed as the update preps for launch.
Ever since Dreams was first announced for PS4 years ago, Media Molecule and Sony have always trumpeted that it would work with PSVR. It didn’t launch with that support, but it’ll be there in less than a month as a free update.
Personally, I’m pretty terrible at making things in these types of games. I never finished anything worth playing in LittleBigPlanet, couldn’t get into Minecraft, then crashed and burned hard in non-VR Dreams. But in the hands of the right people, Dreams PSVR support has a real chance to be, pardon the pun, game changer. I know I’m excited to hit the random button and just see what I can find.
What will you make for Dreams PSVR? Do you plan on making a VR version of a beloved non-VR game, or maybe a magical place to visit all on your own? Let us know down in the comments below!
The release date for Iron Man VR is fast-approaching on PSVR! Marvel’s Iron Man VR, developed by Camouflaj and published in part by Sony, releases this Friday, July 3rd and you can read our full review on Thursday, July 2nd, at 5:00AM PT.
This is one of those rare instances where we actually have an extremely good idea of what to expect out of a game prior to its release. Not only were there several demos we got to attend, there is now also a demo on the PSN Store for everyone to try, we’ve spoken to the developers at length, and generally know what this game has in store.
We can’t say anything else right now about it, but if you’re looking forward to the game’s release you can check out our review and plenty of video coverage right here at UploadVR.com a day before it launches starting at 5AM PT.
As a reminder: Iron Man VR features a brand new story. This is not connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, any existing video games, cartoons, or even comics. The team looked to past stories from the comics for inspiration, but are building this as its own, unique story that’s totally standalone and is not an origin story.
Let us know what you’re expecting down in the comments below!
Iron Man VR is the next big PlayStation VR exclusive; the title is being published by Sony and developed by studio Camouflaj. Following a demo of the game released last month, and a ahead of next week’s July 3rd launch, the studio has shared a deep dive on what players can expect from the game.
In a post on the official PlayStation Blog, Iron Man VR director Ryan Payton today shared a heap of new details about the game, including new game footage showing off environments, combat, and more. Payton also revealed that players should expect 8 to 10 hours of playtime.
Payton spoke to some of the movement and combat capabilities that players will have access to:
Boost
We heard how much you love boosting at high speeds, so just a few weeks ago, we further increased the frequency at which you can boost in the full game. Buckle up!
Rocket Punch
My favorite mechanic. I can’t get enough of punching enemies with a one-two-three hit combo and then finishing them off with a Repulsor Blast or auxiliary weapon.
Auxiliary Weapons
By spending Research Points at the Armor Station, you can unlock powerful auxiliary weapons that fire out of your gauntlets. When you play the full game, please do me a big favor and check out the incredible detail artist Chris Foster and animator Benjamin Meals put into each weapon. I can’t tell you how cool it is to see those weapons emerge from your forearms in VR.
Ground Pound
The rough-and-tumble cousin of Rocket Punch, Ground Pound allows players to descend on enemies at furious speeds. Mastering Ground Pound takes some practice, but once you do, you will be a powerful force on both horizontal and vertical planes!
Unibeam
Eagle-eyed players noticed blasting enemies charges the Unibeam meter. Once it’s fully charged, you can fire a mighty Unibeam blast out of Iron Man’s chest. The trick, however, is determining the optimal time to trigger it…
Payton says there’s more mechanics that players will discover in Iron Man VR, and that players will face a “true test” in a “tough-as-nails optional mission that unlocks once you’ve completed the game.” Bring it on.
Garage & Armor Station
Beyond combat abilities, he also revealed the Armor Station in Tony Stark’s garage, which functions as an interface for players to equip their amor with upgrades and weapons.
Payton says there will be more for players to do while hanging out in Tony’s garage too. “Try roaming around Tony’s garage, squeeze in a workout, give Pepper a call, or maybe listen to our in-fiction podcast series hosted by a close(ish) family member of Tony Stark…”
Story and Characters
Payton also spoke to the game’s story-focus and said that players will see some classic Marvel characters in the game, like Pepper Potts, Nick Fury, and Friday, along with others that haven’t been revealed yet.
The game’s cast is comprised of Josh Keaton (Tony Stark), Chantelle Barry (Ghost), Leila Birch (FRIDAY), Ike Amadi (Nick Fury), and Jennifer Hale (Pepper Potts).
Iron Man VR can be pre-order today in a digital or disc Standard Edition ($40) and a Digital Deluxe Edition ($50) which includes four Iron Man armor skins that are unique to the Deluxe edition, extra upgrade points, the full soundtrack (digital), and an Iron ManVR PS4 theme.
Sony is also making available an Iron Man VR PSVR bundle for $350 which includes the headset, camera, two move controllers, and the Standard Edition Iron Man VR game on disc.
Pre-ordering either version of the game (or the PSVR bundle) will net you four armor skins that are a unique to pre-orders.
