Borderlands 2 VR is headed to PSVR next month, but PC VR headset owners are undoubtedly curious to know if Gearbox’s massive hit shooter will eventually make it to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive too. According to short message in new promo video, Sony is confirming that Borderlands 2 VR is a timed exclusive, giving it at very least a five month minimum on the PSVR platform.
The video (linked below) was published by PlayStation Europe and flashes a small subtitle for a few brief seconds reading “Borderlands 2 VR is exclusive to PS VR for a minimum of 5 months from launch.”
Image courtesy Sony
Borderlands 2 VR is slated to launch on PSVR December 14th, putting a hypothetical PC VR launch date as early as May 14th, 2019.
While neither Gearbox nor publisher 2K Games have publicly made a PC VR launch certain, if the game follows in Skyrim VR’s (2017) footsteps we could see day-one support for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and possibly even Windows VR headsets. Skyrim VR first launched on PSVR back in November 2017, releasing just shy of five months later on Steam for Rift and Vive.
That said, it’s a pretty rare occurrence when larger publishers openly admit to timed platform exclusivity, especially with such a specific time frame. Whatever the case may be, PC VR headset owners can at least circle a date in their calendars now to start salivating over the prospect of stepping into the dusty boots of the game’s four Vault Hunters and hanging out with Claptrap.
So you picked up shiny new PlayStation VR and you’re ready to dive into VR. Here’s our breakdown of the best PSVR games that you should definitely check out.
The 5 Best PSVR Games
5 – SUPERHOT VR
Though it was created first as a non-VR game, SUPERHOT’s unique ‘the world moves when you do’ slow motion mechanic just so happened to translate beautifully to VR. The world and everything in it is still as long as you are, but as you start to move, everything else does too, including the baddies trying to kill you. In SUPERHOT VR this creates a totally unique experience which plays somewhat like an action game, but with the ability to stop and think about your next move before you actually do it. The game encourages lots of movement and dodging, so you’ll want to maximize the size of your playspace and you’ll also want to play the game while standing.
Sci-fi shooter Farpoint was the debut game to launch with the PSVR Aim controller—an optional, first-party VR gun peripheral—so it’s no surprise that the game plays best with it. In Farpoint you’ll find yourself battling for survival on an alien planet. With strong production values, rich gunplay, and an interesting set of enemies, the game successfully melds traditional ‘space marine’ FPS fundamentals with the rich immersion that comes from playing in PSVR. Farpoint technically supports the PS4 gamepad, but we highly recommend the PSVR Aim controller for the best experience. If you’re thinking about picking up the game but don’t have a PSVR Aim controller, skip the bundle—at this point it’s usually cheaper to buy the game [Amazon] and PSVR Aim [Amazon] separately.
If you’re looking for a tactical multiplayer shooter on PSVR, this is the one. Built from the ground up for multiplayer and the PSVR Aim controller, Firewall Zero Hour delivers all the trappings you’d expect from a tactical multiplayer shooter: a gritty, contemporary setting, familiar weapons and weapon classes, and round-based 4 vs. 4 gameplay where you only get one life. It’s tense and tactical, and demands teamplay to succeed. While the game technically supports the PS4 gamepad we highly recommend the PSVR Aim controller for the best experience; especially with all the main weapons being two-handed, playing with the gamepad often feels awkward. If you’re thinking about picking up Firewall Zero Hour but don’t have PSVR Aim yet, consider picking up the game and controller bundle [Amazon], which (unlike the Farpoint bundle) is cheaper than buying them separately.
Yes, Beat Saber is a rhythm game, but even if you don’t think you like rhythm games, you deserve it to yourself to give this one a try. Where traditional rhythm games are typically about pressing buttons to a beat, Beat Saber is about moving your body in a way that turns out to be very satisfying and uniquely suited to VR. It’s very easy to play—which makes it a great game even for non-gamers or quick pass-and-play at parties—but maintains a high skill ceiling which means you can sink hours into refining your technique, and get some exercise while doing it. One warning: if you hate electronic music, Beat Saber probably isn’t for you; the game’s original soundtrack is (currently) just about entirely electronica. On the other hand, if you do like electronic music then you’re in for a treat of memorable original songs. Either way you can sample the soundtrack on Spotify.
Interestingly, Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the only sit-down gamepad-only PSVR game on our list, and yet it takes the number one spot thanks to its delivery of an expertly crafted, polished, and playable platformer that makes use of VR in unexpected ways. While it might look like ‘just a platformer’ from the outside, Astro Bot actually makes very clever use PSVR by allowing the player to interact with the main character and the world in novel and immersive ways. For instant, the PS4 gamepad is tracked in the game world and throughout the game several ‘controller gadgets’ will attach to it for your use (like a grappling hook, water cannon, or flashlight). While longer levels mean it isn’t quite as suitable for pass-and-play like Beat Saber, the game is firmly rooted in traditional platforming game design language which means even casual gamers who have never tried VR can jump right in and pick it up as they go. That’s a double-edged sword because it means family, friends, or significant others might want to steal some time in your precious headset to play.
Electronauts [our review, PC]: While it’s less of a game and more of an accessible music creativity tool, Electronauts can make anyone feel like a master DJ. If you like EDM or have any interest in mixing or making music, you’ll have a great time expressing your inner musical creativity with Electronauts.
Moss [our review]: If you liked Astro Bot, Moss should be next on your list. It’s a slightly more ‘serious’ VR platformer, but follows a similar premise of controlling a little character in a big world while occasionally interacting directly between you and the character. It’s also a rather beautiful game world worth experiencing.
Sprint Vector [our review, PC]: If you’re looking to get your adrenaline pumping (and get in a some exercise to boot), definitely check Sprint Vector. This game’s totally unique movement system has you racing and flying around huge courses while managing to keep most players totally comfortable. You won’t find speed like this anywhere else on PSVR unless it’s inside of a cockpit.
PlayStation VR Worlds: Consisting of a series of polished VR experiences, PlayStation VR Worlds was originally bundled with PSVR and served as a thought-provoking sampling of where virtual reality gaming is heading. Back in its heyday it was some of the best VR content out there. Today it’s still worth checking out and having on hand as some of the best demo content for showing off PSVR to VR first-timers, especially at the excellent price of $15.
Skyrim VR [our review]: While unmistakably a port of a (great) game from 2011, if you love RPGs you’ll find no greater depth in a VR RPG today than Skyrim VR. It remains quite clunky despite being adapted in several ways for VR (including Move support for things like swinging your sword, blocking with your shield, and shooting your bow and arrow), and it isn’t easy on the eyes, but if you can overlook its flaws, the game’s sheer depth of content will keep you content in virtual Tamriel for a long time to come.
Batman Arkham VR [our review]: Something of a hidden gem from the PSVR launch era—Batman: Arkham VR was made by the same studio (Rocksteady) which developed the excellent Batman: Arkham series. And though it’s very different from those games—focusing instead on Batman’s gadgets and crime scene investigations)—it was far ahead of its time in VR game design and still represents some of the best licensed superhero content available in VR today. If you’re a fan of Batman, give this one a go.
WipEout Omega Collection [our thoughts]: Years before PSVR was released—back when it was still just a prototype called Project Morpheus—people were already fantasizing about how amazing the storied zero-G racing franchise, WipEout, could be in VR. The dream finally came true in 2017 when the WipEout Omega Collection, a remastered bundle of several WipEout games, launched with optional PSVR support, deeply enhancing the game’s adrenaline-fueled arcade racing action. Don’t push yourself though; while the VR mode has been adapted with several options to maintain comfort even at the game’s breakneck speeds, not pacing yourself could lead to nausea. Good thing there’s a free demo available to see if this one’s for you.
Did we miss something? Let us know your top recommendations in the comments below!
Vertigo Games, Innerspace and ARTE today announced that their upcoming VR puzzle adventure A Fisherman’s Tale is headed to all major VR headsets next month.
Update (December 14th, 2018): A Fisherman’s Tale now has an official launch date: January 22nd, 2019. To celebrate, the studios have published a new 360 degree trailer that lets you see some of the story, and set pieces that play host to the game’s mind-bending puzzles.
We went hands-on with A Fisherman’s Tale at Gamescom this year and came away pretty impressed. Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect from the studios’ charming VR puzzler:
A Fisherman’s Tale tosses you into the rubber boots of an ex-fisherman named Bob. A large storm is brewing, and it’s up to you make it to the top of the lighthouse and turn on the light, solving perspective shifting room-scale puzzles along the way.
The game uses an extremely interesting mechanic that the creators call ‘single player co-op’ which lets you hand key puzzle pieces to a miniature version of yourself in a dollhouse-size copy of the room. Look up, and you’ll see a giant version of yourself (as Bob), and look down and you’ll see a tiny Bob working away in sync with your movements.
The game is slated to support PlayStation VR, HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift and Windows VR when it launches in January. It will be priced at $15/€15.
Since the mods that enabled custom songs in Beat Saber are unofficial and community-made, they often break when there is an update to the game, causing custom songs to disappear. This guide will show you how to fix custom songs on Beat Saber after an update along with other mods. If you’ve never installed custom songs in the first place, follow this guide instead.
Update (April 8th, 2019): ModSaber is no more, although there’s a new installer in town, and it’s called Beat Saber Mod Manager. Follow the guide below to get back in business.
When a Beat Saber update breaks custom songs, it’s because the mods that enable them become incompatible until the mod creators make their own updates to account for the changes. Rest assured, all of the songs and beat maps you’ve downloaded are still there, you just can’t see them. You’ll need to wait until the mods get adjusted and then update to the latest versions before you can get custom songs on Beat Saber working again. Here’s how to do it:
With Beat Saber closed, launch BeatSaberModManager.exe, confirm that the game’s directory is correctly selected, then install ‘Song Loader’ and ‘BeatSaver Downloader’ (among other optional mods). If you don’t see these in the list then they have not been updated yet, check later by running Beat Saber Mod Manager at a later time.
[Optional] You can also update or install any other mods that are showing in the list (learn about what various mods do here). Run Beat Saber Mod Manager later to check for the latest plugins as they’re updated.
Once you install the updated versions of the mods you’ll find that all of your custom songs are available to play once again. Looking for some great songs to try? Check out 11 of our favorites!
Vertigo Games, the developers behind Arizona Sunshine (2016), today announced their PC VR strategy game Skyworld (2017) is finally making its way to PlayStation VR this month.
Update (March 13th, 2019): Vertigo Games today announced that Skyworld will launch for PlayStation VR on March 26th, 2019. The PSVR release will add new player-progress features to the game including a persistent leveling system whereby players can earn
XP in single and multiplayer matches and from daily challenges, and unlock avatars. The studio also says a new leaderboard specifically for PSVR users will be available.
The original article announcing its “early 2019” launch window follows below.
Original Article (November 27th, 2018): Skyworld is slated to arrive on PSVR next year, Vertigo Games tells us, although there’s no specific launch date yet. The studio says it’ll launch sometime in early 2019 (see update).
Image courtesy Vertigo Games
Skyworld reimagines classic strategy gameplay for VR by combining turn-based strategy and real-time battles set in a variety of animated miniature worlds. Featuring both single-player campaign and online multiplayer battles, Skyworld lets you build and command pint-sized armies and build decks spanning land, air, ranged, and spellcasting units.
It’s uncertain at this time whether Skyworld will be available with cross-platform multiplayer, as the game has been available for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift since its launch in late 2017.
Image courtesy Vertigo Games
While we haven’t had the opportunity to review Skyworld, check out our early hands-on from last year to get an idea of what it’s all about.
Skyworld currently sits at an 80% positive approval on Steam, giving it a ‘very positive’ rating. The game also sits at a respectable 4.3/5 stars on the Oculus Store.
You might have already splurged on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for the biggest VR deals of the season, but if you were reticent to pull out your credit card and plonk down a few hundred on that shiny new PSVR game bundle, you may want to rethink that decision with the platform’s next big offering that’s slated to launch before Christmas.
BestBuy.com is currently advertising pre-orders for a new PSVR bundle which includes the hotly awaited Borderlands 2 VR and the indie breakout hit rhythm game Beat Saber (2018).
The pre-order listing states the bundle will launch on December 14th, costing $350.
The bundle includes the PlayStation VR headset, PlayStation Camera, two PlayStation Move motion controllers, demo disc, and both Borderlands 2 VR and Beat Saber game vouchers. Sorry folks, it doesn’t appear the physical retail release is included.
It’s uncertain at the time of this writing if other retailers will carry the bundle or if it’s a Best Buy exclusive, although the deal presents even greater savings than the previously launched Creed: Rise to Glory + Superhot VR bundle, which is also regularly priced at $350.
Beat Saber launched just last week on PSVR for $30, while Borderlands 2 VR is set to cost $50 when it launches on December 14th, making the bundle a clear win over Creed: Rise to Glory and Superhot VR’s combined MSRP of $40.
If you didn’t manage to snap up a bundle at Black Friday pricing, the Borderlands 2 VR + Beat Saber offer is certainly the most attractive offer dollars-wise at this point.
With Beat Saber now available on both PC VR headsets and PSVR, developer Beat Games is talking more about the game’s roadmap, including plans for more free songs alongside paid song packs.
Update (November 23rd, 2018): Beat Games today confirmed that an update is headed to the PC version of Beat Saber “in a few days,” which will bring with it the following features:
Expert+ levels
New modifiers
Lights optimisation
New swords
Practice mode
Optimised game performance
Improved graphics
Player statistics
And more!
A handful of other features and content (some discussed below) are still in development.
Original Article (November 22nd, 2018):
Feature Parity, Custom Tracks, and Level Editor
Image courtesy Beat Games
Speaking during an official livestream Q&A to celebrate the launch of Beat Saber on PSVR, members of development studio Beat Games opened up about what players can expect for the game going forward. Generally, the team said they want to bring all features, including multiplayer, to all platforms. When it comes to official support for custom songs and a beat map editor, however, the studio expects those will only come to the PC version because of platform and licensing restrictions on PS4.
“Many of the things we’re doing right now are very complicated not because of the technical reasons but because of the legal reasons,” said Beat Games’ Ján “Split” Ilavský. “When we are doing something we have to talk to lawyers about if it’s ok if we can do it. We are really on a thin line about when we’re dealing with music stuff.”
CEO and composer Jaroslav Beck added that the difficulty of dealing with major music labels and licensing red tape was a sore point for the studio.
On the subject of adding more official music to the game, the developers say they are planning to add 30+ free songs to the game over time, and that three of those songs could be coming quite soon.
In addition to free songs, the studio also plans to release paid song packs which will include 10 songs for $10 each. Three packs are currently on the roadmap; the first pack is already finished, the second is almost complete, and another pack is already planned, said Beck.
Beck also explained why some songs will be free and others will be paid: songs from independent artists who fully own the rights to their music and contribute their songs to the game in exchange for exposure will be release for free. Songs which are owned by various labels and publishers will be released as part of the paid song packs in order to fund the licensing fees for that music. Generally speaking, it sounds like free songs will come from lesser known independent artists while the paid song packs will include more mainstream music.
The song packs could also be more than just the music and the beat maps to go along with it, the team said, hinting that packs could also include new level visualizations to fit the theme of each pack.
Beck also confirmed to Road to VR that the five new songs currently only on the PSVR version will come to the PC version in time.
Expert+ Difficulty and More Modifiers Including ‘Pro’ Mode
Image courtesy Beat Games
The PSVR version of Beat Saber includes eight modifiers which change how each song plays. For instance, there’s an ‘Insta Fail’ modifier which fails the player on any mistake, as well as a ‘Disappearing Arrows’ modifier which makes arrows vanish as the blocks approach the player.
The team said they plan to bring all of these modifiers to the PC version of Beat Saber, and have plans for five or six more modifiers which will be “very special for Beat Saber,” meaning they will be more specific to the game than the existing modifiers which are more general.
Ilavský let spill one of the new modifiers that’s in the works: a ‘Pro’ modifier which shrinks the collider to match the visible area of each cube. Currently, the area which counts as a ‘cut’ on each cube is actually invisibly larger than the cube itself. This makes the game easier to play. The Pro modifier will only count cuts when they directly strike the cube, forcing players to have better accuracy and timing. Ilavský said he expected this feature would be desirable for high level players and in competition settings.
Furthermore, Ilavský also confirmed that a new ‘Expert+’ beat map will be added to each official song, notching up the difficulty another step above the current ‘Expert’.
Other Bits
Image courtesy Beat Games
A few other interesting bits were discussed during the Q&A as well.
New Saber Design & Custom Sabers
The new saber design seen in the PSVR version will come to the PC version as well. The team said that the reason for the new look was not only because the original sabers were created quickly and were very basic in their appearance, but also because they wanted to further separate the look of the game from the Star Wars franchise to avoid any semblance of looking like they are trying to benefit from someone else’s IP without permission.
A custom saber feature, which has been discussed previously, was also affirmed to still be in the works.
New Obstacles & Environments
The developers said during the stream that they have ideas for other obstacles (like the game’s walls and bombs) to add more variety to levels, however they gave no hints as to what they might be.
The team also said they’re interested in creating more environments as the backdrop for songs, but said that it isn’t high on their priority list before other features get finished.
‘Game Changer’ Plugin from LIV
The studio is also experimenting with a new plugin from the LIV team (the company that makes the green screen compositing app which allows players to insert themselves into Beat Saber videos).
The new plugin, which Beat Games referred to as ‘Game Changer’, would allow the game to be changed in real-time based on inputs from a livestream audience like those on Twitch. This could allow for interaction between the audience and the streamer. The team didn’t say how the plugin might interact with the game, but conceivably it would be possible to do things like speeding up or slowing down songs on the fly based on audience input.
PC Price Will Likely Increase After Early Access
During the Q&A the team explained that the $30 price point for Beat Saber on PSVR (which is $10 more than the PC version) was decided because the PSVR version is a more complete version of the app, including more songs, modifiers, and the Campaign mode; the PSVR version isn’t considered Early Access. The PC version will get those same features and music in due time, and will eventually leave Early Access, at which point the price will be increased.
As the PC version gets updated to match the PSVR version, the optimizations made for PSVR will allow the PC version to run faster and look better, the team said.
Astro Bot Rescue Mission, the chart-topping VR platformer from JAPAN Studio, nearly ended up with a local co-op multiplayer mode but ultimately the feature met the chopping block in order to let the single player mode shine.
Speaking to Astro Bot’s Creative Director and Producer, Nicolas Doucet, in a recent interview exploring the design and development of the title, Road to VR learned that a local co-op multiplayer mode was planned for the title, but the team at JAPAN Studio found that it necessarily compromised the design space of the single player campaign.
Astro Bot’s predecessor, the ‘Robots Rescue’ mini-game in The Playroom VR (2016), includes a co-op feature which allows an extra player to join in the fun on the TV while the primary player is in the headset. The non-VR player controls a bot flying in a small hovercraft which can collect coins, disrupt enemies, and help the primary player with some puzzles.
When it came time to develop Astro Bot, the team hoped to up the ante on this co-op feature, enabling not just one but up to three non-VR players to join in co-op on the TV on specific levels, JAPAN Studio’s Nicolas Doucet told Road to VR.
Image courtesy SIE JAPAN Studio
But when it came time to prototype the Astro Bot co-op gameplay, the team felt it was ultimately compromising the ways in which the single player portion could best make use of VR.
“It was fun to play together [with the co-op feature] but we soon realized that in order to make the [non-VR] TV gameplay work, we were limiting the amplitude of the levels too much, thus hurting the ‘VR-ness’ we were after,” Doucet told Road to VR. “Removing the multiplayer and focusing on a solo game allowed the game designers to be much more daring and efficient with the use of VR in their levels and the final game would have not been possible had we kept this multiplayer mode.”
Image courtesy SIE JAPAN Studio
This is perhaps how early Astro Bot boxes were printed with a ‘1-4 Players’ feature indicator, which Sony apologized for, calling it a “misprint.”
VR’s signature slice and dice rhythm game has finally come to PSVR and has managed to squeezes the most out of the platform’s tracking performance to deliver an experience which feels nearly comparable to its PC counterpart. Along with a handful of quality exclusive tracks and a new campaign mode which offers up interesting challenges, Beat Saber’s highly active gameplay will have PSVR players moving more than ever before.
Developer: Beat Games Available On: Steam (Vive, Rift, Windows VR) [Early Access], Oculus Store (Rift) [Early Access], PlayStation Store (PSVR) Reviewed On: PSVR (PS4 Pro) Release Date: November 20th, 2018
Beat Saber is a rhythm game like many others before it, except instead of pressing buttons, you’re using virtual swords to chop blocks which are aligned with the beat (PS Move controllers are required). There’s only two block colors, red and blue, which correspond to a red saber in your left hand and a blue saber in your right hand. On top of matching up the colors of the blocks to each saber, each block also has an arrow to indicate the direction you must swing to properly chop it. There’s also obstacles like bombs (which you don’t want to chop) and barriers which you must dodge with your head.
Image courtesy Beat Games
It sounds simple enough, but in practice it’s very satisfying and uniquely suited to VR.
While many rhythm games are focused on timing—awarding incrementally more points the closer you are to the ideal striking moment of each note—Beat Saber is instead focused on accuracy and form. The game doesn’t care precisely when you chop each block (as long as you don’t miss it entirely); you maximize your score by making wide (not hard) swings, and by slicing as close as possible to the center of each arrow (though the latter only accounts for a small fraction of possible points). Being accurate and having good form ultimately leads you to being in tune with the rhythm of each song; when you really get into a flow state you’ll find that feeling the rhythm helps you anticipate what’s coming next, and at times you may almost feel like you’re dancing along.
Beat Saber has been exceptionally well received on PC as one of the top rated VR titles ever, but for the PS4 version a big question has been whether PSVR’s tracking system would be up to the task. Fortunately, the answer is yes. You’ll be able to play Beat Saber’s most challenging tracks on the highest difficulty without feeling like the tracking system is holding you back, and the leaderboards are sure to see lively competition. While veteran PC players will notice additional latency on the PSVR version which makes block chopping feel slightly less grounded, it’s fairly easy to compensate. That said, the latency can make quickly repeating patterns (like strings of alternating up/down notes on both hands) challenging to deal with, and at these moments you’ll need to rely more on what you’re feeling than what you’re seeing. Luckily those moments are few and far between. Pro tip: don’t be tempted to use audio from your TV; headphones connected to PSVR will give you the lowest latency between what you’re seeing and what you’re hearing.
Strings of quick alternating notes like those above are made more challenging with the latency. Most everything else is easy to compensate for.
Beat Saber on PSVR includes 16 tracks out of the gate, the 11 original songs from the PC version and five brand new songs which are exclusive to the PSVR version. Each song has hand-made beat maps in Easy, Normal, Hard, and Expert difficulties. It’s the hand-made beat maps which really sell the whole experience because they fit so well with the music (which is quality in its own right). Here’s the full tracklist for Beat Saber on PSVR at launch:
$100 Bills
Escape Ft. Summer Haze
Legend Ft. Backchat
Beat Saber
Angel Voices
Country Rounds Sqeepo Remix
Balearic Pumping
Breezer
Commercial Pumping
Lvl Insane
Turn Me On Ft. Tiny C
Rum N’ Bass [PSVR exclusive]
Unlimited Power Ft. Frank Bentley [PSVR exclusive]
I Need You [PSVR exclusive]
Be There For You Ft. Kinnie Lane [PSVR exclusive]
Elixia [PSVR exclusive]
The original 11 tracks are mapped exactly as their PC counterparts. Among the PSVR exclusive tracks, the standouts for me are ‘Rum N’ Bass’, a fun(ny) pirate-themed track, and ‘Unlimited Power’ which has righteous empowered lyrics in the same vein as ‘Legend’.
While developer Beat Games tells us that the PSVR version of the game won’t get custom songs, the company plans to add music through forthcoming song packs. The first pack is in the works, according to the company, and will launch “pretty soon,” though it’s unclear how many songs the packs will include or what they will cost. The big question is whether or not the company can pump out tracks fast enough to satisfy users in the long run. The PC version has held up very well because the community has added many unofficial but excellent custom tracks to the game. With no capability for custom tracks on the PSVR version, it’ll be up to Beat Games to keep Beat Saber fresh for players.
Along with the new tracks come a series of modifiers which can be applied to any track and can significantly increase or decrease the difficulty of a given song:
Insta Fail – Any mistake fails the song
Battery Energy – You have a finite amount of energy
Disappearing Arrows – Arrows fade away as blocks approach
Faster Song
No Fail – You cannot fail
No Obstacles
No Bombs
Slower Song
Those which make the song harder will increase the score multiplier, and those that make it easier will reduce the score multiplier.
The entire track list can be played on any difficulty and with any modifiers right out of the gate in Free Play mode (no need to unlock anything). Each song has its own leaderboard for each difficulty. Inside of Free Play you can also queue up any specific point of a song to practice particularly challenging sections.
The Party mode creates a local leaderboard which makes for easy pass and play with friends.
Campaign mode is a brand new and significant addition to Beat Saber on PSVR. It takes the form of a series of levels which have different modifiers and unique objectives. It starts out easy but grows increasingly more difficult. It functions as a compelling way to guide new players along a path to improving their play, but also presents even experienced players with interesting challenges thanks to clever combinations of modifiers and objectives.
For instance, one level has players playing a song on medium difficulty with the Disappearing Arrows modifier and the objective is to achieve a combo of 50 (a streak of no mistakes).
Another level has the Slow Song modifier on, but puts the pressure on with Disappearing Arrows and demands absolutely no missed notes (otherwise you’ll fail).
Still another level asks players to move their hands a minimum distance (which will have you doing especially lavish flourishes), while another gives you a maximum distance (so you’ll stand there like a robot twitching just your wrists trying not to move).
The Campaign mode adds a surprising amount of life to the game, requiring at least a few hours to complete (depending upon skill level). It also offers slightly deviating paths which means if you’re struggling with one level you can complete another instead and still move forward, though occasionally you might need to revisit a level you didn’t previously complete in order to pass enough levels to advance past certain points.
Image courtesy Beat Games
Campaign mode is an especially good addition for players who don’t have an innate drive to just jump into Free Play and practice, and it also helps push players to attempt new challenges, modes, or modifiers they might not otherwise try (like Single Saber, No Arrow Directions, or Faster Song). We hope to see more Campaign mode levels added as new songs come to the game.
Immersion & Comfort
Image courtesy Beat Games
Beat Saber is a very active game and does an excellent job of fostering a level of embodiment (the feeling that your body is in the game world) unmatched by pretty much any other PSVR title to date.
It’s also effortless to play, requiring no button pressing or even so much as a trigger pull once you start a song. If you know how to swing your arms through the air, you know how to play Beat Saber. Great performance and graphics—not to mention the connection felt between the blocks, the beat, and your movements—makes Beat Saber easy to get lost in.
It’s recommended that you play standing, and you’ll be swinging wide and far when playing at a high level. Since PSVR doesn’t have a boundary system, you seriously need to make sure you have a large open space to avoid swinging your hand into something at high speed (I’m expecting pictures of broken TVs soon to come, I just hope we don’t also see pictures of broken hands!). You might be tempted to step left or right at points during songs (especially when dodging barriers) but your best bet is typically to keep your feet planted in a wide, ‘ready’ stance and simply lean as necessary.
Having your hands suddenly tangled up in the PSVR’s tether or your headphone cables will bring you crashing back to reality. I quickly found that the best way to play is to let the PSVR tether drape behind your back and then go between your legs on its way to the TV. Between this and the planted feet stance (mentioned above), I had zero issues with the tether getting in my way.
Image courtesy Beat Games
As with all PSVR games, but especially with Beat Saber because of the range and speed of motion it demands, you’ll need to know how to dial in your PS camera setup to be just right to get the most out of the game. Before starting the game, when the system shows you the view from the camera, reach your arms as high above you as you can, all the way out to the sides, and all the way down to your sides. The glowing light on the Move controllers should stay inside the frame at all times. If not, reposition your camera angle or your distance from the camera to optimize your use of the tracking space. Beat Saber will continue to estimate your controller’s position even when it leaves the tracking volume, but it can only do so for a brief moment before the position becomes inaccurate, so it’s critical to make sure your hands are inside the volume almost always. Turning lights off is also usually a good idea so that the glowing trackers are the only light sources visible to the PS camera.
Because Beat Saber has no artificial locomotion, it’s highly comfortable to almost everyone. The only discomfort you’re likely to feel is the soreness from a longsession. The game really can be a decent workout, especially when playing at higher difficulty levels. If you really get into it, expect to break a sweat (just don’t forget to whipe down your PSVR once and a while).
Titanic VR (2018) is an immersive educational interactive story and game that takes you to the depths of the final resting place of the RMS Titanic, where you explore the 1912 shipwreck, its history, and experience over 6 hours of story-driven gameplay. The game, which first launched on PC VR headsets, is landing on PSVR November 22nd.
Titanic VR was created by Immersive VR Education, the same minds behind the well-received educational VR experiences Apollo 11 VR (2016) and the 1943: Berlin Blitz (2018).
Image courtesy Immersive VR Education
Here’s Immersive VR Educations’s description of Titanic VR:
Diving to the bottom of the North Atlantic, you take on the role of Dr. Ethan Lynch, Associate Professor of Maritime Archaeology at the fictional University of Nova Scotia. With funding from a mysterious investor, Dr. Lynch and his PhD Candidate Jean Robinson have set out aboard a research vessel to dive the wreck of Titanic and answer questions that have remained submerged for a century. This game allows you to explore the shipwreck inside and out and recover items and complete missions such as recovery of a downed ROV, Documentary Film Making and the creation of a photomosaic.
Besides making the trip aboard a submarine, the experience lets players observe key historical events through the eyes of a survivor onboard lifeboat 6.
Image courtesy Immersive VR Education
Immersive VR Education says its gone to the lengths to make it “a historically accurate recreation of events, based on eye-witness testimony and substantial research. Players will leave with a deeper understanding of this historic and tragic event.”
