The PSVR Summer Sale (or Sales) is on, and there are some incredible deals going.
Summer’s heatwave might not be the best time to jump into VR. It’s way too hot for Beat Saber and your headset’s going to get all sweaty and smelly. But some of these prices will make you want to block out the sun and bathe in the rays of a screen meer millimeters away from your eyes instead. I’m sure that gives you just as many vitamins and whatnot, right? No?
Anyway, both the US and EU PlayStation Store territories are hosting hefty discounts.
The US side offers some hearty deals on the likes of Borderlands 2 VR, Arizona Sunshine and more. There isn’t much that’s truly show-stealing, but it’s a good opportunity to pick up some of the better titles you might have missed over the past few years.
To be honest, though, the EU summer sale puts the US to shame. Recent hits like Blood And Truth have already had their prices slashed by a good margin. Meanwhile, some of VR’s core staples like Superhot VR are down to some of the lowest prices we’ve seen them go. We’ve rounded up our list of top picks below, but be sure to get a good look through your respective store too. If you’ve got a PS Plus account then make sure to look out for some extra discounts too.
Just remember to keep a cold glass of water near you’re if you’re about to start putting in Firewall all-nighters. Maybe invest in a fan, too.
2018 has almost come to an end which means VRFocus is rounding up the best videogames for each headset. Now it comes to the turn of HTC Vive. Probably the one head-mounted display ((HMD) with the fewest exclusives, there’s still no shortfall of great content on the device. Looking back over the last 12 months, it’s time for VRFocus to name its favourite HTC Vive experiences.
The Best HTC Vive Games of 2018
Transpose – Secret Location
A truly mind-bending puzzle title from Blasters of the Universecreator Secret Location, Transposehas over 30 levels where you have to bend time and clone your body, in a bid to solve the challenges. Alongside the time loops, Transpose allows players to rotate the environment around them to walk on walls and ceilings, experiencing perspective shifts and multifaceted puzzles in ways only possible in VR. One for the more advanced VR player, nevertheless a highly thought-provoking experience.
Arca’s Path – Dream Reality Interactive
The debut title from Dream Reality Interactive, Arca’s Path VRtakes the gameplay style of classics like Marble Madness and updates it for VR headsets. Featuring a dark storyline where you play a girl tricked by an evil witch, you’ve been turned into a ball and must navigate levels in a bid to free yourself and return home. Great for VR beginners as the controls are gaze based.
In Death – Solfar Studios
It featured in VRFocus’ Oculus Rift list and we liked it that much that Solfar Studios’ In Deathdeserved a place here with HTC Vive. With procedurally generated levels, no checkpoints or saving of any kind, the gameplay is as brutal as it is difficult. With just a bow by your side – until you unlock the crossbow – you need to become proficient at dispatching enemies at close and long range. Fail and you return to the start, a little wiser and a little tougher. Just remember that so are the angels and demons you need to kill.
Blind – Tiny Bull Studios
While the title may look a bit sinister Blindis simply a puzzle experience with one unique feature, you can’t see unless you make a sound, using an echolocation system to see the world around you. This can be achieved via a walking cane or grabbing anything to hand and throwing it. Clocking in at around fours hours of gameplay Blind doesn’t feel too short, and puzzle fans should like the way most of the challenges are designed.
Tin Hearts – Rogue Sun
Currently, in Early Access, Tin Hearts is a wonderfully quaint VR puzzle experience from indie studio Rogue Sun. Tin Heartsrequires you to guide squads of little tin soldiers through a magical toy filled world, in a similar vein to Lemmings. This time though you need to use the toys to guide the little guys in the right direction. It may still be in development but Tin Hearts is too adorable to not recommend.
Island 359 – CloudGate Studio
When it comes to massive adventures for HTC Vive, most may instantly veer towards Bethesda’s Fallout 4 VRwhich is exclusive to the headset. It may be a good videogame but it’s so 2017, and VRFocus isn’t interested in last year. Instead, how about going for CloudGate Studio’s rather epic Island 359. Whether you want to hunt, or just try to survive, Island 359 has something for every dinosaur fan – apart from a visitor centre, just remember there are no fences and they bite back.
Beat Saber – Beat Games
It doesn’t matter which headset you play Beat Saber on you’re more than likely going to enjoy it. It’s just so frustratingly addictive, bopping and swinging your arms around to catchy tunes, slicing away at blocks. Not only can 30 to 60 minutes pass without thinking about it, but you also get a reasonable workout to burn those calories, excellent for when you fancy another Christmas snack.
Transference – Ubisoft Montréal and Spectrevision
Love to be scared witless? Either by things jumping out from the shadows or by creatures you can’t see then VR horror is the way to go. Ubisoft Montréal and Spectrevision collaborated on terrifying psychological thriller Transference that blurs the lines between live-action movies and videogame dynamics. With a multi-branching narrative focused on a scientist and his family experiments, this is one title not for the faint of heart.
Sprint Vector – Survios
If you want a VR title that’s energetic but you don’t fancy Beat Saber then it’s worth trying Survios’ Sprint Vector. There’s still lots of arm swinging involved but this time it’s competitive, racing against opponents to find the best line to the finish. With the ability to jump and glide to find new routes, you can also disadvantage opponents with a selection of armaments.
Evasion – Archiact
For those that are looking for an all-out first-person shooter (FPS) then sci-fi action adventure Evasionis what you seek. A frantic sci-fi shooter that can be played in either single-player or co-op multiplayer modes. Players can choose from four classes (Striker, Surgeon, Engineer and Warden) each having their own unique strengths, weapons and abilities, with players able to customise their class as they level-up. There’s a great feel to the gunplay, and Archiact has built in plenty of movement options for those worried about motion sickness.
Putting together these sorts of lists can be both good and bad. They can be a major headache as they can’t be infinite, so there’s alway’s going to be a few people disappointed that their favourite wasn’t included, while on the flip side they can help you pick out some choice virtual reality (VR) offerings. With more videogames than ever, choosing VRFocus’ favourites has been very difficult, getting that balance between variety and just sheer awesomeness – and the fact it had to launch in 2018. So here we go, if you own an Oculus Rift then these titles should be in your library.
The Best Oculus Rift Games of 2018
Beat Saber – Beat Games
Of course, this had to feature in VRFocus’ list, it has been one of the most talked about VR titles since launch. It’s simple and addictive controls are what have made this experience what it is, who would have thought slicing away at coloured blocks in time to music would catch on like it did. There’s a version for all the main headsets, but if you’re on PC then you can make use of the modding community to greatly increase that track roster. And that would be VRFocus’ main gripe, the lack of official tracks is still very small.
Brass Tactics – Hidden Path Entertainment
An early release at the beginning of the year, Hidden Path Entertainment saw a gap in the VR market for a tabletop real-time strategy (RTS) experience and created the rather enjoyable Brass Tactics. Featuring some gorgeous graphics, lots of troops choices and upgrade options, the title was well received in VRFocus’review, saying that it was: “a well-tuned VR RTS that fans of the genre should be easily impressed by.”
Creed: Rise to Glory – Survios
It seems that at times LA-based VR developer Survios can do no wrong when it comes to the quality of its videogames. The most recent to come from the studio, Creed: Rise to Gloryshows that movie tie-ins can work when approached correctly. One for those VR players who love to work up a sweat, the energetic experience will make you feel those shoulder muscles in no time, whether that’s in the ring or training with Rocky Balboa himself.
Echo Combat – Ready at Dawn
After the successful release of Lone Echoand Echo Arena in 2017, Ready at Dawn returned in 2018 with its multiplayer followup Echo Combat. A team-based zero-g combat experience, Echo Combat pits up to 4vs4 in an array of modes such as Capture Point, with players armed with both offensive and defensive capabilities to help win matches. The frantic, high-octane gameplay makes this title a must for fans of team-based videogames.
Electronauts – Survios
The only developer with two titles on this list, Survios released this musical gem during the summer. If you love electronic music but never had the turntable skills for DJing, then Electronautsis a great place to employ your musical passions. Thanks to its ‘Music Reality Engine’, Electronauts allows anyone to perform and produce music that’s always on key and never skips a beat. You don’t so much as make your own original tunes, instead, Electronauts gives you the ability to heavily remix tracks from some top music artists.
In Death – Solfar Studios
A roguelike first-person shooter (FPS) for those that enjoy a challenge, Solfar Studios’ In Death is a procedurally generated dungeon crawler set in the afterlife, where you have to battle demons and angels alike. Gorgeous to look at, this is a pure bow shooter, with the weapon used for not only killing enemies but also movement. The difficulty comes from the fact that there are no checkpoints, and dying means going right back to the start. When this happens any progress made in terms of the number of enemies killed or bonuses achieved will be added to your character, improving stats such as health and damage. Of course, there is a flip side. Enemies will also improve just to make sure it’s not a walk in the park.
Pixel Ripped 1989 – ARVORE
Brilliantly original in its concept, Pixel Ripped 1989was the brainchild of solo developer Ana Ribeiro. In development since 2014, there were times when it didn’t look like the title would ever see release, that was until Ribeiro joined Brazilian studio ARVORE. Mixing retro gaming with the immersive worlds of VR, Pixel Ripped 1989 is a homage to those old-school mobile platforms, where you play the role of young videogame fan Nicola, who needs to beat several classic-style videogames in order to thwart an invasion of the real world by the evil Cyblin Lord. The title will have you playing 2D videogames whilst at the same time interacting with the world around you to keep you on your toes. There’s lots of fun to be had here.
Red Matter – Vertical Robot
One for those who love a good puzzle experience mixed with a thriller storyline, Red Matteris not for the faint of heart. One of only two titles on this list that might make your spine tingle, the narrative-driven experience set in an alternate future where an ongoing cold war ensues between two superpowers. You play as Agent Epsilon, an astronaut dispatched to an abandoned base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons to recover top-secret information. You’re very much alone on this base, which makes the hallways and cavernous rooms even more intimidating. Red Matter isn’t overly long, but it is engrossing throughout.
Transference – Ubisoft Montréal and Spectrevision
Horror is one of VRFocus’ favourite VR genres as some of the best titles can be so intensely scary. One of the surprise’s of 2018, Transferenceis a mind-bending, psychological story that blurs the lines between live-action movies and videogame dynamics. The story which involves a brilliant but troubled scientist and inventor called Raymond Hayes. He has been collecting data from himself and his family which then congeals into a dark and twisted consciousness of its own. In doing so this new entity forms its own digital world which starts to alter the perceptions of Raymond, his wife Katherine and their son Benjamin. Weird and surreal right from the outset, there’s a lot to take in, and should only be attempted by the bravest.
Vox Machinae – Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation
Another online multiplayer, Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation’s giant mech fighter Vox Machinae is still in Early Access, but for those wanting to engage in vehicular combat then this is worth a look. Vox Machinaeputs you in charge of enormous walking robots called GDRs or “Grinders”, bristling with weaponry. You choose a chassis then customize it with a selection of powerful weapons including lasers, missiles, cannons and more to take down enemies. With detailed cabs stuffed with levers and switches, the gameplay is very ‘hands-on’, where you have to actually handle the controls, really making you feel in control of this massive war machine.
The polls are now open for the PlayStation Players’ Choice Award for September 2018. A number of high-profile titles are up for the award, including two PlayStation VR titles, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS and Transference.
Players can head to the US PlayStation Blog in order to cast their vote for the best new title released on PlayStation during September 2018.
Among the nominees are popular AAA titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man, FIFA 19 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but there are also some smaller and independent titles such as Hollow Knight and The Gardens Between.
Of interest to virtual reality (VR) fans are the nominations for Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS, a VR-compatible remake of the cult classic mech battler from the PlayStation 2 and also the unnerving horror-thriller Transference.
At the end of each month, the PlayStation Blog opens a poll where users can vote for the best new videogame released that month. Soon afterwards, the polls are closed,the results tallied and the winner announced on the PlayStation Blog. The PlayStation Store will also showcase the Players’ Choice winners throughout the year.
The list of nominated Players’ Choice Award for September 2018 are as follows:
Boundless
Creed: Rise to Glory
Destiny 2: Forsaken
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
FIFA 19
Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition
Hollow Knight Voidheart Edition
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker
NBA 2K19
NBA Live 19
NHL 19
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Speed Brawl
The Gardens Between
Timespinner
Transference
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS
Write-in votes are also accepted, but it is noted that remastered or re-released titles are not eligible, unless it is a larger-scale full rebuild, similar to Shadow the Colossus and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.
The poll can be found on the PlayStation Blog. For future coverage of upcoming VR-related awards, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Transference (2018) is a single-player psychological thriller that takes place in a shadowy reflection of reality—the simulation of a family’s collective minds who’ve presumably been corrupted after the father, a scientist, tests his breakthrough procedure on himself, his wife, and child. While fairly short in length, the game’s intense themes and film-like quality will leave you reeling well after the credits roll.
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: SpectreVision, Ubisoft Montreal Available On: Steam (Vive, Rift), Oculus Store (Rift), PlayStation Store (PSVR) Reviewed On: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive Release Date: September 18th, 2018
Gameplay
In a live action sequence, we learn that scientist Raymond Hayes has invented a way to replicate organic consciousness in a virtual environment. There’s some room for interpretation, but judging from Hayes’ opening speech it appears we were either a test subject, or a colleague that signed on to help him realize his dream of eternal life. Either way, he thanks us for our role in making it possible. An eerie misalignment of the video’s tracking hints that Hayes’ eternal paradise is everything but.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Awakening on the street corner in front of Hayes’ home, it’s clear we’ve been tossed into a degrading virtual reality that needs your help to fix. Missing assets like door knockers and entryways show up as big black voids sporting red error messages.
The broken file is fixed by solving the relevant puzzle, such as playing a few musical notes on the apartment building’s buzzers, or tuning a radio so you can temporarily link two family members together for a panicked chat. It’s not so simple though, as you soon learn that switching off the light lets you traverse one of three inner realities coexisting separately, each of them fractured reflections of the family’s real apartment as seen through the eyes of Hayes, his son Ben, and his wife Katherine.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Puzzles have a good range of difficulty, and there are only few moments when the solution is immediately obvious. There’s little to no help from Hayes’ video logs or his memories, so you’re basically on your own to figure out how to escape the progressively horrifying simulation.
The back drop is nothing short of unsettling, with its rattling doors, and voices calling out for help. The worst bit though is terrifying beast that’s ostensibly corrupted the three digital replicants, popping out at disturbingly inconsistent moments of high tension. And you can’t run or hide either; you walk at an eerily slow pace throughout the game, searching for the next puzzle solution and hoping the beast doesn’t appear again for another one of its truly terrifying jump scares.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
That said, jump scares are very few, making the horror aspect more reliant on the narrative and the game’s fractured setting. A glut of video recordings featuring Hayes are scattered throughout the game, and really start to drive home just how disturbed he became in his search for the ultimate solution. Found objects like USB drives, audio recordings, notes, and books act as supporting material, letting Hayes offer the viewer brief peeks into his family life and why he continued on with his work after everyone doubted him.
Although it’s an object-oriented experience, there isn’t any inventory to speak of, requiring you to carry key objects by hand through the digital rifts by turning on and off the light switches in the house. Sometimes it’s not entirely clear which objects are important puzzle pieces though, so a complete exploration of the available dimensions is necessary to really understand what’s missing. This can be frustrating in some puzzles, but thankfully the apartment isn’t so large that you’ll be hunting for too long.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
The game is short and sweet at one and a half hours length for my personal playthrough. While I stopped to inspect many of the found objects, I wasn’t overly thorough, so your mileage may vary. In the end, SpectreVision and Ubisoft are trying to walk a fine line between an adventure game and a small budget indie film, so I didn’t really mind the tighter nature of the game’s pacing to fit that specific style. That said, I could have easily dove back in for at least another two to three hours, but I’m willing to admit that a longer format might have ultimately desensitized a user from staying fully engaged with the non-stop thrills and quick pacing.
Immersion
Visuals aren’t everything, but they certainly carry a lot of weight when it comes to forgetting you’re actually in your underwear in a wheely chair wearing a VR headset. To that end, visual fidelity in Transference is clearly at, or very near to ‘AAA’ territory.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Excellent lighting, high-quality assets and textures, and extremely well-realized audio cues help create one of the best-looking and sounding adventure games to date. And while it’s clearly corrupted simulation, all of this brings you into the moment, irregardless of the fact that you can’t actually die or get hurt.
Characters feel real too, which is in no small part due to excellent character animations for brief but startling interludes, and competent voice overs that rattle your brainpan throughout.
Image captured by Road to VR
Object interaction is fairly standard, and the world’s many objects seem solid enough in how they interact with the world. Your hands are represented in a ghostly neon blue hue, giving you just enough of a visual cue to use them accurately, but not so overt that it clashes with the wacked out simulation that is the world of Transference.
Comfort
Transference presents a few comfort options so all experience levels can play without too much worry. The game includes optional ‘blinder’ vignettes that can be toggled to reduce your field of view during both forward movement and turning—something heavily used in Ubisoft’s Eagle Flight (2016). Users can fiddle with the blinder’s strength to get the feel that’s right for them.
There’s also smooth turning and a variable angle snap-turn available, the latter of which is suitable for new users, or those with temperamental stomachs.
Thankfully the game seems to recognize if the user is seated, and automatically adjusts your height in-game so there’s no odd stretching in order to interact with found objects or puzzles. There is a crouch toggle so you can easily access lower cabinets, although from an immersion standpoint this is less advantageous than a ‘force grab’ ability.
Transference (2018) is a single-player psychological thriller that takes place in a shadowy reflection of reality—the simulation of a family’s collective minds who’ve presumably been corrupted after the father, a scientist, tests his breakthrough procedure on himself, his wife, and child. While fairly short in length, the game’s intense themes and film-like quality will leave you reeling well after the credits roll.
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: SpectreVision, Ubisoft Montreal Available On: Steam (Vive, Rift), Oculus Store (Rift), PlayStation Store (PSVR) Reviewed On: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive Release Date: September 18th, 2018
Gameplay
In a live action sequence, we learn that scientist Raymond Hayes has invented a way to replicate organic consciousness in a virtual environment. There’s some room for interpretation, but judging from Hayes’ opening speech it appears we were either a test subject, or a colleague that signed on to help him realize his dream of eternal life. Either way, he thanks us for our role in making it possible. An eerie misalignment of the video’s tracking hints that Hayes’ eternal paradise is everything but.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Awakening on the street corner in front of Hayes’ home, it’s clear we’ve been tossed into a degrading virtual reality that needs your help to fix. Missing assets like door knockers and entryways show up as big black voids sporting red error messages.
The broken file is fixed by solving the relevant puzzle, such as playing a few musical notes on the apartment building’s buzzers, or tuning a radio so you can temporarily link two family members together for a panicked chat. It’s not so simple though, as you soon learn that switching off the light lets you traverse one of three inner realities coexisting separately, each of them fractured reflections of the family’s real apartment as seen through the eyes of Hayes, his son Ben, and his wife Katherine.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Puzzles have a good range of difficulty, and there are only few moments when the solution is immediately obvious. There’s little to no help from Hayes’ video logs or his memories, so you’re basically on your own to figure out how to escape the progressively horrifying simulation.
The back drop is nothing short of unsettling, with its rattling doors, and voices calling out for help. The worst bit though is terrifying beast that’s ostensibly corrupted the three digital replicants, popping out at disturbingly inconsistent moments of high tension. And you can’t run or hide either; you walk at an eerily slow pace throughout the game, searching for the next puzzle solution and hoping the beast doesn’t appear again for another one of its truly terrifying jump scares.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
That said, jump scares are very few, making the horror aspect more reliant on the narrative and the game’s fractured setting. A glut of video recordings featuring Hayes are scattered throughout the game, and really start to drive home just how disturbed he became in his search for the ultimate solution. Found objects like USB drives, audio recordings, notes, and books act as supporting material, letting Hayes offer the viewer brief peeks into his family life and why he continued on with his work after everyone doubted him.
Although it’s an object-oriented experience, there isn’t any inventory to speak of, requiring you to carry key objects by hand through the digital rifts by turning on and off the light switches in the house. Sometimes it’s not entirely clear which objects are important puzzle pieces though, so a complete exploration of the available dimensions is necessary to really understand what’s missing. This can be frustrating in some puzzles, but thankfully the apartment isn’t so large that you’ll be hunting for too long.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
The game is short and sweet at one and a half hours length for my personal playthrough. While I stopped to inspect many of the found objects, I wasn’t overly thorough, so your mileage may vary. In the end, SpectreVision and Ubisoft are trying to walk a fine line between an adventure game and a small budget indie film, so I didn’t really mind the tighter nature of the game’s pacing to fit that specific style. That said, I could have easily dove back in for at least another two to three hours, but I’m willing to admit that a longer format might have ultimately desensitized a user from staying fully engaged with the non-stop thrills and quick pacing.
Immersion
Visuals aren’t everything, but they certainly carry a lot of weight when it comes to forgetting you’re actually in your underwear in a wheely chair wearing a VR headset. To that end, visual fidelity in Transference is clearly at, or very near to ‘AAA’ territory.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Excellent lighting, high-quality assets and textures, and extremely well-realized audio cues help create one of the best-looking and sounding adventure games to date. And while it’s clearly corrupted simulation, all of this brings you into the moment, irregardless of the fact that you can’t actually die or get hurt.
Characters feel real too, which is in no small part due to excellent character animations for brief but startling interludes, and competent voice overs that rattle your brainpan throughout.
Image captured by Road to VR
Object interaction is fairly standard, and the world’s many objects seem solid enough in how they interact with the world. Your hands are represented in a ghostly neon blue hue, giving you just enough of a visual cue to use them accurately, but not so overt that it clashes with the wacked out simulation that is the world of Transference.
Comfort
Transference presents a few comfort options so all experience levels can play without too much worry. The game includes optional ‘blinder’ vignettes that can be toggled to reduce your field of view during both forward movement and turning—something heavily used in Ubisoft’s Eagle Flight (2016). Users can fiddle with the blinder’s strength to get the feel that’s right for them.
There’s also smooth turning and a variable angle snap-turn available, the latter of which is suitable for new users, or those with temperamental stomachs.
Thankfully the game seems to recognize if the user is seated, and automatically adjusts your height in-game so there’s no odd stretching in order to interact with found objects or puzzles. There is a crouch toggle so you can easily access lower cabinets, although from an immersion standpoint this is less advantageous than a ‘force grab’ ability.
Have you seen the San Junipero episode of Black Mirror? If not, then you should skip this opening paragraph. In that episode, people are able to make the decision on their death bed to either pass away naturally, like we do today, or to have their consciousness uploaded to a “simulated reality” server featuring a beach-side city aptly titled San Junipero. Transference is, in short, like that if it were a twisted nightmare concocted by an obsessively deranged scientist.
As a result, Transference is a difficult game to articulate. In many ways this is the perfect embodiment of what people mean when they say “VR experience” rather than “game” or “story” as the narrative itself ebbs and flows as something that exists around you rather than something that’s told to you as you play. And after spending about 90 minutes to get through it all from start to finish in one sitting, I can’t stop thinking about it.
In Transference, Raymond Hayes has developed a technology that allows for 1:1 consciousness simulation. Or in other words, he’s created the ability to perfectly replicate a person’s brain, memories, and entire being digitally so that it can not only be preserved indefinitely, but also so that they can continue to live on forever.
The problem with that is he has used himself and his own family as the test subjects. Raymond’s obsession has driven him mad and turned him into a neglectful, abusive, and deranged man that’s ripping apart his marriage and ruining his son. It’s a tumultuous setting and as you dig deeper into the relationships, mostly by way of exploring the environments, watching video clips, listening to audio recordings, and picking up on environmental storytelling bits, the dark layers of the Hayes family slowly peel back.
If you’re looking for a structured, neatly packaged narrative like you’d find in a movie — this is not that type of thing. Transference doesn’t tell you a story, it puts you at the center of a family’s life. Throughout the experience you’re jumping between Ray, his wife Katherine, and their son Benjamin.
A major theme in Transference is perspective, meaning that everyone has their own interpretation of not only reality, but of memories and experiences as well. So, everyone has their own perspective. Since you’re constantly switching between three different family members and spend most of your time re-exploring the same home, you get to see the same areas from three different perspectives, although the visuals and assets themselves are heavily reused.
My favorite way that this manifested itself was in the subtle environmental changes. Pick up a memento that holds sentimental value for Ray and he’ll comment on it, but Katherine may have a negative memory attached to it instead. In particular there’s a family photo in front of the Golden Gate Bridge that, depending on who is looking at it, changes. Combined with background voice overs from the corresponding character, it’s an effective (albeit extremely subtle) technique.
One of the key mechanics in Transference is one of switching between two versions of reality. The game never properly explains anything at all really, leaving most of it open to interpretation, but the implication seems to be that you can toggle on and off light switches to alter the environment. One seems to be based in the past with warm, muted colors and realistic styles, whereas the other is soaked in a reddish-blackish filter with glitches and errors everywhere. Given how frequently this mechanic is used, it’d have been nice to be able to toggle versions at will instead of needing to backtrack to a light switch repeatedly.
Most puzzles boil down to traveling back and forth between realities and placing objects to fulfill glitches. Every now and then you’ll do something more interactive, like play a piano, adjust a clock, or tweak a radio signal, but most set pieces revolve more around results from you actions than the actions themselves.
For that reason, Transference really is best experienced in a single sitting if possible. The pacing is excellent with just enough minor jump scares, unsettling voices, and creepy hallways. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a horror game, but it’s certainly a thriller that plays tricks on your mind.
I played Transference on an Oculus Rift with Touch controls, but the game is also fully playable outside of VR as well. While it’s still technically the same game, you lose a lot by removing yourself from being inside the experience itself. The use of spatial audio, having to physically interact with objects, and the overwhelming tension all add up to making this something that is absolutely better when played from inside VR.
Final Score:9/10 – Great
There is a lot to unpack in Transference. It deals with several heavy themes that will likely make players uneasy, and from what I can tell, that’s sort of the point. Ubisoft and SpectreVision have mixed the stylings of Black Mirror and The Matrix with a twisted vision of the future that feels dangerously honest and realistic. While I’d have certainly loved for it to be a bit longer, I also appreciate how well-paced and polished it feels at the same time. It’s not without its flaws, but Transference is an unforgettable VR experience that I won’t soon forget.
PlayStation VR owners hankering for a new videogame to add to their collection are in for a treat this week, with seven titles due to launch on PlayStation Store. These cover a range of genres from sci-fi and puzzle to psychological horror and first-person shooters (FPS), there’s a little something for everyone.
Some of these are more well-known than others, with titles like Transference by Ubisoft one of the more notable experiences thanks to promotion by Hollywood actor Elijah Wood. This is a story-driven horror videogame which mixes both live-action performances with twisted computer graphics, there players find themselves inside a digital simulation created by the thoughts of a scientist and his family. Of course, being the scary experience that it is, not everything is as it seems. To see that VRFocus thinks, read our Transference review.
Also on the roster is Blind, another somewhat dark puzzle experience from Tiny Bull Studios. There are no scares in this however, with the title’s mechanic being that players are blind. To see they need to use echolocation, making noise to highlight their surrounds and ‘see’ a black and white world around them. Check out VRFocus’preview of Blind and expect to see a review ahead of launch.
For those after a bit more action then there’s sequel Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War by Chinese developer Winking Entertainment. Continuing the story, the studio claims this followup will offer greater freedom over the originals on-rails shooting.
The last of the bigger titles is Downward Spiral: Horus Station, another sequel, offering more sci-fi-based low gravity antics on board a space station that’s been deserted. Having previously launched for PC VR headsets VRFocusreviewed the Oculus Rift version to give you an idea of what to expect.
As for the rest, there’s The Door which sounds like another horror, escape-room style videogame; Neonwall, a pure puzzler; and Trickster VR: Dungeon Crawler, a procedurally generated fantasy adventure. That’s all for this week on PlayStation VR, if anything else pops up VRFocus will let you know.
Virtual reality (VR) is still a small industry and it goes without saying having the help of well-known Hollywood celebrities certainly helps the technology’s profile. So when Ubisoft announced a new psychological thriller being made in conjunction with Elijah Wood’s SpectreVision the actor certainly helped to up the profile of Transference. Yet such is the history of videogames and Hollywood, could Transference be the title to buck the trend and offer both live action and gameplay in one complete package?
Transference is a bold project by any means, twisting a dark narrative into a videogame that supports both VR and non-VR gameplay. Without giving too much away the story revolves around a family headed by Raymond Haynes a computer scientist. In his quest to prove his wild theories correct he begins experimenting on his family, creating a digital simulation based on their collective brain data. The title takes place entirely inside this simulation, but as you might expect something has gone very wrong.
You’re immediately thrust into a dark corner of this simulation, given few clues as to the situation or quite what you’re supposed to do. The atmosphere is instantly foreboding and tense, never letting up for a second thanks to a well-executed mix of visuals and sound. Doors and walls crackle and twitch digitally, while everyday objects flit in and out of existence, offering you clues to the storyline or better yet how to progress.
None of the puzzles prove to be too taxing that they hamper progression and the ever evolving story – which becomes more fascinating as time goes on – but they still offer enough thought to get you thinking – especially when that psychological scare factor starts to increase. This is an experience that begs to be played in VR, losing a lot of its power and presence via a 2D screen. Reviewed on Oculus Rift, Transference puts the headset through its paces as it flits between computer graphics and real life acting in parts. This helps ground the experience, aiding that sense that you’re in a digital world that’s more in control of you than you are of it.
There’s a methodical pace to Transference that aids in its immersion. With smooth locomotion the only option and no HUD to speak of Ubisoft has purposefully made movement a slow walk so you can’t rush around missing items or the theatrics of the videogame. Transference wants to scare you and make you feel on edge at all times, a trick it does very well, almost making you forget that you’re not one but three characters, changing between them at the touch of a light switch.
A times Transference can almost feel like a sensory deluge, such is the ever changing scenery whilst the spatial audio is rich and crisp – one segment featuring a radio was particularly impressive being able to hear the speaker whilst searching for clues. And even though the entire videogame is a linear start to finish experience it ebbs and flows just enough to keep things interesting.
If you love a good horror experience then Transference should be on your to buy list. It’s a videogame that should come with a heart warning, not because of jump scares, just merely due to the fact it’ll get your heart racing for the entire duration. Ubisoft and SpectreVision have done a commendable job entwining both live-action story and gameplay elements to make Transference one of the best psychological thrillers for VR.
Every month we aim to round up each and every VR game release for you in one single place — this is September’s list. Don’t worry — we’ll continue highlighting the best ones at the end of each week too.
August was a huge month for VR. Between Firewall Zero Hour, Electronauts, Torn, and plenty others there was certainly something for everybody regardless of your chosen platform. Now with September right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at what’s coming down the line next.
And if you’re a VR game developer planning to release a game soon — let us know!You can get in touch with me directly by emailing david@uploadvr.com or hit all of the editorial team by emailing tips@uploadvr.com. Please contact us about your upcoming releases so that we can know what you’re working on and include you in release lists!
Rift, Vive, and Windows VR Game Releases For September 2018
We would love to include mobile releases, but there is very little visibility about what’s coming to Gear VR, Go, or Daydream and it’s difficult to track releases accurately by date. That being said, if you have a mobile VR title in the works with a specific launch date or window, let us know!
Blind – Tiny Bull Studios
