Just six days ago, Playstation VR (previously known as Project Morpheus) was launched in order to once again push virtual reality onto gamers. However, what separates Playstion VR from other headsets such as the HTC Vive is that it can be used with any PS4 so no upgrades are needed. This obviously entices PS4 owners to get a Playstation VR headset in order to jump onto the popular VR hype-train, no matter the actual quality of the games. That is why this editorial exists, to shine the light on three games that are now available on Playstation VR and criticize them harshly for one reason or another. Not all heroes wear capes, but they all certainly do not wear virtual reality headsets, Playstation or not.
Take Alfred’s hand in marriage, do it.
First on the chopping block is Batman: Arkham VR, which has one of the greatest premises in all of video game history: the player gets to be a version of Batman that can only stand still and use his hands to not punch people. No really, the player gets to press buttons, flip switches, sometimes Batman even picks things up using his hands! It is almost as if the developers realized that if the player were to try doing anything cool as Batman they would get terrible motion sickness and vomit would pour out of the headset. Instead, the caped crusader teleports around trying to investigate a mystery, one that only takes about an hour to complete. Obviously being that the game does require virtual reality, there will be a sort of premium price but $20 seems a little much for an underwhelming one hour adventure. But hey, sometimes you get to aim at people and Batman shoots his gadgets out at them, so that might be fun?
This is supposed to be the scary part.
Second to the butcher’s table is Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, which shares a similar theme to Batman: Arkham VR in that it has very little to do with the source material and most fans of it will be disappointed. Rather than an interactive story with humorous dialogue and branching paths, this game instead offers fans the ability to play a virtual reality on-the-rails shooter that goes about as fast as Adeki in P.E. class. Players are given the chance to play through a slow crawl through different areas that very loosely tie into the original Until Dawn most likely to get fans of the original game alongside newcomers. Also, despite the horror elements of the original game, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood does not have much to offer in the scares department aside from a few moments of “oh look, something is there that was not there before!” At least this game is about two hours to complete rather than one hour, so maybe that makes Playstation VR worth it? Probably not.
Nyoom, nyoom.
Last one up is the odd one out of the bunch, the African-American sheep: Driveclub VR. The biggest problem with Driveclub VR is that it looks…bad. That is about it, the graphics looks like something one would find on the PS3 if not less, but at that same time it is reasonable to a degree because of the limitations that virtual reality creates, which is one of the biggest problems with VR aside from the whole motion sickness thing. Aside from lackluster visuals though, the main complaint about it is of course the heavy amounts of motion sickness that playing the games causes. Amazingly enough, it is being touted at the premiere PSVR game to get motion sickness from, so in a way it has achieved something! So, if gamers enjoy playing mediocre racers that look bad and can cause terrible motion sickness, Driveclub VR might be the game for them.
So that was it, a roundup of three Playstation VR video games that are disappointing to gamers and to everyone around them. Augmented reality, that is where all the pretty girls are at, just forget about virtual reality for now and then in twenty years or so it may get better. If you like virtual reality, Playstation VR, or any of the games on Playstation VR, leave a comment below! Or if you hate all of those previously mentioned things, leave a comment below and let us know what you think!
