Ah, PlayStation VR. I honestly didn’t expect it to have that much of an impact on me. I was full of pessimism from the day it was announced as Project Morpheus, right up until the moment I put the headset on and opened the PlayStation VR demo on the PS4. It was within the virtual menu that I first let out a genuine “holy f**king Christ alive,” and I’ve since let slip many more.
PlayStation VR is a weird thing; it lets you play games as if you are actually within the game world itself. It allows you to have previously impossible interactions thanks to motion controls combined with fully realised world. It’s basically the future. So you’ll have to excuse me for saying that when I went back into Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End this week, I was a little bit… Underwhelmed? I’m not sure if that’ the right word for it, but I certainly didn’t feel as comfortable.
Does Arkham Knight let you take the piss out of Batman and get away with it? No. No it doesn’t.
Every action Drake carried out seemed unnatural. Why am I pressing a button to reload? Why am I aiming with such a rudimentary input device? Where the hell is my 3D audio?! Yeah, it’s fair to say that I’ve been spoiled by the wonders of PlayStation VR, though I can’t be the only one, right?
Going back to the “normal” way of playing games felt so strange and uncivilised, whereas whacking on the PSVR headset and picking my Uzi machine gun off the dashboard in The London Heist, driving around Chile in DriveClub, and playing the piano in Batman: Arkham VR just felt so natural – alright, maybe the piano playing wasn’t that natural, but you get the point.
The only time drink driving is both fun and safe is in DriveClub VR. Not condoning it but c’mon, isn’t VR all about doing what you can’t in real life?
There’s a weird disconnect that comes with VR gaming, and it’s not one that I’m going to be able to shake any time soon. The physicality of actually being a part a game and not just the guy on the other side of the screen is a weird and wonderful feeling that brings a new dimension to something I’ve been doing for more than 20 years, yet it may just call a time on my days as a “regular” gamer.
Nah, not really, but it’s definitely becoming harder to tear myself away from the headset and play a non-VR game. Until every game is made specifically for VR (and with full roomscale, tactile feedback, etc.,) I’ll just have to do my best to play games the old fashioned way. Well, I’ve got no choice really as I’ve got to review non-VR games, too. Yeah, I know, it’s a hard job but somebody has to do it.
Do you think I’ve let PlayStation VR get to my head – literally, or do you have a similar kind of disregard for your non-VR games? Gather down in the comments and we’ll start a support group together.
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