With the EB Expo been and gone, I was inundated with an abundance of fantastic games. But there was one piece of equipment at the Expo that I was very keen to try, having never tried this type of media before. I was (in my opinion) understandably sceptical about how virtual reality (or VR) would work or whether the technology was really far along to properly immerse me in the experience. After all – these experiences live or die based on how well they manage to pull you into their world.
Through a combination of shameless loitering, puppy dog eyes and some intense and yet deeply compelling stares, I was fortunate enough to be able to try both the demos that Sony were showing during my attendance at EB Expo. While they were absolutely fantastic, there are a few questions that need to be answered before I am fully convinced. However, for the most part, the technology behind Playstation VR has singlehandedly made me more of a believer than I ever could be in the experiences.
I spied the infamous Kitchen demo on the Playstation 4 Home Screen during my session but were unfortunately not permitted to give it a go. Thankfully, we did get some time with both the of the London Studio demos; The Deep, which is a largely exploratory experience and The London Heist, a totally-not-but-probably The Getaway inspired action set-piece.
When I sat down to be fitted with the headset in both circumstances, the setup appeared to be nice and simple. You place the headset over your head, adjust the ocular piece (if that’s what you even call it) that sits over the bridge of your nose closer or farther from your eyes until the image is clear and then you’re more or less ready.
In the session I was involved in, the Playstation VR was fully wired and the staff at the ‘booth’ would hold these and dance around us to make sure they didn’t get in the way during our experience. Kudos to them – I imagine it’d be a hard job in some circumstances but they did an absolutely fantastic job at getting me into the worlds they were showing off. During my session, there was a little bit of a gap at the bottom of my field of view which let outside light in – however I had to be explicitly looking for it to notice it.
In terms of the visual quality – the Playstation VR is absolutely fantastic. It’s clear, there’s no dreaded “screen-door” effect and while it’s not completely photorealistic it’s realistic enough to really pull you into the experience. Make no mistakes – this isn’t like 3D on the Playstation where the picture quality is notably diminished to compensate for the effect. Playstation VR looks fantastic.
Already what I noticed with the demo was just how deeply entrenched I was in the game world within minutes of putting on the headset and beginning the experience demo. I visibly felt myself flinch when this criminal threw something at me and while I knew it was a video game in my subconscious, there was still something kind of creepy and threatening about his demeanour.
I should clarify something I said earlier – I’m not exactly sure whether this demo takes place in a bank or not but I’ve had a rather healthy assumption it does. Playing out like a modern day Time Crisis, I’m stuck behind a desk with a gun and all kinds of drawers and compartments to open. And, of course, people to shoot. Most of the compartments can be interacted with to grab ammo out of, and the aim is to shoot down as many people as I can
The gunplay definitely wasn’t the most fantastic that I’ve ever played around with in a game but it really cannot be emphasised just how immersive the whole experience is. There were times when I went to walk around the desk to get a better shot at my enemies but realised that it was outside of the scope of the demo. But I’d imagine the full Playstation VR experiences would hopefully provide such an experience in the future.
The only real complaint I’d have about The London Heist experience is that it’s bizarre to see hollow gloves interacting with the objects rather than a real arm of hand. Whether this is some kind of safeguard to prevent motion sickness or any other similar issues from surfacing wasn’t clear but it was probably the only thing that broke the immersion of the demo a bit.
Closer to the surface you’re treated to a rather simple display of various schools of fish and intricate reefs. It’s a rather simple experience and it’s here that I realised I shouldn’t have walked any further since I wanted to remain safe in the cage. It sounds ridiculous – but once again, after only a few minutes with The Deep, I felt like I was really there. I wanted to kneel down to examine the detail on the cage I was being lowered in – and I could. I wanted to examine the diagnostic panel on the side of the cage too – and I could
Unfortunately I can’t remember much more of the demo beyond some rather imposing manta rays and more fish. But without a doubt the most memorable segment of The Deep was the end. After the school of glowing jellyfish I was in an area very close the sea bed. There was more light in this area and there were large rock formations too. It looked fantastic, until the star of the experience appeared. A great white shark!
Of course, the shark eventually attacked and I got freaked out and the demo ended. It was a pretty fantastic experience that was very well paced.
Without a doubt, the technology is at a point where it can provide an experience that is visually compelling enough to fully immerse you in whatever game you’re playing. There’s no compromises. The visuals are fantastic and the fact that both the experiences managed to immerse one of the world’s biggest and pessimistic sceptics (hint: me) is testament to how fantastic the Playstation VR experience is.
But my biggest question are just how these experiences will translate to full games. So far, the experiences were fortunate enough to demo were largely static or on-rails segments of games but none that properly implement movement. I totally understand that Playstation VR might be marketed as more of a social experience best enjoyed with friends – but just how practical will it be to require someone to be with you to carry your cables for you? What’s to stop me from walking into my TV, walking into my wall, or toppling over my glass coffee table?
Overall, I’m not quite convinced that VR is the future of video gaming, eventually supplanting a traditional display and traditional control schemes. I’m not even sure if that’s the intention of the technological movement. But it’s definitely at the point where, with widespread adoption and tackling of the aforementioned design challenges, it’s in prime position to provide some truly compelling experiences.
Consider me a believer, for now.
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Epic writeup by @AtJamz! “: Hands-On Preview: Playstation VR - http://t.co/YbHpUgfTZK http://t.co/bVW4tPT0Ge”
@PlayStationAU I had a go at the EB Expo, was really impressed with how it worked! Much less sickening than the Rift.
@PlayStationAU I very much assume the Move controllers will be reissued with analogue sticks for movement
@PlayStationAU I'm super keen to try this at PAX now! Love that Sony & Facebook are going hard at VR now :)