The London Heist was apart of PlayStation VR Worlds and is still one of my favourite VR experiences to date, so I was excited when it was revealed that SIE London were expanding this to create a fully fledged shooter called Blood and Truth.
The two seem incredibly similar on the surface, but once I got my hands on Blood and Truth it was clear that the studio had bigger ideas that they were keen on expanding. The art style is similar and the two definitely belong in the same universe. There’s still epic cut scenes that might have you driving over a cliff or driving into an airplane, but there’s now these in between sections that require movement not too dissimilar to Bravo Team.
You can basically go from cover to cover point using the PlayStation Move controller. You can also move side to side using the X and O buttons on the Move controller. It definitely feels like a different game to The London Heist in these moments and I’m not sure if I loved these specific parts as much as the massive set pieces where you’re stuck to the one spot taking out enemies, but they were still fun to play through and required a decent amount of accuracy using the gun sights. As with The London Heist, the shooting mechanic still feels phenomenal and is one of the best experiences you can have in VR.
This particular demo had me partaking in a flashback through the desert. It started similarly to The London Heist in the sense that I was planted in a dark, dingy room with an unknown figure talking at me, filling me in things that I’d done to harm others in the past, before I was swept back to relive out my previous doings.
There’s some pretty clever things being done with the PlayStation Move controllers. For instance, reloading is still done by putting your left Move controller up to the bottom of your right hand (although it feels much smoother than it did in The London Heist). You also essentially pull out your pistol by putting your PlayStation Move controller to your hip, or grab your assault rifle by reaching over the back of your shoulder, so there’s some more realistic movements that work well on-screen and add to immersion.
There were also several times where I’d use both my PlayStation Move controllers to picklock open a door. At first it felt a little bit clunky, but this was probably because I wasn’t really expecting the game to use such intricate details, but once I got the hang of it, it definitely worked, which has me excited to see what other mechanics the game will hold.
I’m pretty keen to jump into the final version of Blood & Truth. I’ve definitely got some concerns about the movement during those gunplay moments, but it seems that SIE London is taking the time to get things right, and I’m fairly confident it’ll be worth playing for those set pieces and epic gunplay regardless.
