There’s plenty of questions marks surrounding the PlayStation VR2 in the lead-up to its launch. The hardware aspects of Sony’s next-gen headset and all the improvements it’s promising with its improved specs and the new Sense controller have certainly caught the attention of many, but from its price to uncertainty surrounding what kind of support it’ll get from both first and third party developers, the PS VR2 has it’s fair share of skeptics for a few reasons.
Even so, as we get ever closer to its February launch, we do have a good picture of the games that it’ll launch with and the ones that it’ll be welcoming to its library in the months after releasing- and though there aren’t a ton of heavy hitters in that early lineup, there are still plenty of promising games that piques our interest. So here, with the PS VR2’s launch approaching, we’ll be going over a few of the biggest and most intriguing games that have been confirmed for it.
HORIZON CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN
We’ll start things off with the most obvious pick. Horizon Call of the Mountain is clearly the flagship launch title that the PlayStation VR2 is going to be banking on in its early months, and sure enough, based on all that we’ve seen of it so far, it seems like Sony has put quite a bit of weight behind it. Developed by Firesprite and Guerrilla, Call of the Mountain is obviously going to be very different from past Horizon games, but it’s shaping up to be a full-fledged experience that’ll blend the Horizon universe with the virtual reality medium.
Unlike mainline Horizon titles, Call of the Mountain will be a strictly linear game and will be played from a first person perspective, and we’re more than a little curious to find out how effectively it translates the combat and traversal mechanics of the series to VR. If it’s a sufficiently long game with fleshed-out mechanics that can leverage the unique capabilities of VR gaming, all while also delivering a proper Horizon experience, Call of the Mountain should be an early win for Sony’s new headset.
RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE
Resident Evil 7 was a massively important title for the original PS VR, with the game and the hardware both benefiting from each other in so many ways- some might argue, in fact, that the best way to play RE7 is in VR. It’s fitting, then, that their respective successors are also going to be similarly tied together. When PS VR2 launches on February 22, it will allow players to play the entirety of Resident Evil Village in virtual reality, and it will be a free update for anyone who already owns the game.
The Resident Evil experience transforms radically when played in VR, as those who played RE7 on the original PSVR will gladly attest to. Everything from combat to exploration to, of course, the horror factor takes on a very different tone, and we’re excited to see how that transforms Village, especially when you take into account all the improvements the gameplay is bound to make thanks to the new controllers.
RESIDENT EVIL 4
Resident Evil Village isn’t the only Capcom game that’s pledged its support to the upcoming virtual reality headset. Back in June last year, Capcom confirmed that PS VR2 content was also in development for the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake. And… that’s pretty much all we know about it. We don’t know how long after the game’s launch that content will arrive, and more importantly, we don’t know what “content” means specifically.
The fact that Capcom worded it that way would suggest that unlike RE7 and RE Village, the Resident Evil 4 remake won’t be fully playable in VR and will instead add on a smaller VR experience- perhaps a separate mode, or something along those lines. Of course, more than a few people are going to be hopeful of the former, especially if you’ve played the original Resident Evil 4’s Quest 2 version. Given how good the original is in VR, we’d love to see how the remake fares.
BEAT SABER
At this point, no VR platform’s library is complete without Beat Saber. It’s a game that lends itself perfectly to the virtual reality medium, and above all else, it’s just incredibly addictive and infinitely replayable. It’s good news, then, that Beat Saber has been officially confirmed to be in development for PlayStation VR2.
We don’t know what sort of gameplay changes of unique features we can expect, though once again, thanks to the Sense controllers, it’s safe to assume that it’s going to be a heck of a game on the PS VR2 even without any significant tweaks. We also don’t know when Beat Saber will be releasing for the platform, but its developers have said that more details will be coming in “the near future”, so it doesn’t seem like we’ll be waiting too long for concrete details.
GHOSTBUSTERS: RISE OF THE GHOST LORD
The Ghostbusters franchise has become suddenly active over the last couple of years, which has, of course, included new game releases. We got an asynchronous multiplayer game not that long ago with Spirits Unleashed, but for those looking to take an even more immersive dive into the iconic universe Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lords is looking quite promising.
Developed by the VR connoisseurs at nDreams, Rise of the Ghost Lords will take players to San Francisco and allow you to make full use of the classic ghostbusting toolkit – proton packs, PKE meters, all that good stuff – against a variety of supernatural foes, with both single player gameplay and co-op supported. There’s obvious potential in the premise, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Rise of the Ghost Lords can stick the landing.
AFTER THE FALL
After the Fall has been available on a number of virtual reality platforms for over a year at this point, and though the co-op zombie shooter isn’t in the upper echelons of the VR gaming space, it’s still one of the more enjoyable VR games we’ve played over the last couple of years. It’s a fairly simplistic take on the co-op zombie shooting formula, but it gets the basics right, so it seems safe to say that it’s going to be a solid addition to the PS VR2’s library early on in its life.
The game’s PlayStation VR2 version is, in fact, also making some interesting improvements, chief among them being the addition of two entirely new locations (which should alleviate some of the concerns many have with the game’s lack of content). Add to that improved visuals and FoV, support for the headset’s haptics, and full cross-play support, and After the Fall begins looking like a rather attractive proposition- especially since the PS VR2 version will be a free upgrade for those who already own the game on the original PS VR.
CROSSFIRE: SIERRA SQUAD
The Crossfire franchise had a major misstep with last year’s abysmal CrossfireX, but Smilegate Entertainment still has more in the pipeline for the franchise (which should surprise no one, given how successful it has been for the company by and large). Crossfire: Sierra Squad is bringing the series to PlayStation VR2, and though it’s hard to be sold on a game that we haven’t seen an awful lot of, the details that Smilegate has shared certainly seem promising.
Its campaign sounds meaty with its collection of several dozen missions, while the game will also feature support for four player co-op. In addition to that, Smilegate says there will be plenty of different weapons to use, while Sierra Squad is also looking to successfully translate the combat and movement style the series is built on to VR. How successful will it be? That remains to be seen- but we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this one.
NO MAN’S SKY
No Man’s Sky has been playable in VR for some time now, being available in that form on multiple platforms (including the original PS VR), and as anyone who’s given it a go will tell you, it’s an outstanding experience. The base game as it is is a dense, massive, insanely addictive game, and to be able to play it and soak up the beauty of its staggeringly large universe and the expanses of space in virtual reality turns it into an even more magical and immersive experience.
On PS VR2, for which it will be available at launch, No Man’s Sky is promising to make improvements in terms of both gameplay and its technical aspects, with developer Hello Games touting the power of the PS5 and the PS VR2, as well as the moment-to-moment improvements that the Sense controllers enable. It remains to be seen how significant of a jump it will be from Sony’s last-gen VR headset to its upcoming one, but we’re excited to find out.
GRAN TURISMO 7
Gran Turismo 7 is yet another game that’s been recently confirmed to be part of the PS VR2 launch lineup. We’ve only seen a tiny bit of it so far, but it’s easy to imagine how this sort of a game could benefit from VR support, especially given the fact that that’ll be coming in the form of a free update. Of course, there’s a caveat worth noting here- we don’t yet have full details on what the extent of Gran Turismo 7’s VR support will be.
It’s unlikely that the entire game will be playable in VR, especially for a free upgrade being put out by Sony (a company that loves charging money for anything and everything it can at this point). Gran Turismo Sport also received support for the original PS VR back in the day, but that was severely limited (to the point that many might not even remember it), so here’s hoping GT7’s virtual reality support is a little more full featured.
FIREWALL ULTRA
Most people who’ve played Firewall: Zero Hour will tell you that it’s one of the best games available on the PS VR, so the prospect of getting a sequel on Sony’s next virtual reality headset is an intriguing one. Though we’ve only seen a little bit of it, the multitude of improvements that developer First Contact Entertainment is promising are hard not to get excited about.
That includes more intuitive controls, significant visual upgrades, new locations and contractors, redesigns for previous maps, expanded customization options for a larger roster of weapons, and dedicated servers. Meanwhile, the developer also says it has plenty of post-launch content planned, including new contractors, maps, and weapons, so it seems like there’s going to be plenty to look forward to.
X8
If Firewall: Ultra doesn’t quench your thirst for a PvP FPS on the PlayStation VR2, this might end up doing the trick. On paper, Thirdverse’s X8 may sounds like a regular, run-of-the-mill competitive first person shooter in virtual reality (not that that won’t be interesting enough in and of itself to turn a few heads), but it’s the game’s premise and how that is promising to bleed into the gameplay that really catches the attention.
X8 is essentially a 5v5 hero shooter, but all heroes will fill the roles of characters from different action games, which means there’s probably going to be quite a bit of variety on offer in everything from their design to how they will fight, what weapons they will use, what their abilities will be, and more. We’re hoping that X8 does justice to its central premise, because if it does, it may end up being one of the better games to launch for PS VR2 early on in its life.
GREEN HELL VR
For survival fans, Green Hell is an unmissable game, and Green Hell VR, which has been out for several months now, is similarly unmissable if you enjoy VR gaming. It’s already enjoyed strong reception from critics and players alike on PC VR platforms, and with developers Incuvo and Creepy Jar having confirmed that a PlayStation VR2 version will also be launching sometime in 2023, there’s definitely cause to get excited.
Of course, given it’s very nature, it’s not going to be the most accessible game- Green Hell drops you into the Amazon rainforest and challenges you to find a way to survive with very limited tools at your disposal, and it can be quite punishing, as survival games often are. If, however, you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll want to keep an eye on the game’s PlayStation VR2 version.
THE WALKING DEAD: SAINTS AND SINNERS – CHAPTER 2: RETRIBUTION
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution is a game that all fans of VR gaming have had their eye on for a while. Its predecessor is still probably one of the best VR games you can play on any platform, and the prospect of diving into a bigger and better sequel has turned many people’s heads.
Of course, Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2 has already been available on the Quest 2 for a few weeks, and reception for its atmospheric world, its brutal physics-based combat, and its many gameplay improvements has been widely positive, though the game has caught plenty of flak for the technical state it launched in. Hopefully, Skydance Interactive will have ironed out those deficiencies ahead of the game’s PS VR2 launch in March.
REQUISITION VR
We’ve spoken about a few zombie shooters in this list so far, and we’ve spoken about a few co-op shooters, so while Requisition VR might not have the most unique premise as a co-op-focused zombie shooter, it’s still looking like a promising title that may very well end up being an PS VR2’s hidden gem. That’s certainly what its reception so far would suggest- Requisition VR has been available in early access on Steam for a while now, and player reception has been quite positive.
There’s plenty here that catches the eye, from its physics-based gameplay to the multiple modes that will be on offer to players, but above all else, what’s looked most intriguing about Requisition VR is its crafting mechanics, which will allow players to cobble together a variety of unique weapons by picking up different pieces of scrap and literally taping them together. Hopefully the game does justice to that curious concept.
SWORDSMAN VR
Swordsman VR has been around on various platforms for a while, so there’s a good chance that you may already have heard of it. If you haven’t, though, you will have the chance to give it a look in the near future, what with the game set to be part of PS VR2’s launch lineup. It’s certainly worth a look, as those who’ve played it will tell you.
Swordsman VR offers engaging physics-based medieval and fantasy combat in a story-driven experience, while also featuring a healthy suit of customization options on the side. Developer Sinn Studio hasn’t said much about what sort of improvements and enhancements we can expect from the game on PlayStation VR2, but with the Sense controllers, one would imagine that a game like this one will see various obvious benefits.
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