PSVR2 is the best VR headset ever, but where are the new games? | games

As the name implies, this is Sony’s second venture into virtual reality. The first PlayStation VR game worked with the PlayStation 4, but it was a somewhat rambunctious hobby project. A tangle of cables ensured that the glasses and accompanying camera were connected, and then you had to sit right in front of the TV to play properly. The accompanying motion control hardware performed poorly, especially when compared to competing computer glasses.

In this respect, the PSVR2 is a much simpler device. You can connect it to your game PC with a single USB-C cable, and then everything works right away. Cameras in the glasses analyze the environment and show where you can and cannot stand without bumping into a wall or sofa. It’s much more user-friendly than the first PSVR, which Sony managed to level up with competitors. Virtual reality glasses such as Meta Quest 2 and Valve Index are identical in controls and sensors.

PSVR2 controllers are also similar to the competition: You have two small devices, one in each hand, whose location is tracked by cameras on the goggles. It shows your hand movements in virtual reality. Unique are the special tractors that can feel differently with the special engines. For this reason, the pistol’s trigger pull also “feels” real.

Both gamepads can vibrate, and so can the hardware itself. Games can give you a sense of impact because of this. If a giant dinosaur passes by, you feel the earth shaking in your hands and face.

Buttons and sensors try to monitor the position of your fingers, allowing you to make certain hand movements in virtual reality. Hold the trigger and place your finger on the button, and the console will see that you are trying to make a fist. Nice, though this works more accurately with the LED indicator: These gamepads can see the subtle movements of individual fingers, regardless of whether you’re touching the buttons.

In terms of image technology, PSVR2 is the most advanced of its kind. With a resolution of 2000 x 2040 per eye, it’s like having a 4K TV in front of your eyes, which also makes your game worlds look beautiful. The high resolution also ensures that the so-called “screen door effect” is not visible here. This is when you can see the space between the pixels, giving the appearance of a sort of grid hanging on top of the game.

PSVR2 also tracks your eye position to see what you’re looking at. Games can use this information to make this part of the game more detailed. A clever trick that improves virtual reality games. These games are usually less pretty because they have to show the entire environment around you in high definition, but eye tracking ensures that parts are loaded more selectively.

All of these technical innovations stand out when you see the new Dutch game Horizon: Call of the Mountain He plays. In the first level, you sail through an exceptionally colorful and beautiful forest, after which the game shows you one beautiful mountain landscape after another. Where other VR games are often graphically inferior to regular titles, Horizon feels like a truly modern game.

Play technical horizon Funny idea by the way: the makers have pieced together elements from several previous small VR titles to build one game with a bigger feel. For example, you can move through the game world by climbing as in Boarding Shooting a bow and arrow as in Elven Assassin. But where those games were little trials where you try to get a high score on the most, threads horizon All together with an overarching storyline to create a single cinematic experience.

Horizon impresses, but let’s get straight to the big downside: this is one of the few truly new games you can play on PSVR2. The rest of the collection consists of games that have been released before, for example on PSVR1 or Meta Quest. This doesn’t make much difference to newcomers who have never smelled virtual reality. But if you had such glasses before? Then PSVR2 does not give much news. The games are nicer, but not dramatically different. As beautiful and fun as we think Horizon is, it’s just one game.

The range of games could grow in the coming years – and that’s often the case with gaming PCs. You’re basically buying a promise at this point, hoping that Sony will release many more big bands over time. They’ve managed to deliver on that promise with all of the game’s previous PCs, but few of the big gamers have come out with the PSVR1. As a result, buying a PSVR2 still feels like a gamble.

In addition, the PSVR2 costs 600 euros. That in itself is very expensive, but you also have to buy a PlayStation 5 for at least €450 – €550 if you buy a model with a disc reader. It will cost you more than a thousand euros – and then you also have to be lucky enough to find a store that stocks the hard-to-find PlayStation 5.

This is in stark contrast to competitor Meta, which sells the Quest 2 for €450. For that money, you have everything you need: The Quest 2 has a chip that powers games, so you don’t have to connect it to a game console. This means that you pay less and can use your glasses in any room, while PSVR2 is limited to the room where your PlayStation is located.

But the cheaper Quest 2 also has a lower quality screen and can run less demanding games. Linked to a powerful game console, the PSVR2 is capable of more, and this is the essence of the Sony headset: it is a machine for the most avid gamers, who want to play the latest games. They have hardware with PSVR2 – now for games.