Excited for Playstation VR? It’s launching TOMORROW! It feels like only yesterday I was gazing adoringly upon ‘Project Morpheus’ – tomorrow gamers worldwide will finally get their hands on Sony’s VR headset.
Of course, whilst the headset itself is important, it would be nothing without a decent launch line-up of games. Not sure what to get? Take a look at the whole line-up below and watch some trailers to whet your appetite. There’s a lot to see, but I’m sure you’ll find something to get you excited below…
100ft Robot Golf
“100ft Robot Golf is a real time golf game where you get to control impossibly large robots on their quest for par. Never get your ball stuck behind a pesky tree or skyscraper ever again! Just swing your golf club to smash even the tallest buildings out of the way – or into the way of your robot golfing buddies.
Up to four players can hit the greens, cities, mountains, and orbiting moons that comprise the Robot Golf Tour Circuit. Either split-screen or online, robot golf pilots can play frantic real-time destruction golf, classic turn based action, or even custom rulesets crafted for your own custom 100ft Robot Golf round.”
– http://100ftrobotgolf.com/
Ace Banana
“If you’re a Banana Archer protecting a stash of bananas, there’s one thing you need to watch out for. That’s right, monkeys! In this arcade archery game, you’ll grab your bow and fight off waves of marauding monkeys — because if they get all your bananas, it’s game over. The game features waves of enemies, intuitive archery using one Move controller for your bow hand and another for your arrow hand, and single and multiplayer modes.”
– http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/08/30/oasis-planning-to-launch-5-games-on-playstation-vr/
Battlezone
“VR is a way of us showing a video game, and that video game’s got to be good. And it will be good in 2D or 3D or VR or whatever type of game. That’s the idea. We don’t want to make a game that’s a gimmick. [Battlezone] is a really good VR experience and really exciting, but Rebellion is set up to make great games, and this is a great game”
– Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley
Batman: Arkham VR
“Batman: Arkham VR immerses you in the Dark Knight’s Universe and redefines what it means to Be the Batman.
Experience Gotham City through the eyes of the World’s Greatest Detective in an all new Arkham mystery. Think like Batman. Utilize his legendary gadgets in Virtual Reality to unravel a plot that threatens the lives of Batman’s closest allies.”
– https://www.batmanarkhamvr.com/
Bound
“Bound transports you into a beautiful, fantastical world that exists in the mind of a woman revisiting the memories of her childhood. You’ll use dance moves to traverse vast environments filled with platforming challenges. As the game progresses, the introspective story unfolds through powerful metaphor and imagery, adding emotional depth to the protagonist’s journey.”
– http://bound.playstation.com/
Driveclub VR
“Recreating Driveclub as a standalone VR title was a huge task. As you know, Driveclub had a vast amount of content, so re-engineering the game to render everything in stereoscopic 3D, natively at 60Hz and then adding the head tracking with 120Hz visuals took a long time. In addition, the team added several VR-specific features and made the game look every bit as amazing as you would expect.”
– Nicola Orru, Principal Programmer at WWS Immersive Technology Group
EVE: Gunjack
“Gunjack is an action-packed arcade shooter built from the ground up for virtual reality. Immerse yourself in a visually stunning sci-fi world of danger and destruction.
Step into the boots of a gunjack, a lone gunner with an impossible job: shoot everything that moves. Jack into your turret, power up your guns, and defend your mining platform from deadly waves of enemy ships determined to blast you and your crew into oblivion.”
– https://www.gunjack.com/
EVE: Valkyrie
“In EVE: Valkyrie, you are an elite space fighter pilot who has recently become immortal, thanks to the efforts of Rán Kavik, leader of the breakaway pirate group known as the Valkyrie. As a newly-recruited member of the Valkyrie, you will battle rival pirate factions for wealth, supremacy, and notoriety.
We believe that Virtual reality, or VR, is the future of interactive entertainment. VR offers the simulation of real or fictional environments using specialised wearable computer hardware to give users the illusion of being in another world. Core to the virtual reality experience is complete user immersion, including 360-degree visuals generated by a head-mounted display.”
– https://www.evevalkyrie.com
Harmonix Music VR
“When development first started on HMVR, we didn’t set out to create a game. One of the things that Jon Carter, the creative lead on the project, talked about during development was this idea that the digital age had shifted the act of listening to music from being a primary means of entertainment to an accompaniment. For example, when I think about the experience of listening to music 20, 30 or 40 years ago my mind immediately goes to this (somewhat romantic) vision of a teenager sitting on the floor of their room, eyes closed, headphones on, leaning against their bed and listening to The Dark Side of the Moon from start to finish. Contrast that with today, where it seems like music has become something you consume mainly while you’re doing something else – working out, cleaning, driving etc.
With HMVR, we wanted to take advantage of the sensory deprivation effect of being in VR to bring the essence of that classic listening behavior back. We wanted to create a new way for people to focus on, experience and lightly interact with their music. This isn’t a game, it’s an experience and your music is meant to be the primary attraction.”
– Harmonix
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X
“In Project DIVA X, players help Miku and her friends sing and dance their way through five Clouds that comprise their world! Each Cloud has its own unique aura — Classic, Cool, Cute, Elegant, and Quirky — that will offer different challenges for players to fulfill. Moreover, the auras of the 30 new and classic songs they perform, and the nearly 300 modules (costumes) they’ll wear, will have an important impact on the many different challenges.”
– http://miku.sega.com/divax/
Headmaster
“Welcome to the Football Improvement Centre, which is not a prison. Inside our Heading Facility, you will undergo an intense reeducation under the guidance of our world class staff. We’ve constructed an impressive variety of lessons to ensure you are no longer a threat to the reputation of your club, who has so generously sponsored your enrollment. You will find your time spent here to be quite valuable, but do remember… improvement is mandatory.”
– http://headmastergame.com/
Here They Lie
“This first-person jaunt into madness binds players to a terrifying world where escape isn’t an option. Strange, psychedelic characters await as you delve deeper and deeper down this familiar, yet aberrant rabbit hole in search of a woman wearing a yellow dress.
Who she is and why you’re chasing her will become clearer as you persevere. But along the way, you’ll be faced with life or death situations that impact both your own fate and the fate of this world’s chilling inhabitants—forcing you to come face-to-face with your own morality.
Here They Lie’s psychological nature and focus on narrative potency create a mind-bending, first-person experience intended to take root in your psyche and fester long after its conclusion.”
– http://www.tangentlemen.com/
Hustle Kings VR
“Bring the world’s coolest pool halls into your world and make your break in style with 8-ball pool, snooker, black ball, killer, cut throat and many more slick game modes.
Hustle your way around the world in 1-vs-1 league matches, tournaments and daily challenges, show off your cue skills in trick shot and puzzle challenges, or try your luck with some of the unique Hustle Kings crazy tables.
With full PlayStation VR support, get a new dimension on your shots, work on your angles just like a real life game and immerse yourself in the pool halls of the future.”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/hustle-kings-vr-ps4/
Job Simulator
“Job Simulator really focuses on the magic and joy available in VR! We built the game from the ground up to be a wholly immersive VR experience, and a lot of the awe is found in its accurate physics and interacting with objects using fully tracked hands. Because of this, Job Simulator is also incredibly intuitive to use, and we use this power to make sure there is a joke almost everywhere you reach!”
– Owlchemy Labs
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
“VR allows us to take a group of people playing locally and give them a very different yet still connected experience. For the defuser in VR they are left alone with only disconnected voices to guide them through a stressful, time limited task without even the reassurance of seeing whether their teammates have things under control. For the experts with the manual they have to solve a puzzle in an unseen world with their only window into it being through the eyes and words of the defuser.”
– Steel Crate Games
Loading Human: Chapter One
“Loading Human is an episodic, VR adventure game that blends a deep story, interactivity, and physical gameplay within a compelling sci-fi universe set in the 22nd century.
Chapter One is the foundation. You are Prometheus. Your dying father – a genius scientist – summons you to his antarctic science lab with a grave request: travel deep into unknown space and retrieve the Quintessence – the most powerful source of energy in the universe. At stake is his life.
Built for PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift, the game immerses players in a lush, virtual world, where physical interaction using two controllers is core to both gameplay and exploration. You can pick up books and read them or operate various tools with your own hands. You can even use a fully functional record player to set the mood for your love interest, Alice, a lab technician with whom you’ll experience a genuine emotional bond.”
– http://www.loading-human.com/
Sports Bar VR
“Having a full range of games in the bar really lets you explore a lot of VR interactions and levels of gameplay intensity. Focused turn-based games like chess, checkers, and our staple, pool, let you take a calm but still physical approach to VR gaming,while games like Air Hockey provide fast back and forth fun.
At launch date we have:
– Pool
– Darts
– Air Hockey
– Skeeball
– Shuffleboard
– Chess
– Checkers
…with more to come after launch!
During development, it’s been awesome to see players and testers invent new games inside SportsBarVR… from impromptu baseball (by swinging at bottles with pool cues), to tower building competitions with books, chairs, and dominoes. It’s been awesome to rapidly react to what we see players wanting, and we’re so excited to continue learning from our players and improving SportsBarVR post-release as we have our previous game. Seeing six players all in a fiercely precise game of darts, or everyone heckling one another in a heated match of skeeball just continues to show us the power of social VR and how one player’s fun brings up the level of enjoyment for everyone around them!”
– https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2016/09/28/friday-night-multiplayer-hangout-sportsbarvr-is-a-playstation-vr-launch-game/
Super Stardust Ultra VR
“Explode into the classic PlayStation shooter with a whole new perspective – get ready to defend your planet once more, this time from inside the cockpit of your powerful star fighter.
Get into very centre of the action and fight using intuitive controls only possible with PlayStation VR: simply look to aim… then fire to destroy.
Play the original Super Stardust Ultra game modes, enhanced for PlayStation VR, and battle for global domination in the online leader boards. Will you claim the title of best Super Stardust pilot in the world?”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/super-stardust-ultra-vr-ps4/
Playstation VR Worlds
“Step into PlayStation VR WORLDS and journey through five unique and exclusive PlayStation®VR experiences.
Go nose to nose with a great white shark, crawl through decaying space hulks, weave between oncoming traffic, survive a futuristic sport or take part in a gritty London gangster thriller.
Step into the shoes of an East-end gangster in London’s gritty underworld. Tool up for a dramatic heist, survive a thrilling high-speed getaway and then withstand a brutal interrogation that ends with an impossible choice…
Dive into an ocean adventure, plunging the depths within a suspended shark cage and marvelling at the incredible marine life as you descend. As you journey, witness amazing sights, discover a lost secret and face extreme danger.
Board your dynamic all-terrain alien craft and explore a treacherous nebula as you hunt for a highly coveted ancient artefact. Leap canyons, crawl over vast space hulks and fire up your cannons as you battle hostile creatures on your journey towards the mysterious treasure.
Feel the exhilaration of illegal street racing just inches from the asphalt. Weave in and out of oncoming traffic; avoid hazardous landslides and scrape under big-rig trucks as you speed towards the finish line.
Enter THE competitive sporting event of the future where victory is everything. Master your skills, destroy your rivals and survive to win the tournament. Win… or be destroyed.”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/vr-worlds-ps4/
Rez Infinite
“15 years after the original Rez won hearts and blew minds on the PS2, its unique blend of shooting-rhythm-action returns as Rez Infinite — infinitely improved and evolved for a new generation of hardware, and a new generation of gamers.
Blast through Rez Infinite on your PS4 to appreciate its razor-sharp 1080p resolution, silky-smooth 60 frames-per-second motion, and full 7.1 surround-sound support (for what’s been called one of the greatest gaming soundtracks ever made), or plug in your PlayStation VR headset and experience 360 degrees of mind-blowing synesthesia (at 120 frames-per-second!), as colors and sounds sync and blend around you, all in time to Rez’s legendary techno-flavored beats in full 3D audio.
And that’s not all. Keep an eye out for future announcements leading up to the release of Rez Infinite in 2016, including details on all-new, original content.
What all does Rez-mastermind Tetsuya Mizuguchi have in store for us? The possibilities are Infinite…”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/rez-infinite-ps4/
RIGS Mechanized Combat League
“Set in the near future, RIGS Mechanized Combat League takes elements from different athletic fields, like combat sports, motorsports and basketball and mixes them into an explosive cocktail.
At the heart of the game are the RIGS – fast, large, heavily armed athletic sports machines that you’ll pilot as you compete for glory.
As pilot of one of these finely-tuned mechs, you’ll compete in a gripping single player experience that will push your abilities to the limit. Show off your skills in Trials to earn the right to challenge for the title in Career mode, or sharpen your team tactics in dramatic multiplayer matches in four incredible arenas around the globe, as you take on all-comers in the sport of the future.”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/rigs-mechanized-combat-league-ps4/
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration
“Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration also includes the new “Blood Ties” single player content, PlayStation VR support, new Co-Op play for Endurance mode, “Extreme Survivor” difficulty setting for the main campaign, 20 Year Celebration outfit and gun, and 5 classic Lara skins. Also includes all previously released Downloadable Content including: Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, Endurance Mode, Cold Darkness Awakened, 12 outfits, 7 weapons, and 35 expedition cards. With over 50 hours of gameplay, this is the most comprehensive version of the award-winning experience.
“Blood Ties” Single Player Story – In the wake of her father’s death, Lara’s uncle challenges her ownership of Croft Manor. Lara is determined to reclaim her legacy and prove that she is the rightful heir, but to do that she will need to confront her past head on. Explore Lara’s childhood home in an hour of new Story Mode gameplay, and uncover a family mystery that will change her life forever. This new mode is playable in standard third person and can also be experienced in Virtual Reality mode.”
– https://www.tombraider.com/en-us/game-info
SUPERHYPERCUBE
“SUPERHYPERCUBE is a VR “first person puzzler” with classic controls and intuitive shape-matching gameplay. You control a group of cubes and rotate it to fit through a hole in a wall that is constantly moving toward you. Each time you fit through another wall without crashing, more cubes are added to your cluster. Head tracking is critical in the game – as your cluster of cubes gets bigger, you will need to lean around it to see the hole and quickly determine what rotations to make. Stay alive as long as possible, and add your high scores to the ranks of players around the world!”
– http://superhypercube.com/
The Assembly
“A mysterious organisation known solely as the Assembly has been conducting secret experiments underground, their astonishing breakthroughs only made possible by operating outside government scrutiny and society’s morals.
But what is the Assembly hiding? How far will it go to keep its existence buried? And what will it sacrifice in the pursuit of progress?
Now, a chain of events threatens to expose this shadowy group. Play as two individuals – each with their own motivations – and discover the mysteries of the Assembly’s facility through contrasting perspectives. Make tough decisions, overcome trials and shake the foundations of this enigmatic collective. Will your actions and their future repercussions save lives, or lead to catastrophe?
The Assembly is a first-person interactive drama for mature audiences, created from the ground up for virtual reality headsets. An experience with two sides to everything, where the truth is never clear, and a question is always left open: When does the end justify the means?”
– http://www.ndreams.com/titles/theassembly/
The Playroom VR
“Get ready for an innovative and social spin on virtual reality gaming. Available as a free download from PlayStation Store for all PS VR owners, THE PLAYROOM VR includes six games that are sure to leave a colossal impact on any party.
There are plenty of fantastic mini-games just moments away in THE PLAYROOM VR – but you also have space to kick back and chill in a virtual bedroom, too. This is the home of the loveable VR Bots, who are playing games, socialising and even working out.
Don’t forget to check out the high-tech vending machine. Complete any of the mini-games and you earn coins to play the machine and win toys, which you can then use to decorate the bedroom any way you see fit. Have a little fun and get into THE PLAYROOM VR spirit!”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/the-playroom-vr-ps4/
Thumper
“THUMPER IS RHYTHM VIOLENCE
YOU ARE A SPACE BEETLE
KILL CRAKHED!
Thumper is rhythm violence: classic rhythm-action, blistering speed, and brutal physicality. You are a space beetle. Brave the hellish void and confront a maniacal giant head from the future.
Play in ultra-glossy 2D or fully immersive VR.”
– http://thumpergame.com/
Tumble VR
“It’s just so natural – you really do feel like you are playing with virtual blocks in a virtual world. Ultimately the game feels so immersive that you can lose yourself in it for hours. We’re also really proud of the two-player mode and have had a lot of fun with this in the office. With 80+ levels included we’re confident it offers amazing value for money as well!”
– Simon Harris, Executive Producer VR, Supermassive Games
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood
“I love the fact that we have created an incredibly tense, nerve racking and adrenaline filled rollercoaster ride that works fantastically in VR. It never lets you rest and taunts you with phobias and horror throughout. We also built some very big enemies in the game such as the heart of our ghostly hotel!”
– Simon Harris, Executive Producer VR, Supermassive Games
Volume: CODA
“Volume: Coda picks up after the events of the core game. I’ll avoid spoilers here, but you’ll play as a new character, brought in as a last resort by the villains hurt most by Locksley’s revolution. The new campaign features 30 new levels, a new cast of voice actors adding new characters to the story, and a new VR setting as players take on the role of The Troubleshooter.
Volume: Coda is a free expansion to Volume. When the PlayStation VR platform launches next year (Nope, they won’t tell me when either), you’ll be able to play the Coda expansion and Volume’s core campaign in VR. You’ll also have access to all the user generated levels and, of course, the curated Staff Picks section where we highlight the best levels designed by the community.”
– http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/10/22/introducing-volume-coda-free-expansion-for-playstation-vr/
Wayward Sky
“Risk life and limb as you explore a mysterious floating fortress in search of your kidnapped father in Wayward Skyon PlayStation VR.
Take on the role of Bess, a young co-pilot who must navigate her way through puzzles and perilous pathways to find her father and escape the crumbling airborne fortress.
Guide the action with responsive motion controls and explore the unique environment from both third- and first-person perspectives. Specially crafted visuals and camera “blinks” transport you instantly from Bess’s point to view on board the fortress to high above the scene, looking down like a towering giant.”
– https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/wayward-sky-ps4/
World War Toons
“A laugh-out loud first person shooter and tank combat game.
Change infantry classes on the fly as you battle for supremacy as either the cunning Officer, the stalwart Soldier or the rocket-launching Heavy. Each infantry class will augment your tank class in unique ways so pick a tank that best suits your play style in the battlefield. Will it be something monstrous like the Tiger or the more agile Sherman Firefly?
From its very inception, World War Toons has been developed to take advantage of the amazing presence and immersion that only emerging virtual reality hardware can deliver.”
– http://www.worldwartoons.com/
Waddle Home
“In this enchanted, frozen world, the Penguins are trapped and they need your help! Guide them to the Rescue Ship by opening doors and moving blocks. Help them waddle around traps and escape patrolling Guards. Save the penguins quickly and collect all 3 eggs for maximum points!
Waddle Home is easy to play and fun to master! With over 30 levels to master, you can explore dozens of exciting puzzles. This vivid, colourful adventure is so fun and addicting, you won’t want to put it down!”
– https://www.archiactvr.com/games/waddle-home
