Tethered | PSVR26/10/2016 Tethered is a real wolf in sheep’s clothing, perilously cute and harbouring a diabolical secret. The aesthetically friendly, PlayStation VR exclusive strategy game is quick to pile on complex mechanics, soon leaving players tasking tasks on top of multitasks in a frantic struggle to heal the land. Incredibly moreish, as the best strategy games are, Tethered is a fully-featured entry into the genre first and foremost. Luckily, Secret Sorcery do afford the player some concessions that mean playing Tethered isn’t entirely like wrestling an octopus with your hands bound. Weather effects offer a wide range of boons depending on how they’re employed, for example: snowy clouds alone can be tethered to a body of water in order to freeze it and open new paths, to a depleted rock formation to allow further quarrying, to a peep to give them added damage absorption, to an enemy to hold them in place, and to other clouds to create combined weather phenomenon. A range of clouds with a similar multitude of uses spawn and despawn frequently, so using them routinely and efficiently is key to your success. There are also a suite of buildables to erect on designated foundations that’ll help you on your way, provided enough resources have been gathered. A field should take priority and provides a consistent food supply, whilst a moot hall and barracks allow peeps to be trained in vocations that boost their productivity, the workshop increases work speed, and a temple offers additional ways to procure Spirit Energy. Building multiples of these base structures proportionally increases their benefits, whilst they can each individually be upgraded once to serve a number of additional uses. With an absolute swathe of options there are a great many paths through any given level, though across the thirteen present in Tethered we were never really challenged to diversify. Each floating island sports a more complex layout and devious upgrade path than the last, but we were nonetheless able to utilise the same tactics from start to finish relatively unchallenged. As a result, the later levels are perhaps the weakest of the bunch due to repetition somewhat setting in as they unfurl in much the same way you’re accustomed to, just on a larger scale. The latter stages also demand busy head movements to juggle the increasing number of tasks, leaving you no time to take in their gorgeous vistas, and - more damningly - the PlayStation Camera can struggle to keep track of the action, resulting in the need for semi-frequent adjustments. You're afforded concessions that mean playing Tethered isn’t entirely like wrestling an octopus with your hands bound. In addition to this issue, some menus can appear at awkward angles and uncomfortably close to your face, making them difficult to read, but the virtual reality implementation is, for the most part, stellar regardless. You look down on the world as if it were a living diorama suspended in the sky, which stretches, vast and blue, far into the distance to offer a real sense of depth and scale. Importantly, the elevated perspective and the peeps’ direct reactions to the player further the game’s themes; they help to realise the fantasy of embodying an omnipotent and omnipresent deity, rather than simply occupying ‘gimmick’ territory.
Thanks to this, the world of Tethered isn’t one you’ll want to leave anytime soon. Despite becoming a tad repetitive, we’re still drawn back to improve our rankings (not that you can get any higher than first on the global leaderboard /smug), polish our strategies, and even develop some new ones. Incredibly moreish, as the best strategy games are, Tethered is a fully-featured entry into the genre first and foremost, but one that leverages virtual reality to convey its empowering, godly themes with clout. It definitely has its issues, but they’re easily overcome when contrasted with the game’s mechanical depth and visual charm. Pros
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Score 8/10 Super Stardust Ultra VR | PSVR21/10/2016 The Stardust series began life on the Amiga back in 1993, long lying dormant until the 2007 reboot Super Stardust HD hit PlayStation 3 consoles. Super Stardust Ultra brought the arcade fun of HD over to the PS4 last year, and it’s now been ported once more to implement PlayStation VR functionality. Though the result is the most involving Super Stardust experience yet, it’s hard to get excited about a game that’s already well and truly done the rounds. Invasion mode commendably maintains the fundamentals found in the core game, smoothly transitioning genres to place you in the first-person cockpit of a hover tank. Whilst it’s cool to see asteroids jettisoned into your peripheral vision from all directions, and look deep into the vastness of space, VR is far from integral to the bulk of Super Stardust Ultra (though that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering its origins). Oddly, for a pretty sedentary experience, the tracking can drift off centre and you’ll occasionally need to turn in order to keep up with the action. Whilst this wasn’t a major issue for us, thanks to playing in a handy swivel chair, if your seat is fixed, you may find yourself needing to reset your position often. Luckily, no such issues persist with the new Invasion mode. Though, unfortunately, despite being the premier reason to own this version, it plays a sad second fiddle. Invasion commendably maintains the fundamentals found in the core game, smoothly transitioning genres to place you in the first-person cockpit of a hover tank to resume the fight at ground level. It’s brilliantly responsive to control with the DualShock 4, thanks largely to PSVR’s compulsory high frame rates. Combine accurate, head tracked aiming and you’ll soon be whipping around the small arena painting airborne targets for homing missiles, keeping ground troops in your gaze to maintain automatic weapon fire, deploying EMPs and more - all whilst feeling like a multitasking badass. The combination can get a tad intense, however, which can lead to feelings of nausea. Obviously comfort will differ from person to person, but the effects were far from ghastly, allowing us to finish Invasion on the initial sitting. Not that there’s an alternative to powering through it in a single sitting, mind, as you can’t save your place and come back later. Whilst the option would’ve been a pleasant quality of life feature - especially when breaks are encouraged, sternly so if you’re feeling discomfort - the fact it can be completed well within the hour mostly excuses its absence.
If you're looking for a solid game that would stand firm in the absence of virtual reality, Super Stardust Ultra VR has your back. If you're looking for something to showcase your new tech, which you probably are at this point, it’ll leave you wanting. That fact immediately devalues the proposition to existing fans of the series, though if you’re new, there are worse ways to invest the budget asking price. Pros
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Score 7/10 Until Dawn: Rush of Blood | PSVR19/10/2016 There's no other way of saying it - Rush of Blood is amazing. It’s the kind of experience you’d expect to find in an arcade, or as a theme park attraction, not as something you can actually own in your own home. Whilst that last sentence probably makes me sound at least twice my age, thanks to PlayStation VR, the game does feel revolutionary. Rush of Blood’s shootouts are at their best when undertaken dual-wielding PlayStation Move motion controllers. The fidelity is impressive, easily accommodating subtle wrist movements to, for example, destroy a line of objects without missing a shot. As enemies swarm towards you, unsettlingly encroaching on and eventually invading your personal space, things naturally get a little more frenzied and the arm flailing begins. Though the controls adjust well, you’ll need to hold your controller(s) out and keep them still whilst holding Option/Start to properly realign if you get too carried away. Weapon boxes are scattered around the environment and can be used to your advantage in these desperate situations, shooting them replacing the default, infinite-ammo pistol in the relevant hand with an ammo-limited upgrade. Each weapon behaves differently and carries unique advantages and disadvantages - like the shotgun’s short range and limiting two shots before reload, but immense firepower - making weapon choices an important tactical factor at higher difficulties. This is especially true as reloading is manual, which is easy to forget when you’re hurriedly attempting to fire clicking weapons because your real life is totally on the line! You’ll also spot deviously hidden collectables and secrets dotted around the place, which, along with Trophies and leaderboards, contribute replay value to the short - though appropriately priced - package. Such is the game's gravitational pull that my second playthrough is already in full swing; what’s more, I’m taking in new sights and travelling new paths all the while. It’s the kind of experience you’d expect to find in an arcade, or as a theme park attraction, not as something you can actually own in your own home. The perfect Halloween party game (seriously, convince someone that scares easily to play and hilarity ensues) Until Dawn: Rush of Blood isn’t just a tired rail-shooter, but the rejuvenator of a stale genre. Virtual reality’s added dimension allows for invasive scares that are impossible to become desensitised to, making it genuinely uncomfortable (in a good way) to physically dodge rotting corpses, get drenched in gory entrails that turn your vision a sticky red, and be bombarded by hideous 3D noise that dares you to look in its direction. We’d be happy to leave the house and pay-per-play, so the fact we can stay home and enjoy Rush of Blood to our heart’s content at the very reasonable asking price of £16 makes it an easy recommendation, and a must-buy for PSVR owners.
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Score 9/10 PlayStation VR Worlds | PSVR16/10/2016 PlayStation VR Worlds is essentially a collection of five technical demonstrations that serve to illustrate different ways in which the new technology can be leveraged. They do so to varying degrees of success, offering impressive highs and dismaying lows. VR Worlds’ games are inconsistent in many ways, but they all share an immersive sense of 3D depth and place. A spot of Danger Ball seemed the way to relieve stress following an afternoon with a foul-mouthed Jason Statham clone. It’s the literal realisation of what people perceived virtual reality to be way back when; a neon sport suspended in a vast, futuristic arena where opponents rally a ball at immense pace and score by ensuring it isn’t returned. It’s controlled entirely with headset tracking, whereby you’ll simply look to the spot you wish the paddle to occupy, before applying power and spin by moving to meet the ball as sense would dictate. A range of opponents and difficulty levels keep things interesting, and make Danger Ball the most attractive of the bunch to revisit on a whim. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse from here on in. VR Luge is frankly just rubbish. You’ll likely need to lie on the floor on your back, awkwardly propping your torso up with your forearms to mirror the action and fend off nausea. The headset tracking isn’t particularly precise, possibly due to our odd positioning, whilst the sense of speed never fully translates, largely because the already low-resolution visuals are made a complete, disorienting blur as they whizz by. Scavengers Odyssey, on the other hand, was fantastic for the brief time we lasted before motion sickness hit. You operate a mech as a treasure-hunting alien life form (it’s thoroughly bizarre to look down and see foreign appendages, by the way) in search of a long-lost artefact. Along the way you’ll shift gravity and leap through deep space, as well as blasting baddies and flinging objects with the suit’s integrated weapons and tether. It’s incredibly intense stuff in VR terms, and doesn’t really belong in a collection for beginners. Just thinking about it’s making us light-headed, so we’re in no rush to revisit, walling off a large portion of content. Like the introductory tech demos for new technologies before it, VR Worlds is a showcase that encourages otherwise hesitant individuals to put their preconceptions aside and just have go. VR Worlds’ games are evidently inconsistent in many ways, but they all share an immersive sense of 3D depth and place. You’ll recoil from a punch, instinctively raise your hands when a gun is pointed at your head, edge away from danger as you’re stalked by a shark, and engage your acrophobia as you look beneath your feet in the Danger Ball arena. It really is special, and you need to try it for yourself to fully comprehend it, which sounds cliché by now, but it’s no less true.
Sony London might have received layoffs after concluding their work on the project, but ultimately, PlayStation VR Worlds does serve its purpose well. Like the introductory tech demos for new technologies before it, VR Worlds is a showcase that encourages otherwise hesitant individuals to put their preconceptions aside and just have go. I mean, my non-gaming parents couldn’t get enough, and gush about the experience to anybody that’ll listen. That's quite something. Pros
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7/10 |
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