Like a horde of Half-Life headcrabs, PlayStation VR2s will escape their boxes and make their homes on many a melon soon. My US counterparts loved it, and I’ve also been among the lucky, iron-stomached few to have spent 7 days with one before launch. I am disoriented. I’m sweaty. I’m also armed to the teeth with trustworthy, heads-on experience of a slew of launch titles. 20+ by my last calculation…
Better yet, and as an owner of three (now four) VR headsets, I come with the perspective of a connoisseur. Because it has to be said: a substantial amount of games have been confirmed to launch alongside the PlayStation VR2 — some delectable and new, others potentially reheated.
While many are indeed multiplatform, they’re utilising new technologies that are exclusively found on the PS VR2, such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. (Obviously, my appraisals will focus on those facets the most.) Other games are exclusive to PS VR2, such as the (optional) bundle-in, Horizon: Call of the Mountain.
Here is a list of every launch title I’ve personally played and had more than decent laughs with. Note: big name titles like No Man’s Sky, Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village are currently absent. Why? Their pre-launch updates were non-functional for reviewers.
TL;DR / Contents
Horizon: Call of the Mountain
Horizon: Call of the Mountain is a collaboration between Guerrilla Games and Firesprite and is the first spinoff set in the same world as 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn and 2022’s Horizon Forbidden West.
This first-party exclusive is made for the PlayStation VR2, not just a VR mode. As such, Horizon: Call of the Mountain will take advantage of the PS VR2 hardware, such as haptic feedback, so you will feel what it is like to do things such as crafting tools and firing your bow. I personally adored this game, but I’d best let our official review speak for itself.
Note the foveated rendering (it’s showing the target I’m eyeballing more sharply)
After the Fall – Complete Edition
This is a four-player co-op shooter where you’ll need to stay frosty against…ice zombies. Wish I could speak to having experienced that multi, but I was Nigel No Mates due to nobody having a PS VR2 (my AI companions were ok substitutes). Though it isn’t the prettiest, it uses PS VR2’s tech to add a new level of immersion, like feeling your hands rack of your gun and copping headset pulses when your melon gets mauled. Intense stuff that’s well worth pulling an (adaptive) trigger on.
Cosmonious High
Honestly, I’ll sit up and pay attention to anything made by the studio behind Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, Job Simulator, and Vacation Simulator, Expect similar free-wheeling hilarity in this alien adventure where you’re an adaptive xeno who crash lands into their first day of high school. Said campus is soon troubled by mysterious malfunctions and chaos (much of it of your own doing) at which point you’ll need to reset Cosmonious High to its former glory. Expect great 1:1 motion-tracking and lovely haptics that let you feel the “wind, water, and even balls of paint” when interacting with a variety of weird doodads.
Demeo
This here is a perfect example of the power of VR to make one rethink and appreciate something they might have thought was mundane. Though I get that turn-based tactical adventures in the vein of tabletop gaming do flick the switch of a lot of folks, it’s not usually my go-to genre. After playing Demeo — a game that makes everything live for me much more than static plastic statues — I’m all-in on the concept now. Better yet, This offers solo or online with up to four players with PC crossplay support. Do not underestimate this.
Drums Rock
Drums Rock took me right back to the simple satisfaction I felt when I played the first Guitar Hero on PS2. Similar visual aesthetic, rock solid tracklist, but (obviously) this is a purely percussive experience. Also, forget notes sliding down a highway at you — you’re a rock hero fending off incoming winged demons. Typically that’s done via timely used drumsticks (that can be thrown and caught for bonus power). And sometimes you’ll need to punch your set with oversized boxing gloves. Technology-wise, this utilises eye tracking to obtain higher scores and haptic feedback in the Sense controllers to make the drums feel more realistic while playing.
Job Simulator
Now here’s a VR game that requires little to no introduction. Job Simulator (and also Vacation Simulator) are launching alongside the PS VR2 on February 22. Anyone who owned either game on the original PSVR will receive the subsequent PS VR2 version free of charge. These ports offer shorter load times, far crisper visuals and use PS VR2’s haptics to enhance immersion. Better yet, this version has been made even more essential by including the “Infinite Overtime” free content. Pure hilarity that shouldn’t be passed on.
Jurassic World Aftermath Collection
Jurassic World Aftermath Collection is a survival adventure where players are trapped in an abandoned research facility with the goal of trying to avoid becoming dinosaur breakfast. Auditorily impressive with voice work from Laura Bailey and Jeff Goldblum, Aftermath Collection’s visuals may trick many of you with its bright, cel-shaded aesthetic — it actually has some decent horror/stealth tension to it. This PS VR2 version offers better lighting, post-processing effects, headset feedback and creepily good 3D audio. All in all: this took me quite by surprise, like a jack-in-the-box velociraptor.
Kayak VR: Mirage
If you ever wanted to get your paddle on through scenic locations such as Costa Rica, Antarctica and Australia (oi oi oi), Kayak VR: Mirage is for you. Developer Better Than Life’s realistic and oddly satisfying sim takes advantage of PS VR2’s tech by providing a sharper and more vibrant virtual world for you to explore. I used it both as a lovely therapeutic break from Horizon’s dinobots, and as a bonafide sweat-inducing fitness tool (think: a turn-for-turn time-attack mode played with my kids). This PS VR2 version is one of the best looking launch titles available, and offers a great showcase for natural 1:1 motion controls that are accessible to any player type.
Moss & Moss: Book II
Just an absolutely adorable series that needs to be high on your purchase list. Poly’s duology of action-adventure games launches alongside the PS VR2. In addition to improved visuals, the PS VR2 ports of Moss and Moss: Book II offer haptics that allows players to feel attacks and movement. Interestingly, both will use the PS VR2’s Sense controllers to recreate the tension and weight of virtual objects, so you can feel how much force it takes to break pots and barrels. I had a blast replaying these definitive versions. Come and see why they’ve garnered more than 150 global industry awards and nominations for “Best VR Game”.
Pistol Whip
Beat Saber may be the king of melee-based rhythm games, but this is the prince of head-poppin’ with projectiles to a piping hot soundtrack. Cloudhead’s Pistol Whip offers a free upgrade to PS VR2 owners, provided you own the original. It’s an on-rails shooter that fuses action, FPS, and rhythm genres into a vibrant, fast-paced, and colorful experience. The PS VR2 gave me incredible 3D audio, far crisper visuals and do not underestimate how much haptics and adaptive triggers can add to a shootout. Best version of this game going.
Puzzling Places
Yet another title from the “this ordinary pursuit should not be so entertaining but it is” genre. Puzzling Places is a chill as hell 3D jigsaw puzzle game that, on PS VR2, supports a sumptuous 120Hz refresh rate, sharper textures, and a higher resolution than most anything at launch. It also takes advantage of eye tracking to provide enhanced piece selection and subtle use of the haptics and adaptive triggers. Oh, and also a free 1,000 piece puzzle, plus room-scale support for those of you who really want to get jiggy with your…er, sawing.
Rez Infinite
Rez Infinite was a launch title for the original PSVR back in 2016, and is a launch game once again for PS VR2. Thanks to the headset’s eye tracking, you can track and aim at enemies, plus the headset and controllers boast feedback. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it has the best headset feedback implementation on all of the titles on this list. I would also be remiss I forgot to mention that, yes, this also includes the Area X mode that offers more free-wheeling VR flight. That bit of content was beautiful before; it’s simply gorgeous and even more (surprisingly) emotionally moving with PS VR2’s bells and whistles. Worth the price of admission alone, in my mind.
Song in the Smoke: Rekindled
Song in the Smoke: Rekindled is a survival action-adventure game where you craft, hunt, and get your Bear Grylls on against hostile wildlife. Don’t let the somewhat simplistic visuals fool you; there’s remarkable depth going on in these gameplay systems. I’m a big fan of this PS VR2 version featuring an all-new free jump and clamber mode that takes the pain out of traversal. Also, the Sense controllers are well utilised to make you (literally) feel the finer points of an environment that seems to wants you very much dead. Expect great haptics and foveated rendering to keep your pupils in the sweet spot of detail. Just a cult-hit well worth considering.
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge – Enhanced
While it’s not the first Star Wars game set in virtual reality, this is inspired by Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The audio and haptics on PS VR2 play a key part in the experience, particularly during some surprisingly rock solid gunplay. Also worth noting: this version provides some of the best 3D audio examples of PS VR2, while the haptics let you feel even the small details of objects found in-game. Does it still need more lightsabers in it? Yes, but so does everything. Otherwise, quite brilliant. Full review here.
Tentacular
Tentacular is bloody hilarious. Think: a physics-based adventure where you play as a giant, tentacled beast (who, decades later, has only just realised they’ve been adopted by humans). Despite this revelation, you must try to “help” island residents by building structures and gadgets to solve puzzles. It uses PS VR2’s audio-based haptics to add an extra layer of fidelity and tactile feedback to hear things such as an ocean breeze, while adaptive triggers allow you to feel the weight of objects you pick up with your deliberately wacky-to-control tentacle hands. This is approaching Job Simulator levels of amusement —high VR praise indeed.
Tetris Effect: Connected
2018’s Tetris Effect was another runaway hit when it was initially released on PSVR. I’m stoked it’s made the leap to the VR next-gen. While it has made its way to other platforms since, this PS VR2 version is rocking lovely eye tracking, haptic and headset feedback that put me into the zone like never before. If you own the original PS4/PSVR version an upgrade won’t set you back much at all. Oh, and this is going to be bolstered by a bunch of single-player mode upgrades soon. There’s never been a better, more delightfully techno-bopping / weird-trance-getting-into time to play some Tetris. Underestimate this to your detriment.
The Last Clockwinder
The Last Clockwinder is a sumptuously designed (and looking) puzzle game where you use your automatons to repair the Clocktower. Developer Pontoco has leveraged basically all of the expected PS VR2 accoutrements you’d expect, but the spotlight is still on the wonderfully unique puzzle solving mechanics in this adventure. Case in point: the way your gloves can be used to record and loop your hand movements, which are then used by robot automatons to create, help harvest resources or grow plants. Or just make the weirdest, many robot dance routine you can think of. Trust me: this was voted Best Game of 2022 on the Meta Quest store for a reason.
The Light Brigade
Roguelike VR shooter The Light Brigade casts players as humanity’s last line of defense, tasked with freeing the souls of the fallen. The game mixes historical with magic abilities and developer Funktronic Labs has confirmed it’s a cross-buy purchase, meaning you get both the PSVR and PS VR2 versions. Got to be honest with you here: I like what I see/feel so far, but I’m still very early hours on this. Circle back for an update soon.
Thumper
Thumper is already available on multiple platforms, including smartphones, but the PS VR2 port offers one of the more interesting ways to play as it includes support for 3D audio, 4K visuals, and uses the Sense controller’s haptic feedback.
Townsmen VR
A genre-fusion with God-game sims and classic building, Townsmen VR has you starting from the humble beginning of a small settlement and the opportunity to expand to over 13 islands and archipelagos. The developer HandyGames notes that the game will use the headset’s haptic feedback to allow you to feel certain effects, such as earthquakes.
What the Bat?
Yet another stupidly amusing entry into the PS VR2’s line-up, What the Bat? is a slapstick comedy game in which you live your life using baseball bat hands to do everything. It’s a bit like What the Golf?, but with a baseball bat. Expect some, well, completely unexpectable puzzle challenges that become increasingly absurdist in nature. The one thing I will warn you on, however, is that this game is super strict on its 2m x 2m room-scale requirement. It’s well worth making the space for (in your house and in your library both).
Adam Mathew played all of the above. He needs a big drink of water now.