Horizon: Call Of The Mountain – what else is available? (pic: Sony)



GameCentral takes a look at the entire launch line-up for the PSVR2 headset, including Sony’s Horizon Call Of The Mountain and beyond.



Covering the launch of new gaming hardware is never easy but it’s especially difficult for the PlayStation VR2 because nobody, including Sony, seems certain about what exactly is coming out on day one. There is an official launch line-up but it’s not clear how much of it applies to the UK, as it doesn’t match up with what is listed on the PlayStation Store. That means we don’t know exactly what’s coming out and, in many cases, how much it’s going to cost.



Even so, we have managed to get hold of the majority of known launch titles and while our priority has been Horizon Call Of The Mountain we’ve been able to spend at least some time with all the rest. Not enough to give the others full reviews but given the vast majority are remastered versions of existing PlayStation 4 and PC games it’s been fairly easy to draw our conclusions.



The PlayStation VR2 launches on Wednesday, February 22 for £529.99 and there may well may be more games than just this available on day one, with Pistol Whip, Garden Of The Sea, Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, and The Tale Of Onogoro amongst the other likely candidates. Others, such as The Dark Pictures: Switchback and The Walking Dead : Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution have only just missed the launch and will still be out in the ‘launch window’, so we’ll cover those once they’re available.



Horizon Call Of The Mountain



Price: £59.99



Here you can find our full review of the PSVR2’s most technically accomplished game but it’s a bit of a mixed bag, with the stunning visuals married to a surprisingly unexciting mountain climbing simulator. Movement is heavily restricted during combat but using the bow and arrow is a ton of fun, and very accurate, with a lot of the other gadgets and set pieces being very entertaining too. It is super expensive though, for a fairly short adventure where the main gameplay mechanic just isn’t that interesting.



Recommended? Eh









The Last Clockwinder



Price: TBC



Even the best games on VR tend to be rather slim affairs, in terms of gameplay and complexity, but The Last Clockwinder is one of the few PlayStation VR2 games with real meat to it. The dense backstory gets a bit carried away with itself but at heart it’s a puzzle game where you play as a robot trying to harvest fruit within a giant tree. You have to harvest a certain amount of fruit to proceed, which can’t be done on your own, so you end up recording yourself performing a move for a few seconds and then create a copy that can continue on its own. The single setting can get a bit monotonous, but the puzzles are clever and make excellent use of the physicality of VR.



Recommended? Yes









Demeo



Price: £32.99



Originally released on PC, the idea behind Demeo is that it recreates the experience of playing tabletop role-playing games in VR. You can play the whole thing in single-player if you want, although it’s a somewhat simplistic dungeon crawler that’s surprisingly old school despite the cutting edge VR technology. That’s part of its charm though, with the turn-based combat and fog of war sticking closely to the tabletop experience rather than trying to emulate a modern computer role-player.



We’d have to play it in co-op to give an unreserved recommendation, given that’s what it was originally designed for, although the chances of you knowing three other people with PlayStation VR2s does seem rather remote.



Recommended? Probably









Cosmonious High



Price: £29.99



One of many games that wasn’t available for review pre-launch, this at least has a decent pedigree, as it’s by the same studio behind Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator, as well as Rick & Morty Virtual Rick-ality . Those games are all very gimmicky, and come across as typical VR tech demos, but they have a good sense of humour and lots of interesting interactivity. Cosmonious High has a content warning for ‘crude humour’ though, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on whether it’s actually funny.









The Light Brigade



Price: £19.99



Although the trailer quotes Tennyson’s famous poem we’re still not clear whether this really has anything to do with the actual charge of the Light Brigade or not. The setting seems fantastical, but we do get the feeling there’s supposed to be some connection with the real world. Either way, it’s described as a tactical roguelike shooter with ‘realistic gunplay’ and since it wasn’t made available for review before launch, we have no idea if it’s any good or not.









Altair Breaker, Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate, and Fantavision 202X



Price: TBC



We’re grouping these together because they were all announced at the same time, amongst a group of six Japanese games coming to PlayStation VR2 – even if it’s still unclear which, if any, are going to be available at launch in the UK. As far as we can tell, Altair Breaker is a first person sword-fighting game, whose PC version has had mixed reviews, and Dyschronia is an ‘investigation game’. Fantavision 202X is a sequel to the old PlayStation 2 launch title, which was essentially a fireworks simulator – so that might be fun to see in VR.









Townsmen VR



Price: £34.99



If you used to enjoy The Settlers games (which funnily enough has a reboot coming out this week) you’ll immediately get an inkling for what Townsmen VR is about. It’s basically a city builder with a mildly comedic medieval setting, where you get to build up towns, ensure villagers are furnished with necessary resources, and fight off enemies. It works well enough, but the controls can be very fiddly, especially when you’re trying to give specific objects to specific people, and the combat is overly simplistic and seemingly unbalanced. It still works okay but the whole time you can’t help imaging what it’d be like with a bigger budget and a more experienced developer.



Recommended? Eh









Moss and Moss: Book 2 Bundle



Price: £32.49, also available separately



Since so many games are still in tech demo territory it’s largely meaningless to say which is the best VR title, but Moss is one of the lead contenders. Technically it’s a first person game but one in which you play a mysterious spirit, helping out an unbearably cute mouse named Quill. You’re almost entirely static but also control Quill via normal joystick controls, in what is essentially a third person action platformer.



Quill can defend herself against enemies, but you can help out too, by reaching into the game world and interacting with objects and background details that are too big for her to move. Moss is not just a great game but it’s one that knows how to work around the limitations of the technology without ever making it obvious that that’s what it’s doing. Here’s our original reviews of the first game and its sequel .



Recommended? Essential









Tentacular



Price: £19.99



You’d imagine that being in control of giant octopus would lead to the VR equivalent of old coin-op classic Rampage , but that’s not really what Tentacular is about. You can cause a certain amount of damage, and picking up and throwing people into the water is one of the game’s consistent pleasures, but there’s a surprisingly lengthy narrative about you learning your place in the world and helping out ordinary people by cleaning up the oceans, testing space rockets, and messing about with giant magnets.



To be honest, the various mini-games all seem a bit random, and the constant talking makes the game curiously slow-paced, but the key gimmick, that you have two giant, virtual tentacles that can grip objects with a squeeze of the shoulder pad works very well. Recommended? Yes









Thumper



Price: TBC



To be honest, Thumper is recommended whether you play it in VR or not, what with it being the only rhythm action game to inspire feelings of existential dread. We’re not sure where the idea of mixing Guitar Hero with Lovecraftian angst came from but it works superbly well, with its ominous soundtrack and a complete lack of explanation for what exactly is going on. Here’s our full review of the original but while the PlayStation VR2 version doesn’t add anything to the gameplay, since you’re only always travelling forward in a straight line, the atmosphere is even more oppressive and inescapable in VR.



Recommended? Essential









Rez Infinite



Price: TBC



We’ve been playing Rez, in various different forms, for over 20 years now. The first time was on the Dreamcast and one of the last times was on the PlayStation VR , but this is the best version yet. The core is the same as it ever was but, much like Thumper, it’s even more immersive and engaging when played in VR. The original Rez is an on-the-rails shooter that fuses gameplay, visuals, and music until they all seem indivisible from each other.



What Infinite does as well is add a brand new, multi-stage section designed specifically for VR, where you have full freedom of movement and more complex visuals. However, the low resolution and poor controls of the PlayStation VR version muffled its impact somewhat, with the full grandeur only becoming evident on PlayStation VR2.



Recommended? Essential









Tetris Effect: Connected



Price: TBC



Tetris has been around even longer than Rez and yet it was only in 2019, with the release of Tetris Effect, that we got what is arguably the definitive version, at least for non-portable formats. Produced by Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, it doesn’t try and reinvent the wheel but instead goes back to basics with the gameplay and adds new musical and visual themes that allow for an interesting sense of progression in the single-player mode. The Connected version, reviewed here , added multiplayer and then this VR edition augmented everything with some wonderfully relaxing music and VR effects.



Recommended? Essential









Jurassic World Aftermath Collection



Price: TBC



There are so few dinosaur games around today that it really grinds our gears to admit this is not very good . For starters, it’s incredibly low budget, with cheap, flimsy looking graphics and a comic book style art style that clearly exists only because the developer couldn’t afford to do photorealistic visuals. It certainly doesn’t make up for anything with the gameplay or storytelling, both of which are unimaginative and simplistic, with some extremely repetitive stealth gameplay, poor AI, and pointlessly easy puzzles. This collection includes both of the original games but whatever the price turns out to be, it’s not worth it. Recommended? No









After The Fall – Complete Edition



Price: TBC



Zombie themed shooters are ten a penny on VR and yet there are very few that are anything more than simple shooting galleries. After The Fall desperately wants to be the VR equivalent of Left 4 Dead, but while it does allow for both single-player and co-op play it’s not nearly as refined as Valve’s classics, in terms of the enemy or map design.



There’s too little nuance to the action and while there are some attempts to address this with weapon customisation the experience is still far too shallow to inspire any real interest. We’ll have to play it properly in co-op to give a final verdict but we’re not very excited at the prospect.



Recommended? Probably not









Song In The Smoke: Rekindled



Price: TBC



At time of writing this still isn’t even listed on the PlayStation Store, even though we’ve already played it and we’re assured it’s a launch title. It’s pretty good too, and as a fully fledged survival game one of the more complex gameplay experiences on the PlayStation VR2. Set in prehistoric times, it’s somewhat similar to Far Cry Primal , except not open world and with a strange, melancholic atmosphere.



The plot is peculiarly surreal for what at first seems like a fairly straightforward premise but despite mediocre combat and visuals it all just about hangs together. Although you always seem to be hungry and tired the survival elements aren’t as complex as they first seem but playing such a game in VR certainly adds to the occasion, as you feel constantly in danger.



Recommended? Just









Synth Riders: Remastered Edition



Price: TBC



We’ve never heard of the original PlayStation 4 version but although the PlayStation VR2 edition isn’t on the PlayStation Store yet we’re assured it is a launch title. It’s a rhythm action game which seems to have a fair bit in common with the classic Beat Saber (if you’re wondering why that game isn’t on PlayStation VR2 it’s because Meta bought the developer). The presentation looks a little cheap but if Beat Saber isn’t available perhaps it’ll do.









Zenith: The Last City



Price: £21.99



We certainly haven’t had time to play something as complicated as a MMO but the mere fact that one exists for the PSVR2 suggests a fair amount of ambition on the part of the developer. The graphics appear a little basic, and it’s probably biting off a bit more than it can chew, on what seems to be a modest budget, but we’ve heard relatively good things from those that have played the original PlayStation 4 and PC versions.









What The Bat?



Price: TBC



Absolutely not a baseball simulator but instead another thinly veiled tech demo that tries to throw as many random ideas at you as possible, before you get bored. In that sense it’s quite similar to something like Job Simulator, although its sense of humour is more surreal as you wield twin baseball bats while going about initially mundane tasks, such as cleaning your teeth, feeding your pets, and playing video games. What makes this difficult is that you have to do it all with the bats alone – you can’t just use your hands – which makes everything incredibly difficult and, potentially, funny. It’s frustrating but it’s also supposed to be, even if the joke is usually on you.



Recommended? Depends on price









Puzzling Places



Price: TBC



Video games have replicated most forms of analogue entertainment over the years, from tabletop role-players to pinball games, but jigsaws have never really had their day in the digital sun. That might be for fairly obvious reasons but once you put them in VR, and make them those weirdly expensive 3D jigsaws, that you’ve never seen anyone own in real-life, it all makes a bit more sense.



Although you’re essentially just piecing together 3D objects the graphics are good enough that it’s all rather mellow and fun. The controls still manage to be a bit fiddlier than they need to be, and we’re worried what the price might be, but if it’s not too bad you should find it all surprisingly entertaining.



Recommended: Just









DrumsRock



Price: TBC



We only found out about this game on Wednesday and have never seen it mentioned anywhere else before. It seems pretty clear what it is though: Guitar Hero but with drums. Since the days of plastic instruments, that you plug into your console, are long gone this seem like a perfectly good idea for VR and a good test of the accuracy and reliability of the Sense controllers.









Pavlov



Price: TBC



Another game that’s only turned up on the PlayStation Store in the last few days, this seems to be attempting to make its mark as a VR version of Counter-Strike. The PC version is currently in early access and has had a very positive reception on Steam, where it promotes itself as the ‘#1 most popular VR shooter on PC today.’ We’ve still never heard of it before, but hopefully it’s as good as it says it is.









Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge – Enhanced Edition



Price: £39.99



Normally you’d resent so many games being just ports of earlier titles but the difference in playing them on the PlayStation VR or Meta Quest, compared to the PlayStation VR2, is quite the eye opener. Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge is half tech demo and half advert for Disneyland (Galaxy’s Edge is the name of the sequel trilogy area from the resort).



The shooting mechanics are okay but there’s not nearly enough meat to the structure or story to make it seem like anything other than a semi-interactive theme park ride. The missions set during the High Republic era of the Jedi are more interesting but feel completely unconnected to the rest of the game and while the whole thing is relatively useful as a first introduction to VR it’s far too expensive.



Recommended? Eh









Cities: VR – Enhanced Edition



Price: £24.99



Paradox’s SimCity clone isn’t the most obvious game to turn into a VR launch title, but it actually works pretty well in practice. At the very least the Sense controllers are much better suited to controlling the game, even if the keyboard and mouse it was actually designed for would still be better. It is surprising that there’s little attempt to play up the whole god game aspect, though, as you loom over your would-be metropolis, trying to create the next New York City… or at least Milton Keynes.



Zooming out to get some commercial zoning done, and then zooming back in to watch all the little not-sims going about their daily grind, is a lot of fun and since the PlayStation VR2 is so relatively comfortable to wear it’s actually perfectly feasible to play the game for hours at a time.



Recommended? Yes









Kayak VR: Mirage



Price: £19.99



As random as it might seem kayak/canoe simulators are relatively common in VR, no doubt because you’re sitting down all the time and yet there’s lots of forward movement and potential excitement. Rather than try and turn the experience into an action game this is purely based in reality, as you tour various biomes, watching whales breach in the Arctic and dolphins swim past you in the Amazon basin. It’s essentially a sort of mildly interactive wildlife documentary, although there are also some simple race courses to take part in as well. The graphics are excellent and although it barely counts as a game it’s still more interactive than the safari mode in Horizon Call Of The Mountain.



Recommended? Yes




document.createElement('video');
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/RespectfulSinfulEskimodog-mobile.mp4




Gran Turismo 7 VR update



Free



More so than even Horizon Call Of The Mountain, this is likely to be the closest thing to a killer app for the PlayStation VR2 at launch. Driving games benefit immensely from VR and given how realistic Gran Turismo 7 is already, being able to sit in your cockpit and look around with the headset is not just a gimmick but something that’s going to be enormously helpful to the gameplay. The only problem is the update wasn’t available before launch so we can’t offer a final verdict until afterwards.









Resident Evil Village VR update



Free



This update won’t be available until launch either but given how good the VR mode in Resident Evil 7 was there’s every reason to hope this will work just as well. It’ll be interesting too, because Village wasn’t really scary (except for that bit) and much more of a straight action game. Whether being in VR will make it intrinsically more frightening remains to be seen, but we’ve got a feeling it’s going to make Lady Dimitrescu’s castle a lot more interesting.









No Man’s Sky VR update



Free



Also available at launch, and also something we haven’t played yet, although the game already works with the original PlayStation VR and given how well that turned out the new update should be one of the best things for the new headset. Given how much No Man’s Sky has changed over the years it’s also a good opportunity to catch up with the game as a whole, as it’s been receiving free new updates, that add major new features, for years now.



Email  [email protected] , leave a comment below, and  follow us on Twitter .





MORE : PlayStation VR2 headset review - the all-new future of gaming







MORE : Horizon Call Of The Mountain review - the summit of PSVR2 achievements







MORE : Sony denies cutting PSVR2 production numbers despite report they’ve been halved





Follow Metro Gaming on  Twitter  and email us at  [email protected]



To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our  Submit Stuff page here .



For more stories like this,  check our Gaming page .