PlayStation VR2
PlayStation VR2: For a while now, VR and AR have been hailed as the gaming industry’s future. Furthermore, immersive gaming headsets ought to be commonplace by now if science fiction films are any guide to how the future should or would be (as they frequently do). Beyond the titles that are available, VR/AR gaming presents a number of challenges because most casual players find it too complex to even set up a VR headset. Despite being remarkable for its day, the original PlayStation VR suffered all of the problems I listed above.
I would like to disclose that I received a review unit from Sony and that Horizon Call of the Mountain was included with the device before I discuss my impressions on the PlayStation VR2. Let us now dive straight into the review.
Hardware – simple and effective
The easiest designs to execute are frequently the most basic. Because of this, the PS VR2’s headgear design and functioning represent its greatest accomplishment. In spite of providing excellent hardware, Sony has managed to keep the design subtle and uncluttered.
Now let’s go into the specifics. Each of the headset’s two OLED panels has a resolution of 2,000 x 2,040 pixels. Since these screens serve as your entryway into the virtual world, the quality needed to be flawless, and the PS VR2 more than meets this requirement. The vivid images are breathtaking, and because the displays have great resolution, you won’t be able to see the individual pixels.
This, along with the displays on the headset, which have a field-of-view of about 110 degrees and a maximum refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, results in an immersive and fluid viewing experience that captivates you.
Controllers
This time around, Sony has completely redesigned the controller, which alters the whole game experience. Though it was never very intuitive and always felt like an afterthought, the stick design on the original PS VR was passably good. It’s obvious that Sony went back to the drawing board to determine how closely the VR2 controller design needs to resemble the DualSense controller design. And the outcomes are not too bad.
You’ll feel right at home and adjust to the controls quite quickly because they have joysticks and triggers. However, I believe that the location of the L1 and R1 buttons should have been improved. I discovered that I was frequently inadvertently pushing these buttons when I was playing the game.
Setup process
Compared to some other VR headsets, the PlayStation VR2 installation process almost seems like a piece of cake. fter completing the on-screen procedure, you must connect each controller to the console separately. Personally, even with the headphones on, I didn’t experience any discomfort.
Wearing the headset allows you to effortlessly alter the play area, pick up the controllers, or complete other tasks with the grayscale image of your surroundings provided by the built-in camera. This is a quite useful addition because it eliminates the need for assistance when moving about to set up the PS VR2. When assessing the play area, I discovered that the headset was really accurate. It was able to locate the barriers with relative ease. You have the option of sitting or standing while playing.
Gameplay experience
Putting the technology discussion aside, let’s speak about why you would purchase a PS VR2: to play games. Along with the headset, I received a copy of Horizon Call of the Mountain, as I previously said. Most of my experience was based on Call of the Mountain because there aren’t many games that support PS VR2 right now because most of the original PS VR titles don’t work with the upgraded gear. I didn’t think this was a problem because the game does a great job of showcasing the new hardware, but if you plan to buy one, you’ll need to wait for additional VR2 games.
The way you could interact with the game—picking up fruits to eat, throwing objects, shooting arrows, etc.—felt so real that it frightened me when I faced my first enemy. It was all so engrossing that after taking out the opponent and firing a few arrows, I felt like I needed to take a breather.
If you have the gaze-tracking feature enabled, you can use eye-tracking to accurately choose options from menus by only looking at the option you wish to select and pressing the corresponding button. This is far more user-friendly than using the controller to select an option, which is commendable because using the controller is typically the simplest method to go through menus.
Watching movies and videos
Apart from gaming, watching movies, TV series, and videos on YouTube or through streaming apps is another use case for the headset. It simply feels like you’re watching videos in a theater when you use the VR2. These apps give you a floating screen in front of you that shows films to you like a movie screen, in contrast to games that take up your whole vision. I thought the viewing experience was quite good, but since we usually like to watch something with others, we don’t use this function very often.
Issues
One of the main problems I faced with the PS VR2 was motion nausea, which I got after using the headset for about 30 to 45 minutes when standing. Please remember that this is a very personal problem that varies from person to person and that you may not even experience it. Turning around in real life to change the direction of your camera instead of using the right stick is one method, which I found to be really helpful, to partially prevent this. My body didn’t adjust to the movement when I moved the camera with the right stick, thus I had to take a pause after a while.
Verdict
The PlayStation VR2 was purposefully made to provide users with hassle-free virtual reality gaming, and it succeeds in doing so. Even if the headset alone costs Rs 57,999 (Rs 61,999 for the Horizon Call of the Mountain combo), building a PC capable of running VR games smoothly will cost much more and the experience will probably still be subpar compared to what the VR2 offers. This is Sony’s largest attempt to date to bring virtual reality (VR) to a wider audience.
