The PSVR 2 has been something of a mystery ever since it was announced, as details on it have been sparse up until now. More information on the VR hardware was presented by Sony earlier this week at CES 2022, including things such as the screen's resolution and more details about its controllers and headset. While the technological side of the hardware is certainly important, the software coming to it is just as big of deal. As such, alongside the technical specs of the headset, Sony also revealed a teaser trailer of Horizon: Call of the Mountain, a VR spinoff of the Horizon series.
While the game itself is reason enough to be excited, what it represents is potentially even more exciting: major first-party PlayStation franchises might start getting their own VR titles coming exclusively to the PSVR 2. There are plenty of excellent franchises owned by Sony that could make for good VR games, but the Marvel's Spider-Man series seems like the perfect franchise for the company to capitalize on following Horizon: Call of the Mountain.
Spider-Man's Return to VR
The idea of a first-person Spider-Man title has made internet rounds for years, and the general consensus seems to be that it could be a double-edged sword. On one hand, putting on the Spider-mask and swinging from building to building to see everything that Spider-Man does has been the fantasy of Marvel fans since the character's inception, but the web-head's web-shooters might require a little too much fast-paced precision to be feasible on a controller. The PSVR 2 is able to circumvent that problem, however, as it allows for fast first-person camera movements since the camera is mounted to the player's head, meaning that all a player needs to do to find the next place for their web to end up is to physically look for it and shoot.
Although there's already been a VR Spider-Man game, Spider-Man: Far From Home - Virtual Reality Experience, it wasn't able to make use of the features exclusive to the upcoming PSVR 2. Every detail about the PS VR2 lends itself well to a Spider-Man game. The Sense controllers's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers could breathe new life into Spidey's web shooters, literally giving them a feel that correlates with what can be seen on-screen while also indicating if certain types of specialty webs are on a cool down. The headset itself was revealed at CES to have haptic feedback of its own and, while exact details are still unclear, the idea is that players will be able to feel things on their heads as well. This could simulate the wind flying through Spider-Man's mask as he swings through the city, adding additional levels of immersion to the experience.
A potential roadblock in the way of an Insomniac Spider-Man VR game is the fact that the technology hasn't found a good workaround for those who experience motion sickness when using it. Given the high speeds that Spider-Man swings at being paired with the constant rollercoaster-pendulum movement, the potential game seems like it could cause those affected by motion sickness to projectile vomit.
That said, many of the issues with motionsickness that people experience are tied to the lack of physical feedback associated with movement, so the Sense controllers and the reworked headset could do a lot to help resolve that issue. At the end of the day, the idea of swinging through a city in first person is tantalizing enough to some to risk keeping down their lunch to give a try. Hopefully, Sony continues supporting first-party studios to make VR experiences based on their most valuable franchises.
PSVR 2 is in development.