It may have taken a little while to gain its footing, but PlayStation VR now boasts one of the best line-ups in all of the VR market, with both excellent first-party exclusives and a vast range of compelling third-party VR titles. With the recent announcement of PlayStation VR2, and the confirmation of a VR Horizon title, the platform is sure to have an influx of innovative new experiences on the new hardware.
However, that doesn't mean the current PSVR library should be forgotten. After all, the current slate of great PSVR games helped put the platform on the map, and some are sure to stand the test of time. The PlayStation VR2, and all of the technical advancements it's bringing, would make the perfect home for these older VR titles as well. After all, these games are already considered to be great experiences, they only need a few tweaks before they could be considered perfect.
Beat Saber
Beat Saber is widely considered to be one of the best VR games, period. The premise is simple, and extremely accessible, with players only needing to slash through boxes in a specified direction as they come towards you in time with the song that's playing. It's like Guitar Hero, but instead of a plastic guitar, the player has two lightsabers.
Because of its high level of accessibility, Beat Saber is always at the top of recommended lists for VR beginners. There's also a ton of options to let the player ramp up the difficulty if they're feeling like more of a challenge. As the gameplay is so active, requiring wide and energetic arm movements and the dodging of oncoming walls, Beat Saber is also a great fitness game, doing a great job of pairing a decent workout with some very satisfying, block-smashing gameplay.
PlayStation VR2 could give Beat Saber some neat little improvements. PSVR2 is adding a haptic feedback system to the new Sense controllers. Functioning in essentially the same way as the PlayStation 5's excellent DualSense controller, the haptic feedback in the PSVR2 controllers should make those swings feel even more satisfying, with each block rippling through the controller upon being hit.
The PSVR2 is also adding haptic feedback to the headset itself, which will apparently make it feel as though objects are flying past the player. This is perfectly suited to Beat Saber, as the player is frequently tasked with avoiding oncoming obstacles that zip past inches from their face, thus adding more intensity to an already intense experience.
Blood & Truth
One of PlayStation VR's finest exclusives, Blood & Truth, takes the "London Heist" mission from VR Worlds and propels it into AAA territory, delivering a non-stop action blockbuster that is equal parts Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and James Bond. The game follows a fairly standard, semi-rails shooter perspective, where the player moves from action set-piece to action set-piece, shooting everything in their way.
Occasionally, the game will give the player some free movement sections, where they'll be tasked with climbing up some scaffolding, solving some light puzzles, or breaching open a door. The PSVR2's new features could make some great improvements to Blood & Truth. The PSVR2's new adaptive triggers, also found on the PS5's DualSense, would help to make the gunplay feel a bit more weighty and less arcade-y, as would the haptic feedback. The haptic feedback would also help to make the many explosions in the the game feel grander, and more devastating.
The PSVR2's new method of tracking, with cameras being placed inside of the headset as opposed to being tracked via external lights and the PlayStation Camera, would also bring some much needed quality of life improvements to Blood & Truth. In its current state, holding two-handed weapons in Blood & Truth is a little tricky, with the PlayStation's Move controllers not tracking too well with the camera when they are held in front of one another. The PSVR2's method of tracking would likely eliminate this problem entirely, making those two-handed weapons now enjoyable to use.
Iron Man VR
One of the more recent entries in the PSVR line-up, Iron Man VR was met with some critical disappointment upon launch. While the concept of flying around as Tony Stark is undeniably exciting, the execution, while far from bad, wasn't as good as it could be. The flying controls feel pretty satisfying, and the ability to use a number of wrist-mounted weapons is cool, but the game's extremely long load times and lack of feedback in certain areas hinders its potential.
The PSVR2 could finally deliver on Iron Man VR's potential. The new model's adaptive triggers would make the flight repulsors feel more satisfying, requiring more physical input to take-off and land safely, while the PS5's more powerful SSD could practically eliminate loading screens altogether.
No Man's Sky/Star Wars: Squadrons
PlayStation VR actually has a few pretty great flight-simulator games, but No Man's Sky and Star Wars: Squadrons are some of the best. Both of these games already do an excellent job at immersing the player into their respective universes, putting the player directly in the cockpit of a fighter ship.
However, PlayStation VR2 could make the experience even more immersive via its use of haptic feedback in the Sense controllers and in the headset. The new and improved vibration technology could simulate certain flight mechanics more accurately, like going into hyperspace, taking damage from enemy craft, and making sharp turns. Every pull, push, and jostle could be felt with the new haptic feedback system.
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is one of the best VR games to have released in recent years, often only coming second to Half Life: Alyx. This game offers open-ended environments, free movement, and a whole range of crafting options. The amount of genuinely unique weapons in the game is also impressive, with each one feeling different to wield.
The physics of Saints and Sinners make it such an impressive VR game, though. As players thrust their knife into a Walker's skull, the blade actually gets stuck, requiring a wider arm movement for the blade to be pulled out. The game's physics do an excellent job of tricking the player's brain into thinking that certain objects are heavier, as their animations would naturally lead the brain to conclude that.
This immersion can be made even better with the PSVR2, with the adaptive triggers making the guns feel heavier, and the haptic feedback elevating those physics to the next level. The improved VR tracking would also make the game's two-handed weapons feel a bit more responsive.
PlayStation VR2 is currently in development.