The qualities of PlayStation VR 2 struck me. I was about to finish Tetris Effect: Connected‘s “Downtown Jazz” stage and decided to slowly drift my last tetromino to the bottom of the grid – to get a better look at the rooftops, streetlights and fire escapes surrounding my floating avatar. The pad landed, my last line evaporated, and the digital facsimile of New York vanished in a shower of white particles. I got up from my chair, opened the VR quick settings with one touch and set a wider play area before switching to horizon call of the mountain. Out of curiosity, I took off the headset and checked my watch. Three hours had passed since I sat down to play.
I’ve spent almost two weeks with PlayStation VR 2, and it’s been riddled with cases like this: not overwhelming Holy shit Moments, but cumulative cases where everything is simple functions, seamless and comfortable, the hours will melt away. The headset’s library of new games is woefully lacking at the moment, and the $549.99 price tag is as exorbitant as they come. But mechanically it’s a solid foundation. And if Sony can keep a steady flow of major games into the peripheral’s library, I might be inclined to recommend it somewhere in the future.
PSVR 2’s elevator pitch is simple: virtual reality that draws on the power of the PlayStation 5. Among other things, it enables a 4K HDR display, eye tracking, haptic feedback, 3D audio and a wide field of view. For a full rundown of each knick-knack, you can read PlayStation’s in-depth FAQ. I will not clutter this review with information already compiled elsewhere.
Let’s turn to that instead horizon call of the mountain, the presumed showpiece for all those bells and whistles.
The linear spin-off of Guerrilla Games’ open-world series begins in a canoe meandering down an azure river under a glowing jungle canopy. Not only the color palette, but also the details and lighting catch my eye immediately: shadows play over the water as the boat passes under particularly large palm fronds, and the clothing of my two fellow passengers alternates between rough leather, grained metal and textured fabric. The wind moves the jungle in all directions. It’s nowhere near as good looking as Horizon forbidden westof course, but it’s the most attractive game I’ve seen in VR.
It’s a few minutes before I notice the “foveated rendering” — essentially, the headset’s eye tracker lowers the resolution in my peripheral vision to improve it in the area I’m focusing on. Notwithstanding the aforementioned quality in environmental detail, I’ve noticed that the resolution is one bit too long to sharpen in some cases, especially later in combat encounters. The result is a beautiful game that tends to look a little blurry unless I’m standing still. Regardless, eye-tracking is a godsend when targeting specific parts of enemy machines. Assuming my bow and arrow is aimed in the correct general direction, the projectile will (usually) land exactly where I’m looking. During a fight with a group of Glinthawks, I felt like Legolas firing the ice-cold canisters at the flying enemies’ chests.
Between field battles and easy puzzle solving, call of the mountain Features Climbing — a lot of it. To better show off the VR 2 Sense controllers, I imagine. Like the PlayStation 5’s DualSense and DualSense Edge, VR 2 Sense’s triggers change resistance based on in-game action. In climbing, this is manifested by requiring a tighter finger grip toward the bottom of the trigger. After longer climbs (call of the mountain with side quest-like “Legendary Climbs”) actually made my fingers hurt. Combined with the over/under movement of my arms as I climbed cracks and slid along ledges, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t need a little break at the top of the cliff. (It’s worth noting that my colleague Russ Frushtick experienced significant motion sickness issues while playing call of the mountain, even with maximum comfort settings. If you are a casual VR user who needs a teleport movement that call of the mountain doesn’t have to keep from getting sick, this game may be too much for you.)
Despite everything, the VR 2 Sense controllers were both comfortable. They weigh about the same as the Meta Quest 2’s controllers, but their motion sensor rings are larger and wrap loosely around the wrists, unlike Metas, which curl over the thumbs. After playing a bit Resident Evil 4 VR with Quest 2 this week as a point of comparison, I have to agree with the VR 2 Senses. Paradoxically, given their size, I actually thought less about them while playing – and the fewer things distracting my focus from the games themselves, the better.
In fact, it seems like Sony has made an effort to mitigate distractions that might arise while gaming. The rubber accordion around my eyes separating my face from the headset blocks room light from entering, provided the headset is properly adjusted. Hanging from the rear strap, the headphones are just the right length so the cords don’t pull on my ear or alternatively sag too low.
If, like me, you’re blown away by the Quest 2’s ability to boot up in any room in your house without being tethered to a console, the PSVR 2’s USB-C cable will definitely catch the eye – even when pulled down the left side Her torso, which I think is the most secluded place to rest without pulling the headset’s back strap. All in all, though, this cable feels like a small price to pay for the benefits the PS5 could offer in future games.
Aside from the shackles, those touches make way for what’s happening before my eyes. I barely feel the VR 2 Senses in my hands to get a better look at the rainbow of lichen growing in damp crevices during a longer climb. The headphones sit snugly in my ears to better enjoy the 3D audio, which signals a rushing river below me, a roaring fire to my left, and the mechanical grunt of a sentinel in the weeds to my right. If any does
Just like jumping back and forth infinite rec, moss, knockerAnd Song in the Smoke: Rekindledcomes into play during my longer sessions with one of the strengths of PSVR 2 call of the mountain: It is an extremely comfortable headset. The weight is evenly distributed between the thick front pad and the soft rear band, preventing pain on my forehead or the bridge of my nose. Adjusting the headset is also a snap with one button to extend the front visor and another to loosen the rear strap handle. Aside from messy hair and the general discomfort that comes with freely returning to the real world, I’m no worse after extended gaming sessions. I don’t think the Meta Quest 2 is an uncomfortable headset, especially when plugged in Third Party Addons. But comfort is paramount to me for VR, at a time when many of the form’s other major hurdles have been overcome.
As a proof of concept and a microcosm of how the headset’s games could look in the future, call of the mountain functions. But like most proofs of concept, it will never pull me back. My favorite moments with PSVR 2 were games like Tetris Effect: Connected or the phenomenal Before your eyes – Titles that are by no means new, but holdovers from other platforms, other headsets or even previous generations. This is as much a sign of the enduring appeal of these games as it is an indictment of it PSVR2‘s lack of system-selling titles. But still – I’m excited for something that feels genuinely new to better justify the existence of the PSVR 2 and this extremely high price point.
Because it’s not really the motion controls, eye tracking, or haptic feedback that I look forward to most when I launch PSVR 2. What I’m most excited about is the headset’s Elevator Pitch: VR, aided by the power of the PS5. It’s entirely possible that in a week’s time with VR updates this will happen Gran Turismo 7, Nobody’s heavenAnd Resident Evil Village (the latter might be a system vendor itself, I think), that promise could come true, and I’ll have exactly what I wanted: a comfortable, intuitive VR headset capable of capturing the long form of magic some have of my favorite games on PlayStation 5. Yes, PSVR 2 has a lot of potential – but that’s all for now.
PlayStation VR2 will be released on February 22nd. The peripheral device and accompanying software have been verified using a pre-release device provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find For more information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy, click here.