Sony has unveiled six new games for PSVR, with I Expect You To Die 2, survival game Song In The Smoke, and VR MMO Zenith. Sony’s announcement that they will create a new, next gen successor to PlayStation VR was quite a surprise last month, but a very welcome one especially since they themselves had previously signalled that they were losing faith in virtual reality.
Sony hasn’t unveiled the headset or offered many details, and it’s said the device won’t arrive in 2021. So today’s games will be launching for PSVR with the promise of a better experience down the line.
First up was Doom 3: VR Edition, which is not to be confused with Doom VFR, which is already available on PlayStation 4 and, while inspired by the 2016 reboot, was created from the ground-up for VR. This is a version of 2004 game Doom 3, which certainly wasn’t made with VR in mind but will probably work well with it given it’s quite a slow-paced first person shooter. The VR Edition will be released on March 29 and is compatible with the PlayStation VR Aim Controller.
Next up is Song In The Smoke from Skulls Of The Shogun developer 17-Bit. It’ll also be out this year and is survival game where you have to scavenge for resources, craft items and weapons, and fight off monsters. Surviving at night seems to be a particular problem, with torches and a campfire needed to ward off creatures. The game will support PlayStation Move controllers and seems to be a pretty involved affair.
Fracked involves you fighting your way around a mountain fracking facility fighting, not immoral capitalists, but ‘interdimensional maniacs’. It seems to pride itself on being a fast-paced action adventure, with not just cover-based gunplay but parkour elements, skiing, and climbing. Having to rely on PlayStation Move may limit its effectiveness but it’s unusual to see a VR action game with quite this pace of action, especially when the developer promises ‘no subtlety’ as a key selling point.
I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy And The Liar is, other than Doom, the only sequel in the line-up but that’s perfectly given that the original is one of the most popular games on PlayStation VR. As the title implies, I Expect You To Die is a Bond style spy thriller, albeit where you have telekinetic powers. The game’s ultimately more of a puzzle game than anything else and given the original also appeared on PC and Oculus Quest presumably this will too, at least eventually.
Sony also announced the 2021 release of Zenith, an anime-influenced massively multiplayer roleplaying game funded on Kickstarter last year. It’s set in a high-tech fantasy world that’s designed for players to climb and glide around, in addition to fighting with a VR-adapted version of conventional RPG combat.
