The PlayStation VR2 released on February 22nd to critical acclaim and hype. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on one for the purposes of review and I am here to give you my thoughts and first impressions for BSO. Keep in mind that you must have a PlayStation 5 to even use the PSVR 2, so the entry price is actually close to $1,000 as opposed to the $550 it costs to buy just the VR2 unit. But with restriction comes all the juice, cache, and game development of the Sony PlayStation Studios and it’s evident with their initial offering in the Horizon series, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, but more on that in a little. First let’s explore the system itself.
This isn’t going to be one of those articles that breaks down all the technical specs of the system. If that type of stuff thoroughly interests you, then you should be pretty adept at reading the fact sheets that usually accompany any new technology. I personally find those articles to be catered to those who truly understand what those technologies mean beyond their superficial buzz and industry hypewords. All you really need to know is that it’s very modern and is ahead of most VR systems out there, even the high end ones. The thing that separates the PSVR 2 from its competitors is the cable that connects the headset to the system.
There’s no getting around the fact that having a cable holds back the true enjoyment of full immersion as you have to constantly make sure you’re not getting wrapped up in the cord. This is actually pretty easy to do and happens to me quite a bit. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that my partner and I sorta act like getback coaches in the NFL and college, with one person controlling the chair and the cord while the other person plays. If you can get past the cord and find a way to make it a non-issue, however, true immersion is totally possible.
The PSVR 2 uses something called foveated rendering when you’re wearing the headset. I know I promised I wouldn’t get into the technical, but this is different and easy to understand. The headset uses its technology to monitor your eyes, following your pupils as they do their normal “seeing” thing that your eyes do. But what happens with this rendering is that it fully renders the stuff you’re looking at instead of trying to render everything all at once and suffering as a result. You get a clear and sharp picture that stays focused no matter where your eyes drift or look, that’s the power of foveated rendering. There’s even a nifty setup feature that shows you just how well it works while pairing with the movement of your specific eyes.
As far as comfortability goes, the headset is extremely light. This is where the benefit of the cord comes in handy. Because you’re not wearing a battery on your head, there isn’t as much wear and tear on your neck and shoulders. The device is meant to be worn with or without glasses and I have confirmed this myself. Your frames can get in the way during setup, but once you figure out the happy-medium, it ceases to be an issue and you can play wearing glasses pretty easily, though you may have to clean it more often. The entire headset is built to be tweaked and adjusted at several different points, giving you full control over the comfort level.
Whereas the previous PSVR had to make use of the PlayStation Move controllers and PlayStation Eye camera, the PSVR 2 headset has built in cameras on the headset. It scans your entire environment at set up and determines the best place for you to play unobstructed. You have the ability to override their suggestion if you prefer your current location, but the device will offer up suggestions aimed at getting the best results. You can also easily activate a passthrough camera via a button on the bottom of the headset. This allows you to see your entire environment as those cameras turn on to take in your surroundings. This is extremely useful for locating your controllers, adjusting your positioning, or just simply taking a beverage break after some high intensity gaming.
The PSVR 2 ditches the Move controllers for the new Sense controller, which is basically just PlayStation’s version of the currently accepted standardized VR controller. While modeled after the standard VR controller, the Sense does include PlayStation’s vaunted haptic feedback on the controller and headset, and it truly helps with immersion even if it takes a toll on the battery life. My only issue with these controllers are the fact that they weren’t meant for people with big-ass manhands like I have. The top joint on my thumb just happens to rest right under the ring and it makes using my thumb an extremely difficult task. I constantly have to adjust the controller in my hand to use it fully. People with smaller hands will not have to worry about this, but here’s to hoping PlayStation releases an XL model for those of us with massive mitts.
The battery life on the Sense controllers is pretty limited, so you may want to adjust different features within the system to try and get the most out of your battery life. The simplest fix to this problem is to disable haptics, but I refuse to do that as it defeats the purpose of playing virtual reality. Hopefully Sony comes up with a battery pack or adapter people can use for more lengthy gaming sessions. As VR grows in popularity, people are going to want to spend more and more time in-system, but that can only be done if they have the ability to control their character within the virtual space. It may be wise to get a second pair of Sense controllers, but storing them is going to be an issue. Once put on the special charging dock you can purchase separately, the entire controller dock and controllers are about the size of an Xbox Series X, so not exactly small. Fortunately the box the system comes in is meant to double as a storage crate.
The biggest issue with the PSVR 2 right now is a lack of titles and upcoming titles announced. Aside from Call of the Mountain, which is stunningly fabulous and worth the price of admission alone, most everything released along with the system were games that had been available on the Quest or Index, it just wasn’t compatible with the older PSVR. But along those same lines, most of the games that were available for the PSVR were not ported over to the PSVR 2, making their limited stock of games even more limited. The State of Play released yesterday by Sony showcased some of their upcoming titles, but they were mostly indie affairs and none of them had a concrete release date, just the nebulous 2023 date. If they don’t put out titles, it won’t matter how good the hardware is.
On the whole, there’s a ton to love about the PSVR 2 and I would highly recommend it but with a few important caveats. The first caveat is that you should only buy the PSVR 2 if gaming is your only plan for the headset. If you intend to use it for any sort of creating or pairing it with any sort of business software, you’re gonna be very disappointed as the headset does not even connect to the PC. It is not intended to ever connect to PCs, so gaming really has to be at the front of your stated intentions for the headset. The second caveat is that you’re going to have to wait for any sort of real games to show up on the headset. There are some fantastic games on there, but nothing that really showcases the true power of the required PS5 base. Hopefully this changes.
This headset is definitely the best device you could buy if you’re attempting to get into the VR scene and you already own a PS5. They’re easy to find, easy to set up, and easy to get addicted to in a real and deep way. I’d start with Horizon: Call of the Mountain, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, and maybe something like Tentacular or Tetris Effect to start out. The cost might be high, but the true immersion is worth it. If you really want to see what it’s capable of doing before buying, look up videos of people using it on Gran Turismo 7. If that doesn’t sell you on the idea that VR is here and for real, not much ever will.
Flip the pages to see videos of me playing various PlayStation VR2 games while streaming them to YouTube.
Star Wars: Tales from Galaxy’s Edge — https://youtube.com/live/p8HjYxEq1m8?feature=share
Horizon: Call of the Mountain — https://youtube.com/live/GBBugN1KxXI?feature=share
Kane Webb is an entertainment journalist for @BSO and @TheMarvelReport. He also writes about the USC Trojans for @AthlonSports and has been featured on @FanSided, @Scout, @Rivals, the Bakersfield Californian, Wisconsin State Journal, and much more. You can follow him on Twitter: @FightOnTwist