play station official magazine

027

Alex Spencer Oscar Taylor-Kent

P

layStation VR spent

its first two years as

an impressive

proof-of-concept

• cheaper than its PC
  equivalents, with smart use
  of pre-existing equipment
  like the camera and PS Move
  controllers – but it was still
  hard to justify dropping a
  significant chunk of change
  on it. There simply wasn’t
  the library of games to
  support it, and I’ve heard
  many sad stories of headsets
  stuck in cupboards, their
  lenses gathering dust.
  But in 2018 – right around
  PS VR’s second anniversary,
  in fact – that started to
  change. Last year saw the
  arrival of Guitar-Hero-meets-
  Jedi-Knight rhythm game
  Beat Saber, adorable mouse
  fantasy adventure Moss, and
  my beloved Tetris Effect (the
  best way to put yourself into
  a VR trance). But perhaps
  most important was Astro
  Bot: Rescue Mission, which
  showed how a platformer
  could not only work but
  flourish on the platform.

SOUL PROVIDER

The library’s swollen enough

that I feel comfortable

mentioning games that may

or may not work for you.

Déraciné is fascinating, but

its delicate fairytale approach

is unlikely to please anyone

hoping for a Dark Souls

successor in FromSoftware’s

first PS VR game. Firewall:

Zero Hour is proof that an

online squad shooter can

work in VR, but is less

enjoyable without a PS Aim

controller. The Persistence

seems like a fascinating mix

of survival horror, roguelike,

and immersive shooter, but I

couldn’t play it without

getting motion sick. But

they’re vital – because where

is any gaming platform

without its 7/10 games and

divisive titles?

In 2019, PS VR’s future is

as bright as the tip of a PS

Move controller. We’ve seen

discounts bring down the

barrier to entry, and devs are

starting to make their second

or third games for the

platform. Keep an eye out for

Megalith, an Overwatch-style

hero shooter from a team

which worked on Insomniac’s

Ratchet & Clank games, and

Media Molecule’s Dreams,

which will let players build

their own games and explore

others’ all in PS VR. And if all

that makes you impatient...

well, at least we can sink into

virtual worlds while we wait.

F

lip over to p102 and

you’ll find us delving

into the depths of the

Lego Aquaman DLC

content pack for Lego DC

Super-Villains. As far as

movie videogame tie-ins get,

that’s about the best we can

hope for these days, but it

boggles the mind as to why.

After all, it’s not just Lego

Aquaman that’s got me

thinking about the current

dearth of great superhero

games. To tell the truth it’s

been niggling at my

superhero-loving brain since

E3 2018, when I was first

ushered into a little room and

my hands were placed lovingly

around the controller that was

hooked up to the new Iron

Man game. Sorry, I mean the

new BioWare game, Anthem.

I’ve written about Anthem

every way I know how in the

months since – I’m massively

looking forward to it. But

catch me down the milkshake

shack chatting with someone

none the wiser about the

game-o-sphere and you’ll

quickly find me making my

way to the easiest explanation

of what it is: “a sci-fi RPG

game where you’re basically in

an Iron Man suit”.

It’s not that good superhero

PlayStation 4 games, or even

good superhero movie tie-in

games don’t exist. Spider-

Man 2 and X-Men Origins:

Wolverine stand out, but both

were released over ten years

ago. It’s not that no games

since then have tied into the

Marvel Cinematic Universe,

but you’d be forgiven for

forcibly erasing the likes of

Iron Man, Thor, and Captain

America on PlayStation 3

from your mind.

MOVIE MAGIC

It seems that in the last

couple of generations great

superhero games have been

few and far between. We’ve

only really had Rocksteady’s

Batman Arkham series, and

some decent Spidey titles

preceding Insomniac’s

Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Arguably being free from

being movie tie-ins has

allowed both those to be so

good, but why do we have to

wait so long for hits? When

Marvel Studios is cranking

out hit movies with plans well

in advance for future films,

why can’t a range of great

developers lock in some

amazing games based on

them? There is, of course,

Square Enix’s The Avengers in

the works, but right now it’s

Anthem and our imaginations.

MORETHANTWOYEARS

AFTERRELEASE,PLAYSTATION

VRHASFINALLYCOME

OFAGE.

LIKEBONNIETYLER,

I’MHOLDINGOUTFORA

SUPERHEROUNTILTHEEND

OFTHENIGHT.

WRITER BIO

Alex Spencer used to be a PS VR sceptic, not sure it wasn’t some techy

gimmick. Then he saw the face of Tetris Effect, now he’s a believer, not a trace

of doubt in his mind – encased, as it is, within a glowing blue headset.

WRITER BIO

Oscar Taylor-Kent’s Marvel movie ranking is incomprehensible – a scrawl of

symbols he calls letters that only have meaning to him. All he wants you to know

is: Iron Man 3 is better than you think it is, no matter what you’re thinking.

Games like Tetris Effect and Astro Bot laid a

solid foundation for 2019 to build on

With the MCU dominating box offices, why are

great superhero games so rare?

OPINION