Rarely has a launch sparked as much enthusiasm among developers as the PlayStation VR2. La Presse has been given access to around twenty virtual reality games since the beginning of February. Impossible, especially with this demanding medium, and without hiring several full-time staff to study them in depth, but all were entitled to a first contact, between 30 minutes and two hours. Here are six that particularly caught our attention. And that’s just a taste.
Posted at 6:08 p.m
Moss and Moss: Book II
SCREEN PHOTO
As told in a fairy tale, Moss is so cute it will make you smile all the time. We control here from above, like a puppeteer, a brave little mouse, Quill. She roams through her mouse world on the back of a squirrel, crosses human ruins, jumps from rocks to creepers and defends herself with her small sword against her enemies, large peeled beetles or prickly plants. Each passage is a puzzle in which the player must, among other things, make the mouse jump, but also control elements of the decor with his hand, pulling a stone block or pushing a wooden door. The graphics are beautiful and the controls are quite intuitive.
knocker
IMAGE PROVIDED BY DROOL
Here we have a very special experience with a game of “rhythmic violence”. In the body of a beetle, you slide down a track like a bobsled in a virtual setting of lines and lightning. To the rhythm of haunting music that dictates the right moments to act, you’ll have to intercept the obstacles, stick to the turns to spin well, and undo the psychedelic triangles that await you at the end of the course. Light blasts, percussion hits and speed are on the menu. Not the slickest of games, but well designed and utterly exotic.
song in the smoke
IMAGE PROVIDED BY PERP GAMES
The square graphics aren’t the most polished, but Song in the Smoke includes some neat little finds. We are here in the first person and embody a man or woman of the caves exploring their surroundings collecting fruits and various objects to start a fire, craft a knife, assemble a torch and defend against his enemies. Crazy fun, banging two rocks against each other to start a fire, rubbing a bone to make it an awl, cutting rocks to make arrowheads.
demeo
SCREEN PHOTO
This is one of the most awesome virtual reality applications we’ve ever tried. You officiate over a gaming table like a master in Dungeons and Dragons. With your virtual hands you control your champion, moving him from square to square, opening treasure chests and attacking the monsters and terrible hairy beasts that surround you. Progress on the boxes and small animations follow each other. The table can be rotated and zoomed to see the action better, and all action cards for spectacular hits or healing are in your hands. The move is chosen by a virtual roll of the dice. Fantasy table game fans will love it.
ground infinite
IMAGE SUPPLIED BY ENHANCE
Rez Infinite is a fully realized sci-fi fantasy. In a vector setting, we have to delve deeper and deeper into the circuits of an artificial intelligence, Eden, that can no longer cope with its information overload. You float through corridors, shoot at approaching ships or try to take out with a missile. Everything is synchronized to techno music that follows the rhythm of your shot. The game looks simple and gets more and more challenging as you progress to safer areas. Released in a first version in 2017 for Oculus and HTC Vive, Rez Infinite received a facelift for PS VR2.
Zombieland: headshot fever forever
IMAGE PROVIDED BY XR GAMES
This zombie survival game is so insane and fun that it’s not scary at all. Equipped with pistols, revolvers and rifles of all kinds, you’ll be attacked from all sides by zombies who want to chew on your brain or send you body parts. The big challenge is having enough ammo, which you must reload by pulling a trigger and then bringing the gun to your chest. The Sense controllers’ trigger deploys and hardens like a real weapon. Getting hard to nauseous: We move towards a blue circle in a single jump that indicates the next location.