PlayStation VR2 Hands-on: A Major Upgrade

Sony’s PlayStation VR2 may not be released until next year, but after months of drip-feed news, the company is finally letting your eyes get to grips with the VR headset. Even after quite a bit of time with the device, it looks like the new headset will be a major upgrade from the original PSVR in almost every way.

Let’s start with devices that we already know a lot about. For one thing, it has a more modern look that closely matches the PS5’s design language, and you’ll only need to connect it to your PS5 with a single USB-C cable. The headset itself has an OLED screen, offers a 110-degree field of view and 4K HDR, and supports 90Hz and 120Hz frame rates for smoother gameplay. Unlike its predecessor, you will not need to set up external cameras to follow your movements; Instead, the headset has four cameras built into the front of the screen. The new PSVR2 Sense ball-shaped controllers have adaptive triggers, haptic feedback (such as the DualSense) and can even detect finger touches.

But how do you feel about playing games on PSVR2 with all their new bells and whistles? The actual PSVR2 was fun to use. Like most modern VR headsets, it allows you to adjust the head strap to make sure everything rests comfortably on your head, and you can adjust the interpupillary distance (IPD) so that the actual lenses inside the headset are the right distance for you. The screens looked great, although at times things did look a bit blurry at the edges, which can also happen With the first PSVR.

Sony’s new Sense consoles have been a marked improvement. The original PSVR was based on Sony’s Move controllers – which you may remember looked like funky sticks with glowing balls at the end – and they had a few issues. The original PSVR setup sometimes had trouble tracking the glowing balls, which can ruin the immersive experience of VR, use the first version of the Move controller Micro USB port for charging. Thankfully, Sony fixed this last complaint by switching to Micro USB (so it probably wasn’t a huge upgrade).

On the other hand, it looks like the sensory controls (pun intended) would be much better. The touchscreens were excellent, which might not be too surprising if you feel Sony’s excellent touches in the DualSense. Touch discovery was a really useful way to interact with virtual reality worlds. Sure, you can pick up weapons, but it also allows you to bend your fingers and interact with things in a more natural way. It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t available in every game we tried, but when it worked, it added an extra layer of immersion.

The PSVR2’s single-cable setup was much appreciated. The original PSVR required an extra box and set of cables to work, so simply plugging a single cable directly into the PS5 is a less cumbersome solution. (Although it’s not as nice as a stand-alone wired headset like the Meta Quest series.) Virtual reality games usually require you to take a break now and then so you don’t get a migraine. But that wasn’t a big deal with PSVR 2. You can spend a good chunk of time without feeling stressed.

For the games themselves, we tried a few titles: The call of the horizon from the mountainA copy of Resident Evil Village optimized for PSVR2, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Chapter 2and the newly announced Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge Enhanced Edition.

The call of the horizon from the mountain It was the most technically advanced – probably because it was built from the ground up for PSVR2. The sense of scale in the game is amazing, watching a giant It felt like walking a mechanical dinosaur right above the head is like a post-apocalyptic visit Jurassic Park. Rock climbing was also incredibly fun, provided you resist the urge to look downhill. The new Sense controllers vibrate when you touch objects, so they’ve added an extra layer of physical strength when you draw your bow and shoot an arrow. We were also very impressed with how much thought was given to building an interactive world. Can you just… smash plates and throw crates off a cliff? yes! Can you pick up a hammer and strike a bell, even though there is no conspiracy reason to do so? Yes too!

The other games were fun, too. Resident Evil Village It had a frightening atmosphere, which is really terrifying when the undead wake up in your face. (Poor Ethan Winters, he’s already going through it.) Meanwhile, you can be exactly creative How hit pedestrians in The Walking Dead: Saint & Sinners Chapter 2. Cutting through it with saws is sure fun, but we highly recommend making zombie kebabs with a katana.

One thing we don’t know yet? the cost; Sony did not share this as part of the hands-on event. But with Meta’s new high-end Quest headset on the horizon (which a prototype leaked this weekend) and Apple’s “Reality” headset seemingly about to launch, we’re hopeful that Sony will competitively price the PSVR2 headset (maybe around $400?) Encourage PlayStation gamers to pick one up.

We can’t wait to try out Sony’s new VR experience again. The “early 2023” release window makes it seem like we won’t have to wait long until next year to finally play more — and we’re crossing our fingers that buying hardware won’t break the bank.