It’s probably time to accept that VR is a big deal, at least for now, and that PlayStation’s own VR headset needs to hit the ground running. The hope for PS VR has to be that big name studios seize the opportunity to further it in more meaningful ways than just assembling vapid tech demos. Capcom have taken that brave step into full integration with Resident Evil 7 recently, albeit in a loose, unpolished manner. So what else should take the plunge, and more importantly, how should these series go about it?
Singstar
Guitar Hero’s latest foray saw you play to ‘live’ crowds, and as gimmicks go, that would be an interesting one to get into with VR; but with Guitar game’s waning again, and being a bit fiddly to implement into VR, I’d go the karaoke route with Singstar instead. Imagine belting out hits to sold out arenas or festivals with the crowd at your mercy? It’d be one hell of an ego trip and a very simple way to show off what VR could do to those not too au fait with regular games.
FIFA
Now, actually playing FIFA on the pitch in VR isn’t what I’m thinking here, though it could be possible if you were trying to recreate the Chelsea portion of Fernando Torres’ career. No, I have two ideas for EA’s sporting juggernaut to utilize VR with.
The first is simply a spectator mode. You, in any seat, in any ground featured in the game, drinking in the virtual atmosphere of a game. That’d be for novelty value only though, a far more immersive mode would be VR Management.
Imagine, confined to your technical area but able to shout instructions at the players that are competing just a few feet away from you? A quick look down would see your tablet that gives you tactical options to change up on the fly. Where FIFA can’t compete with Football Manager in the deep, nitty gritty of management, it could still provide some highly immersive roleplaying and room damage when you virtually try to shove Jose Mourinho.
Telltale’s Poker Night at the Inventory
This is probably the easiest fit for VR. You don’t move much playing poker, unless you’re a bad loser who broke your mate’s table with one frustrated kick. The hook with Telltale’s PNatI is that you get to be involved (rather silently) in conversation with a selection of interesting characters from various media forms. Last time out you played poker against Ash from Evil Dead, Sam from Sam and Max, Claptrap from Borderlands, and Brock Samson from Venture Bros, all overseen by everybody’s favourite murderous A.I. GLADOS.
Imagine who you could rub shoulders with in a new VR environment? Awkward racism and constant accusations of cheating with Kenny from The Walking Dead perhaps? Keeping your cool against Bigby from Fables? Insist Ramsay Bolton keeps his dogs outside while you play a final hand against him and Bruce Wayne? Being involved in those conversations on a more immersive level would be something else.
XCOM
XCOM is a fantastic turn-based strategy title series, and the best thing about games like it being in VR is theslower pacing. Being able to swoop around inside the maps, planning your tactics with even finer detail, and actually roaming the halls of your base, making decisions and inspecting your troops, would go a long way to making you really feel like the Commander of XCOM. If this series wasn’t dangerously engrossing enough already, VR could tip it into full-on lethal territory.
Grand Theft Auto
Given the right level of attention by Rockstar, the GTA universe is ripe for some VR shenanigans. Aspects of combat, driving, and exploration all could benefit from the immersive experience VR brings. In fact, if any game could truly show off the potential for the format on a wider spectrum, it’d have to be GTA. Making the entire game VR-friendly is definitely asking a bit too much, there are quite a lot of moving parts to tackle after all,but you could certainly use it for significant chunks or separate modes.
You have those mini games such as the golf and darts seen in GTA V that suit a slower pace. Yet it is perhaps a series of tours that could be the best initial showcase. Flying high above Los Santos or Liberty City in a helicopter, watching the world at work below, would be splendid. Then you have ground level sightseeing and a bit of ocean exploration to consider. It can be hard to appreciate the sheer amount of detail in GTA V’s world for instance, but with that extra step into VR, it could really make it noticeable; just think of GTA V with first person mode all through PS VR.
