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  • 09/12/2023
PSVR2 is an exciting piece of kit that delivers an amazing experience, however it is an expensive one. The question is, is it worth it?
Transcript
00:00 [Sounds of a baby crying]
00:04 Shit!
00:05 [Sounds of a baby crying]
00:07 So I'm here with Duncan and we've been with the PSVR 2 for about a week now.
00:12 Can you give us your sort of verdict in a one sentence encapsulated moment?
00:16 Absolutely, it's probably going to be a long rambling sentence but I'm really enjoying my time with PSVR 2.
00:23 I think it's a really great feature set in terms of a VR headset,
00:28 especially when you compare it to a lot of the higher end VR headsets on the market.
00:32 It is admittedly expensive and that's going to be the biggest barrier to entry for most people
00:37 but I think in the long run if Sony supports it properly it's going to be definitely worth the price tag.
00:44 Awesome, so let's talk about how much it is.
00:47 It's like £5-9. How does that compare to like you said the higher end?
00:53 So I'd say the most natural comparison I would make is to something like the HTC Vive Pro 2
00:59 which is our current top pick for VR headsets mainly because it's got the highest resolution
01:06 and sort of highest end feature set.
01:09 It's about £700-$800.
01:13 You need a whacking great PC to run that I'm assuming.
01:15 Exactly, yeah.
01:16 But this is the thing, you're getting a lot of the same features and almost the same resolution
01:21 and almost the same field of view with PSVR 2 but you're also going to have to spend money on the PS5
01:27 and it's only going to work with the PS5 at the moment.
01:30 So that's the most natural comparison I would make
01:35 and I would say it's surprisingly good at competing with a high end VR headset like that.
01:41 You've also got stuff like the Metaquest 2 but 2023 is going to be quite a big year for VR
01:46 because we've got the HTC Vive XR Elite which is also coming out this month
01:52 and we've got I think two new meta headsets coming out as well.
01:56 Oh my god.
01:57 So it's going to be...
01:58 They did the Pro last year as well didn't they?
01:59 Yes, yeah.
02:00 And so it's going to be an interesting year because VR, the metaverse is creeping into place.
02:07 Oh no!
02:08 So like the Vive XR Elite I think it sort of takes in augmented reality as well
02:14 and sort of integrates the two whereas PSVR 2 is very firmly this is for gaming,
02:20 this isn't for any social or anything else.
02:24 So let's talk about the games a bit because I think like having played Horizon and a couple of other things on it
02:28 like for me the huge difference between this and the PSVR 1 is the graphical fidelity.
02:34 Like there are times where I'm like this is on par with Horizon Forbidden West
02:38 or other games of this calibre like how would you say it compares?
02:42 Yeah, I would say the thing I've noticed most is probably stuff like contrast levels are just so, so clear
02:47 and I think that's down to the OLED panel in there.
02:51 Again like comparing that to other higher end VR headsets, the Vive Pro 2 has a LCD panel
02:59 with a similar sort of refresh rate but I think you're right like it's a noticeable difference in terms of graphics.
03:07 Yeah because the colours are so rich and everything feels really vibrant
03:10 and vibrant especially for a game like Horizon where that really matters.
03:14 Yeah all the landscapes and stuff you immediately just have to kind of take in.
03:18 I felt like I was getting dry mouthed, I was just like looking at it.
03:22 Totally, yeah, yeah, yeah and that kind of sums up the whole experience
03:26 is like no matter how many VR headsets you try this one is one that continually just makes you sort of chuckle
03:32 at how real and how present you are in all the games.
03:36 What's also great about it is it was like incredibly easy to set up.
03:39 Yes, yes.
03:40 Talk me through that process.
03:42 Again so like not to sound like a broken record but if you compare it to other VR headsets,
03:46 stuff like the Vive Pro 2, there's like so much set up involved.
03:50 There's like you know set up these sensors around the room, set up your play space
03:54 and that usually takes a long time.
03:56 PlayStation VR 1 had famous problems with how many wires and tethers and how heavy it felt.
04:01 That weird little HDMI box thing.
04:03 Yeah, exactly and this is just it's a breeze in comparison.
04:07 It does all of the, as soon as you start a play session it tracks the room really quickly and really easily.
04:12 It's really cool the way it sort of like polygons your entire room.
04:15 It's super accurate too.
04:16 I think we talked before about how accurate it is with the floor and sort of height stuff.
04:22 But it you know out of the box you're talking like 5, 10 minutes and that's the first time
04:27 and after that point just the room tracking stuff will take about 5 minutes if that
04:31 before you're actually in a game.
04:33 Yeah, we've been moving it around.
04:34 We've been trying it in the studio, we've been trying it in my house, in the office
04:37 and like the ability to kind of just plug it in and it go,
04:40 "Oh, not where you were playing before. Do you want to like set up a temporary space?"
04:43 Yes.
04:44 You have a quick little look around and it goes, "Okay, cool. Let's set this up as like a temporary area."
04:48 Which is like you do want to kind of want to show it to people and take it to other people's houses
04:52 once you've got it.
04:53 So the option to do that and it to be really quick is like a game changer.
04:59 It's one wire. Yes, it's not wireless like the Quest 2 but like it is one down there.
05:05 Just one very long wire.
05:06 USB-C wire which is great. I didn't feel like it was getting in the way at all when I was playing.
05:12 No, I think it obviously depends how you play.
05:14 If you like are someone who never uses the analog sticks you're probably going to get tangled up at some point.
05:18 But like it's not noticeable at all and the headset doesn't feel as heavy
05:22 or as sort of like weighted down by a wire at all.
05:25 It's really comfortable, right?
05:27 I think I don't know about you.
05:29 I've been having trouble getting like a consistent fit on my face every time.
05:33 I don't know if it's because...
05:34 I feel like it slowly like sinks.
05:35 It does.
05:36 Yeah.
05:37 And like I don't know if it's because I wear quite thick framed glasses
05:40 but it is quite tough to sometimes get a consistent like this is where it sits and it's going to stay there.
05:45 Yeah, I think because it's got the eye tracking as well.
05:47 Like I feel like unless you've got your eyes at like the perfect point
05:51 it's always a slight little bit out of focus unless you just...
05:54 But like I will say as someone who also majority wears quite chunky glasses
05:59 it's the most comfortable glasses experience I've had in VR.
06:02 Like Quest 2 I always get like pressure points despite the fact it's all you know glasses accommodating
06:08 whereas this is much better in my opinion.
06:11 Yeah, it has like a really like premium feel on your face.
06:15 Yeah.
06:16 And one thing I do absolutely love and I think is really underutilized so far
06:22 is the haptic feedback in the headband.
06:24 Yeah.
06:25 Like in Horizon and stuff when you have the flying machines over you
06:29 it's like and you feel that rumble in your head it's like whoa this is like super...
06:33 It only happens like a couple of times in the game though which is just like...
06:36 Yeah.
06:37 I was in like a blizzard and you can feel it in the controllers
06:39 but I'm just like I'm not feeling it in my head like a bit of a shame
06:42 because I constantly forgot it's there and then when it did happen I was like woo!
06:45 Yeah, I completely agree.
06:46 It's like as soon as it rumbles on your forehead you're like whoa I want more of that.
06:51 Yeah.
06:52 That's really cool.
06:53 What are the launch games looking like because I feel like PlayStation is very much
06:56 talking about launch window rather than like what's going to actually be available on day one.
07:01 Yeah, well I mean even like before this trying to figure out what the actual launch games are
07:06 it's quite tough because they've said you know oh there's over 30 at launch
07:10 and that's launch window and there's quite a few of those that are made up by ports
07:14 of existing VR games.
07:16 Yeah.
07:17 So yeah it's kind of hard to talk about how many proper VR 2, PSVR 2 games there actually are.
07:24 Some of them have like free upgrades from if you have the PSVR 1 version some of like £10, $10
07:29 so it's all, it's very confusing isn't it.
07:31 I mean if you compare that to PSVR 1 I mean I know you've talked before about how
07:35 it's kind of disappointing there's no demo disc with this.
07:38 Yeah.
07:39 Because that and when you compare the bundles as well with PSVR 1 I mean
07:44 arguably the sales of PSVR 1 sailed because of the bundles that were on offer
07:50 and there's only the Horizon bundle with this.
07:52 Yeah.
07:53 So I mean I think that's probably one of the disadvantages it has to be
07:57 but long run hopefully it's something that is remedied and PlayStation is making real strides
08:04 into PC in terms of the PC market this past year.
08:09 So whether they decide to go right we're going to make PSVR compatible with PC
08:15 or we're going to open things up so that things like PC specific VR games
08:19 are going to be more of a feature on the PlayStation Store.
08:22 That's the sort of thing you're kind of hoping for for the investment.
08:26 Yeah because it's weird isn't it because I think on the one hand if you're new to PS,
08:31 if you're new to VR like the PSVR 2 is your first headset there's a kind of a good range of stuff
08:36 if you haven't experienced like the PSVR 1 or Quest 2 or whatever
08:41 whereas I feel like people who are probably going to be day one to this are like VR courtesers.
08:47 I'm looking at the line up and I'm like wait I reviewed that for PSVR 1
08:51 like back in what 2017 or whatever it was before that
08:56 and it's just like I think there's a sort of imbalance between like offering more that is new
09:02 because I think there's only like I mean Resident Evil 8 VR, the VR version and the Gran Turismo 7.
09:10 They're the kind of like big system sellers but like we haven't been able to test GTA,
09:16 GTA 7 or Resi ourselves yet so it's hard to sort of justify what that launch window
09:23 or like what our suggestions are going to be for that launch window at the moment.
09:26 Yeah.
09:27 So we've talked about everything from launch games to ease of use to you know the actual sort of quality of
09:32 and we haven't even talked about the controllers which we'll come on to in a minute
09:35 but like bearing all of that in mind like would you advise people buy it now or wait and see how everything pans out?
09:43 See it's tough to answer it because right now it is the price tag is the big barrier
09:49 it's the sort of thing that goes right well if I'm gonna pay that much plus I've already invested in a PS5
09:55 you want to have that big library of games ready to you as soon as you boot it up.
10:01 So I mean right now I don't think it's an emergency that you should go out and buy one
10:07 but I mean is it worth having like is it a good quality VR headset?
10:12 Absolutely like it's definitely one of the best ones I've ever tried
10:15 and I think like I said at the start if PlayStation supports it and I would have faith that they will.
10:22 I mean they didn't just drop PSVR 1 and then leave it to die.
10:26 They did actually you know make sure there were games and support for it going forward.
10:30 So I mean I would say if you want to wait for a price drop you're not really like you're not missing out right now.
10:37 I can definitely recommend it as someone who's always played games on PlayStation
10:41 like it's integrated into the PlayStation ecosystem so so well.
10:44 Yeah I can't wait to see what they do in the future in terms of like what is a God of War VR experience
10:49 that like what is you know Sackboy in VR would be amazing
10:53 and like especially because the quality of the games is so high
10:57 and so the worlds are so rich and you're getting much more parity between PS5 and PSVR.
11:03 And I think these controllers are a game changer as well like especially compared to the Move ones of the PSVR
11:09 one which were literally PS3 tech which is maddening really.
11:14 And speaking of PS3 tech I mean they still use six axis which is like their PlayStation are so stubborn.
11:20 They're like six axis will be there.
11:22 It's good.
11:23 But actually it really is like it tracks really accurately
11:26 and like you say the haptics and the adaptive triggers and stuff.
11:29 It feels like that feature from the DualSense is actually being utilized in like an excellent way here.
11:36 Yeah.
11:37 In like in a lot of ways better than I would say the DualSense ever has
11:41 because you are so grounded in whatever experience you're playing.
11:45 And one thing I will mention as well even if you don't have a lot of VR games to play
11:50 or you're worried about the extra cost of buying more VR games specifically for it.
11:55 One thing I've been really enjoying is playing PS5 games just in the cinematic mode
12:00 because it's like it is such a great way of just putting yourself in an experience
12:06 and taking away all the distractions.
12:08 So if there's a game that you are really keen to play
12:11 shut off everyone and all of your phone notifications put your VR headset on and just play it like that.
12:16 It's great for like you were saying about like families or like flatmates and stuff
12:20 being able to have like it's almost like a built in second screen in a way.
12:24 If someone wants to watch a movie you're like yeah but I really want to dive into God of War or something.
12:28 And have your family and flatmates prank you at the same time.
12:31 Yeah just constantly poking you and being annoying.
12:34 Okay so with all that in mind what are we giving the PSVR to?
12:39 I'm going to give it four and a half stars out of five.
12:42 Reason being I think it's a really high quality VR headset.
12:46 The controllers like you say are great.
12:48 It's integrated into PlayStation so so well.
12:51 And when you're using it you immediately sort of understand
12:55 why you need to invest as much in it as PlayStation wants you to.
12:59 It is just the question of long term support and you know getting...
13:03 You need to find that price.
13:04 Yeah getting more games as we go forward.
13:06 I think you know if we're able to like revise scores that might change.
13:11 You know there's more value for money to be had.
13:13 There's room for it to grow.
13:14 Absolutely.
13:15 As long as the support is there and the games are there.
13:17 Yeah.
13:18 Okay awesome.
13:19 Well that's our verdict on PSVR 2.
13:21 Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions
13:24 or if you're going to be buying one yourself because we definitely want to know.
13:27 But yeah like and subscribe obviously to Stay Tuned to GamesRadar for more.
13:30 Thanks very much.
13:31 Thanks.
13:32 Thanks.
13:34 Stay tuned to GamesRadar for more.

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