11 most wanted PSVR 2 launch titles that would make our VR dreams come true
Head in the clouds.
A couple of weeks ago I listed off my top 13 confirmed PSVR2 games that I couldn't wait to play and, at the end of it, I wondered what people's dream PSVR 2 games would be. Some answered that question in the comments, so I took some of your suggestions, mixed them up with some of my own and created the following list of my top 11 most wanted PSVR 2 launch games! Which are listed in no particular order.
Please bear in mind that this is nothing more than my dream launch line-up for the PSVR 2. This is a wish list only so some of the games featured may not exist yet and maybe even never will at all. For this list I have also excluded PSVR 1 ports and instead gone for ports of big PC VR games that have previously been unplayable on Sony's original headset.
Blood and Truth was a cracker and easily one of my favourite games on the PSVR. It's a fast-paced James Bond simulator that allowed you to roleplay as a soldier in a warzone, a cockney gangster literally riding shotgun in a sports car and even some kind of parkour hitman, dodging machine gun fire from a helicopter as you leg it across the floors of a barely built block of flats before they explode behind you.
In Blood and Truth you're the star of your very own action movie and in it, you can catch and throw back live grenades, dual wield pistols and live out all of those action movie fantasies that you never thought would come true. There's an excellent supporting cast who are brought to life by some top notch voice acting and motion capture, and this serves to give you a real connection to the characters in some of the slower paced scenes. Plus, each action set piece is just varied enough to make you constantly gasp out loud with the thrill of it all.
The gunplay is excellent too, but the news that the gameplay was on rails really turned a lot of people off and even stopped some of them from trying out this bloody great game. A sequel for PSVR2 is rumoured to be in the works - and if it isn't, I'd be very surprised. Fingers crossed we not only get a longer game this time around, but also one that allows the player more freedom of movement. Sure, the on-rails nature kept the pace rattling along but for a true big budget AAA feel and maximum immersion, we need that sequel to have full locomotion.
Half-Life: Alyx was by far and away the most requested dream title in the comments to my last PSVR 2 video and for good reason. It's also one of the best PC VR games ever made. The immersion factor in Half-Life: Alyx is so high that it'll feel like you're actually living through the experience with Alyx and oh my, what an experience it is. There's clever puzzles, thrilling combat, laugh out loud comedy and horror by the bucketload. If the poison headcrabs don't make you scream louder than a goat on a rollercoaster, the first time you meet Jeff will have you pooping your virtual pants in no time.
There are so many memorable moments in Half-Life: Alyx that I'd be here all day if I tried to list them all. There's a reason why this game continues to be one of the best sellers on PC VR to this day and, simply put, that reason is because it's chuffing amazing. All we have are rumours and hopes to go on at this point, but if Half-Life: Alyx did come to PSVR 2, this would without a doubt be the system selling app that the headset needs.
The fact that Gran Turismo 7 launched without PSVR support came as a massive disappointment to all you digital petrol heads out there but if anything can bring thecurrent instalment of Polyphony's stunning racing sim to the virtual world, it's PSVR2.
Commenter Viral Oza came up with a lovely pitch for it, saying, "Just imagine, you are racing multiplayer on trial mountain, a car comes next to you and you turn your head and look at the driver driving the car next to you. That driver is gazing right back at you and through the helmets, your eyes meet (due to eye tracking), then you turn your heads back and race to the finish line.. " That's maybe a slightly romantic imagining of what PSVR 2 may bring to the table for the game but it's also technically possible, I presume.
What you'll definitely be able to do though is check out those perfectly modelled, almost photorealistic vehicles in 4K HDR as if you were actually standing next to them or even better, sat inside them in real life. Combine that with some headset haptics that allow you to feel even the slightest rumble from the road or, in my case, every bone splintering smash and you're in for a wild time. But, combine all of that with a full-on racing setup with a seat and a racing wheel and you'll be set for probably one of the most realistic feeling and immersive experiences of your life.
Once upon a time, we here at Eurogamer used to love playing a bit of Phasmophobia together. I would always jump into it in VR though as that made the game way more scarier and funnier than playing it in flat. Unfortunately, subsequent updates made the game harder, more unfair and sadly much less fun, but thankfully we had Forewarned to fall back on.
Forewarned is basically Phasmophobia set inside an Egyptian tomb rather than some random american 3 bed house but crucially, it's scarier, there's more to do, it's way less aggravating and with each update it keeps getting better, not worse. In terms of a PSVR2 release this one is utter wishful thinking but, in all honesty, some kind of multiplayer ghost hunting VR game would be amazing on the PSVR2.
With the new Sense controllers, players would be able to get to grips with all of Forewarned's Mejai hunting tools as they head off into the darkness of a tomb together. And just imagine how utterly terrifying it would be to feel your headset haptics go off as an ancient Egyptian god sneaks up behind you and whispers in your ear. Wait, did I say terrifying? I meant amazing! This would be such a cool addition to the PSVR2 library and it would be amazing to watch console players finally being able to experience a PC born ghost hunting game.
Battle Royale games in VR sound like a great idea in theory, but of the many who have tried only one of them has ever really taken off. Population: One (which admittedly has the world's stupidest name as you can only play in trios) is a fantastic Battle Royale game that mixes open world combat with fantastic, arcadey shooting action and some of the coolest, free-est movement schemes in any VR game ever.
You see that building over there? You can climb it! In fact, you can climb everything and that opens up a word of possibilities when it comes to out thinking and out flanking your opponents. Can't be bothered to climb back down again? Spread your arms out wide and jump off the top to glide down to safety like a big, featherless and fully armed Eagle of death. Then you can loot up before heading, guns blazing into the next shootout.
Again, there's absolutely no news of Population: One ever coming to PSVR2 at the moment, just a lot of hopes and dreams from me. That being said, with a really varied map to clamber over, loads of weapons to manually reload and a basic building mechanic, the PSVR 2's Sense controllers would come into play really well here. But also, what about utilising the PSVR2's eye tracking to select your weapons, med kits or shields from your weapon wheel? That'd be amazing!
Over the many years I've been covering VR, I've heard the phrase "imagine what Nintendo could do with VR" a lot. But here's the thing, with Astro Bot Rescue Mission you don't need to wait for Nintendo to get into VR because Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the most Nintendo-like thing on the entire PSVR platform.
This beautiful platformer really is the pinnacle of PSVR games and that's not just because it looks and sounds incredible. It's also down to the fact that Astro Bot constantly reinvents what a 3D platformer can be, delighting the player time and time again with moments of pure magic that just cannot be replicated in traditional, flat games. Each unique level oozes imagination and playing through the story made me remember the days when Mario 64 blew my mind with its game-changing take on the series.
It's not just the Astro Bot that gets to experience the adventure though, you're just as much a part of the game as they are and there's plenty of opportunities for you to interact with the stunning levels the Japan Studio has produced. Sadly, Japan Studio is keeping tight-lipped about whether or not there's a desperately wanted sequel in the works, but in all seriousness, PSVR 2 needs its own dose of Astro Bot. Thanks to the headset haptics, the eye tracking and the new Sense controllers, there's so much potential for new and imaginative ways for players to get immersed in VR.
One of the greatest PSVR games available (in my opinion) wasn't a game at all, instead it was three short VR missions in the game Ace Combat 7. Honestly, hey were so intensely immersive they almost made me cry tears of joy.
If you've ever wanted to feel like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Ace Combat's VR missions are the way to go. From the fully detailed airplane interiors through to the way that water droplets form on the glass of your cockpit as you thunder through thick clouds, everything here is drenched in realism. It also looked absolutely gorgeous, even on the low resolution PSVR headset.
A fully VR Ace Combat game for the PSVR 2 is probably the least likely game on this list to become a real thing, but if it did, it be amazing. Just think about how stunning the sky would look through that 4k headset and how detailed the ground below you would be. And what about on takeoff as you gun the throttle and rocket down the runway? With your headset and Sense controllers vibrating in unison, it would feel like you were actually there!
While this section is titled Boneworks/Bonelabs, I'd honestly be happy with one or the other on PSVR2, but would gladly take both.
Boneworks was one of the first VR games I played that managed to convince me that the virtual object that I was holding in my hands was a real thing with heft and weight. Both games have a steep learning curve when it comes to the control schemes due to this meaning that neither of them would have been possible to play using the Move controllers on PSVR 1. With the Sense controllers, replicating the PC experience would be easy though and seriously, if the developers, Stresslevel Zero can squeeze these games onto the Quest 2 then there's absolutely no excuse for them not to appear on the PSVR2.
While there's no definite news either way about a PSVR 2 port, Stress Level Zero did say back in 2021 that there was a 90 per cent chance that it would bring Boneworks to Sony's headset. That's a pretty good sign that either one or both of these games will make its way to PSVR 2 in the future.
As both a spooky horror game and a great introduction to the wonders of VR, Until Dawn's rollercoaster based spin-off Rush of Blood is in dire need of a sequel.
The first game was a perfect launch title for the original PSVR. Gentle enough to ease new players into the VR world but full of enough shocks and surprises to entertain even the hardiest of VR veterans. It was simple, scary, arcade fun and because of this it was the first game I'd put newcomers on when I was introducing them to PSVR.
Well that and the fact that it was absolutely hilarious to watch them freak out when all the creepy clowns attacked them.
Gorilla Tag is the only game on this list that, shamefully, I haven't played. Not only is it free, from what I can gather it's also one of the funniest and most physical VR games going.
You can pretty much gather what the game is about from the title though. You're a gorilla, or at least half of one anyway, and you need to use the power of your arms to run, jump, fall and climb your way to victory as you try to avoid the rapidly multiplying team of infected apes.
This game has some of the most positive VR reviews I've ever seen on the Steam store and it's such a simple premise that it would do amazingly on PSVR2. Sadly there's not a great chance of that happening, but you never know. Perhaps, if we ask them nicely enough, the developers will be kind enough to stop monkeying around and start work on a PSVR2 port.
Finally, what next generation VR head-set would be complete without a game that let you realistically dismember and decapitate an infinite supply of also realistic looking human beings?
The first time I played Blade and Sorcery, the action in it was so believable that I actually started to feel like deep down, I might actually be really evil. But then I remembered it was just a game and suddenly, lopping peoples legs off with a two handed broadsword before stabbing them through the eye socket with a dagger became the funniest, coolest thing I'd ever done in VR.
But gratuitous maiming isn't the only thing on offer here. There's climbing, magic spells to cast, sandbox arenas to play in and a very cool procedural dungeon crawling mode in there too. Plus, the game keeps getting updated regularly so fingers crossed, if this ever were to come to PSVR2, we'd get the full PC version and not the squished down Quest port.
So, what are the chances that either of these versions will ever make it to PSVR2? Well, according to a developer FAQ from 2021, it's a big fat maybe at the moment. But that doesn't mean we can't still dream. That's what this whole list was about!
And those, my VR loving friends, were my top 11 most wanted PSVR 2 launch games. But what do you think of my selections? Which ones would you love to see and which of my list do you think are pointless pipe dreams?
Let me know in the comments below and then, if you're feeling extra chatty, why not tell me what your most wanted PSVR 1 port would be and maybe it'll make it into a future listicle.
Thanks for reading!