I am not a hardcore gamer. I enjoy video games, but as the carefree whimsy of childhood gave way to mundane adult responsibility, I've found I have less time to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes.
Due to this constraint, I'm probably pickier about the games I invest my time in than most. Gone are the days when fancy graphics were enough to capture my $60. Instead, I tend to gravitate toward something with great characters and compelling stories. It's also why I've played The Last of Us three times through, but haven't paid full price for a Call of Duty title since Modern Warfare 3.
Gaming in 2017
Big-budget games have few tricks left up their sleeves in 2017. Tomb Raider was the first title to take my breath away, with huge, seemingly open levels ripe for exploration and relative freedom of movement. Quake II introduced me to the breakneck intensity of first-person shooters. The Uncharted series showed me what modern storytelling could look like through a gamer's lens.In the last console cycle, the Playstation 3 was my go-to entertainment box. Yet it took me three years from the launch of the Playstation 4 to finally adopt the successive console (in rabid anticipation of Uncharted 4's release). There was simply no compelling experience that demanded my attention. Sure, the console was powerful and well-received by gamers and critics, but it boasted little in the way of originality. In this age where the old is new again, developers continue to churn out "remasters" of old titles, but few are brave enough to explore any wholly new territory. My PS4, therefore, has seen less and less use as I wait patiently for the next big gaming breakthrough.
Which brings me to this newfangled "VR" everyone's been talking about.
Breaking the VR Wall
In 2015, I built my first gaming rig in almost a decade. It cost north of $1,000 at the time and it still only barely crests the hardware requirements for Steam's VR Performance Test. Again, I'm not a "hardcore" gamer, so investing in more capable components doesn't serve any purpose right now. Had I chosen to go that route, I'd then have to pony up around $500 on a headset and accompanying controllers, at which point I have to decide on which ecosystem (the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift) I'd be pledging allegiance to.
This is where home consoles have a leg up on PC gamers. No, they won't blow your mind with resolution or frame rates, but they present a much more affordable entry into VR. As it stands, Sony is the only mainstream console maker with a first-party VR solution. Unfortunately, that hardware costs more than the console itself. Even if you opt for the PS4 Pro at a relatively cheap $300, the PS VR bundle still costs anywhere from $350 to $500. Granted, this is still cheaper than a VR-ready PC and headset, but it's still not cheap enough that someone who is mildly curious about VR can just decide to "try it out."
Then there's the hardware itself, which often involves a clunky, silly-looking headset and cables dangling from your personage. Even with the (alleged) convenience of battery-equipped backpacks to carry your hardware, you're essentially tethered to your devices, or at the very least, bearing the weight of them on your back the entire time.
But assuming all these hurdles could be overcome, it's hard for me to picture how VR in and of itself provides a better experience than a standard video game. With experiences like Doom and Skyrim being remastered for VR, I have to wonder if these "remastered" games really know how to take advantage of the immersion virtual reality provides.
The Experience
All this is to say that when I was offered the chance to experience virtual reality for myself, I approached it with the sort of sardonic smirk that might characterize a person going to watch a magician perform: you know what you're supposed to see, but you'll be looking for the holes in the trick the whole time.In hindsight, I should've known better. I love video games, and I love Star Wars. So getting the chance to fly an X-Wing in the Star Wars Battlefront: Rogue One X-Wing VR Mission is the probably the best chance the platform has of cinching in an irresistible grip.
I won't go into the setup process too much, mainly because everything was set up when I got there. For those who may not be in the know, the PS VR system requires the eponymous headset, a standard DualShock 4 controller, and the Playstation 4 Camera. The headset itself was comfortable, though adjusting it could be cumbersome. Once I was able to focus the lenses, it rested fairly snug on my head. There was a bit of light coming through the top, but it turned out to be less distracting than I thought it would be.
Sound was provided by a set of earbuds, which I found a little disappointing, but I'm pleased to read that standard stereo headphones can be used with the PS VR headset.
As mentioned, I was handed a DualShock to control the game. My first reaction was that this would break the suspension of disbelief, since at least part of the VR experience is navigating with sight. Much to my delight, the folks at DICE took this into account. I was able to highlight areas on the screen and then press the X button to interact with said object.
This showed me the potential of VR for something beyond flight simulators. Imagine being on the ground for the Resistance, firing away at uncoordinated stormtroopers. You battle your way through a vast hangar of assorted starships and decide to hop into an A-Wing and blast into open space. This is an exciting proposition for future games (looking at you, Battlefront II), but I get ahead of myself.
The initial boarding of the X-Wing happens against a white background with little else going on. This is probably the best for someone like me, as it helps to acclimate the player to the navigation mechanics.
If you go back to the days of Tomb Raider on the original Playstation, Lara's movement was controlled by the D-Pad. The dawn of the analog stick should've seemed obvious, considering joysticks were some the earliest arcade input devices players remember, but they are largely absent from early console software titles. Nowadays, it'd be difficult for players to imagine controlling an avatar exclusively from the D-Pad.
It may sound rudimentary when talking about VR, but being able to turn my head to see something rather than press a button was a nothing short of magical. This extends beyond simple navigation. Once I took off in the X-Wing, I was moved along on proverbial "rails" while my squadmates chatted with the obligatory dialogue to set up our mission. Again, this gave me a chance to lay off the stick and simply take in what was happening.
Being able to lean over and look over the side of the cockpit to see the walls of the ship and the great unknown of space stretching out around me is what made me sit up a little straighter and think, "There might be something to this." If that wasn't enough, the real fun started when my squad engaged an enemy band of TIE fighters.
The controls for this worked much the same as they do for non-VR skirmishes, but being able to look to my left without turning my ship meant I could lock onto a target, begin firing, and begin thinking about my second target before the first had been extinguished. This sounds subtle, but it makes a huge difference as to the perceived freedom you have as a player. No longer am I controlling an avatar flying an X-Wing: I am the avatar. Little touches like this are what completes the immersion, and I was fully, euphorically invested.
That's to say nothing of the jaw-dropping awe inspired by the arrival of a full-fledged Star Destroyer. Aside from the sheer scale, I began the fight beneath the massive war machine, but had to circle up top to find the real action. Creeping around the side of this iconic juggernaut to see the ship at large with my squad heavily engaged with enemy fighters finally gave me the thrill I'd been looking for since my first X-Wing Alliance battle: I was in a Star Wars movie.
I've played plenty of Star Wars games, from flight simulators to first-person shooters and third-person action games. They were fun, but few could provide the genuine thrill of feeling like I was part of the action. Say what you want about Battlefront's dubious lack of content; when I fired up the beta for the first time, I felt like finally somebody had gotten it right. To see this authenticity carried over into virtual reality affirms my hope that this experience--and others like it--are not just fleeting fads in a hyperactive culture. There's polish here.
The entire mission lasted about 15 minutes, and it is, perhaps, one of the lasting experiences of my life as a gamer. In the same way that Tomb Raider opened the gateway to fully-realized 3D worlds, Battlefront's (albeit brief) demonstration of VR is a promise of things to come.
Should I Invest in VR?
Feeding off the high of my time as a rebel pilot, thoughts immediately turned to how I could get this experience in my own home. It wasn't until a few hours later that the (non-virtual) reality brought me back down from the stars.
Firstly, VR isn't going anywhere. If nothing else, it is becoming only more present in our entertainment. Phones from Samsung and Google are packaged with VR headsets that supply a trimmed-down experience for those who are curious and budget-conscious. Other phones are looking for ways to integrate Augmented Reality (AR) into their camera systems, as with Apple's rumored specs for the upcoming iPhone.
But for the average person, VR is still a few years away from being readily accessible. Perhaps in another year, the hardware will be less prohibitively priced. There's something to be said for accessories that cost more than the hardware they're designed to run on.
But even if I were to invest in the peripherals, there's the question of software. As with any gaming platform, it's on worth the software available. The X-Wing mission makes for a tremendous demo, but I imagine after messing with it for a few hours, I would grow tired of it and want something more.
Granted, I've not kept up with VR games as much as standard console titles, but I'm still waiting on that one experience: the one game that demands that I go out and get a VR headset ASAP. Selfishly, I'm hoping Battlefront II steps in to fill that gap. Realistically, we might have to wait a couple more years before developers have enough of a handle on the platform to start creating truly unique experiences that players can't ignore.
Which is fine, as I'll be saving up for that $500 PS VR bundle while we're waiting.
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