Now that the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have both been released, albeit to a rather lukewarm reception, all eyes are on Sony as they get ready to launch their own headset: PlayStation VR. Launching on October 13th worldwide, Sony is promising at least 50 games between launch and the end of the year and the launch lineup is quite impressive. From Batman: Arkham VR to RIGS: Mechanized Combat League, PlayStation VR looks to hit the ground running but are any of their launch titles a killer app? Would you rush out to buy a PlayStation VR to play BattleZone or Eve: Valkrie? They’re both incredibly fun games but are you willing to shell out $399-$499 just to play them? Having played FarPoint quite extensively, this is a title worth keeping an eye on and the one true killer app for PlayStation VR.
FarPoint has the player stranded on a strange, alien planet while you search for the rest of your crew after an unfortunate crash landing. The planet is teeming with creepy spiders and dangerous landforms and the folks over at Impulse Gear have done a tremendous job of setting the tone with music and art direction.
One of the first things you notice about FarPoint is the incredible visual fidelity. It’s one the most graphically impressive VR games to date, if not the best. The planet you’re on feels unnervingly realistic and the attention to detail like your footsteps leaving behind footprints on the sand adds a whole new level of immersion. Footprints aren’t new to games but when you turn back and see your steps in VR, it’s a whole new ballgame. The game looks like a PS4 AAA title and that’s quite impressive for VR at this stage in the game.
Farpoint can be played with the PlayStation Aim, a gun peripheral that looks and plays like a dream. Comparisons to the Sharpshooter from 2011 are to be expected but this thing is miles better and a lot more accurate. There’s nothing like examining your gun in Farpoint; once you have it in your hand and you start rotating it and firing a few rounds as the haptic feedback takes over, it truly feels like you’re in this world with a gun ready to fend off against terrifying creatures.
The Aim has all the buttons of a DualShock 4, including the Share Button, Options, and even the touch pad. The two sticks are even clickable which took me by surprise. In Farpoint, you’re movement is done via the stick and the headset itself to move the camera around. It takes a few seconds to get used to the sensation of moving because you’re actually standing but your character is strolling right along as you explore the planet.
It’s one of the many challenges of VR, how to move the player around but Impulse Gear have found an intuitive way that feels right especially if you’re used to first-person shooters. From picking up a new weapon by laying forward the Aim to switching weapons by moving the aim over the shoulder, these intuitive ways for gameplay really make Farpoint feel real and non-gamers should be able to pick up on the control scheme rather quickly.
Shooting in Farpoint is quite exhilarating. Spiders are jumping at you frantically as you try to maintain your composure. The game really forces you to take in the environment and assess the situation before you go in guns blazing. Different enemies attack differently. From poison-spewing creatures to giant crab-like monsters that take a ton of firepower to take down, FarPoint delivers a world teeming with danger at every corner.
Aiming down the sights in FarPoint is quite possibly one of the coolest things ever and I have no idea how they’ve managed to make it happen. By simply holding up the Aim controller, the game somehow knows you’re doing this and you’re able to actually see the reticle in-game and take better shots at your enemies. I’m convinced it’s voodoo and Impulse Gear can’t tell me otherwise, it feels so intuitive and natural that sometimes you forget you’re doing it.
FarPoint is a visually-striking game that evokes Starship Troopers in the way that it blends non-stop action with a gorgeous backdrop of a strange planet. It’s full immersion as sometimes you can almost feel the powerful wind knock you in the face especially when you’re scaling gargantuan cliffs. This is a game you guys need to keep an eye on, this one is special.
