Sony PlayStation VR Review

Editors’ Note: This review has been updated to reflect bundle and price changes since the PlayStation VR’s release. The rating has not been changed.
Sony ‘s virtual reality system, the PlayStation VR, is designed for use with the PlayStation 4 or PS4 Pro. It ‘s a knock-down accessary that lags only a haircloth behind the PC-powered HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in specification, and is far less expensive, specially when you put the command PS4 up against the pricier VR-ready PCs the Vive and Rift require. In addition, its graphic capabilities and motion-tracking far surpass smartphone-based VR headsets like the Samsung Gear VR. Virtual reality is still a technical freshness you need to be committed to before you spend the cash, but PlayStation VR stands out in price and comfort of use .
As of September 1, the PS VR will no long be available on its own vitamin a precisely a headset. rather, it will be sold only in one of two bundles : a PS VR with a PlayStation Camera ( which is required to use the headset ) for $ 399, and a PS VR with a PlayStation Camera and two Move controllers ( which are optional, but enable gesture controls ) for $ 449. The camera pile matches the price of the PS VR on its own at launch, and the Move package has been cut by $ 50, from $ 499. This means the PS VR remains the most low-cost and accessible tethered VR system out there, and our Editors ‘ Choice .
You Can Trust Our Reviews
Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buy decisions. ( See how we test. )

Reading: Sony PlayStation VR Review

Requirements and Design

With the now-standard bundle including a PlayStation Camera and Move controllers, the lone early thing you need to use the PS VR is a PlayStation 4 or PS4 Pro. This puts the total price for a tethered, immersive VR experience far below what you would have to pay to use the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift ( $ 599 each, plus a fairly mighty gaming personal computer ) .
The headset itself by and large of curved white plastic, with a outstanding visor that holds most of the electronics and a one thick headband that runs around the back of your head. It weighs 1.3 pounds, making it a bit heavier but not particularly bulkier than the Oculus Rift ( 1 pound ) and the HTC Vive ( 1.2 pounds ). The headband is supported by a formative crosspiece with an allowance wheel and button, and uncompromising elastic is hidden where it connects to the bill. grey panels around the front, with a few scattered over the back, obscure multicolored lights that come on when you use the headset ; they ‘re used in bicycle-built-for-two with the PlayStation Camera to track the headset ‘s placement. A wire runs from the left side of the visor and partially along the headband before dropping down freely to connect to the PS VR processor box with the admit connection cable television. It about looks like a Microsoft HoloLens, with its huge face mask of a visor and the diverse whites, grays, and silvers of its plan. Of course, the HoloLens is a completely different beast, an augment world device that project images on what you actually see, rather than completely replacing your sight with a computer-generated prototype like the PS VR .
To put the headset on, just place the bill over your eyes and pull the headband back, stretching the elastic until the trave fits against the back of your headway. Turning the wheel tightens and locks the headband, keeping the headset in place while you use it. The clitoris releases the headband so you can adjust it or pull it off. It ‘s a noteworthy passing from the Vive and Rift, both of which use a t-shaped harness with a strap that runs over the exceed of your head. The match is identical batten evening without a strap over your point to keep it in home .

An inline remote control sits about a foot down the wire from the headset and contains a 3.5mm earphone laborer for use with the admit earphones ( you can use any earphones, but the included pair is very short to minimize cable loose ), volume up/down and mic mute buttons, and a exponent release that turns the headset on and off with an audible beep from the processor whole. The cable terminates in two HDMI connectors ; one is a criterion HDMI chew and the early has a bump over the top giving it a proprietorship condition. They both plug into the VR connection cable, which in turn plugs into the central processing unit box with another copulate of the lapp HDMI plug. If the different form of the connectors is n’t enough for you to keep chase of which plugs into which port, they ‘re besides marked with pairs of PlayStation face button icons ( Triangle/Circle and X/Square ) that match the correct ports on both the female end of the connection cable and the processor box .
The VR processor box looks like a miniature PlayStation 4, alone with a rectangular profile rather of parallelogram. It measures 5.6 by 5.6 by 1.4 inches ( HWD ) and weighs 12.9 ounces, making it notably larger and heavier than the HTC Vive Link Box but still dwarfed by the PlayStation 4 next to which you ‘ll be placing it. The movement holds an indicator light on the leave two-thirds of the box and a copulate of connectors for the headset on the correct third. The VR connectors sit recessed in a credit card sleeve, which slides back to let you plug the cable television in ahead returning to its original place to hold the cable slenderly more securely. The rear holds a connection for the included exponent brick, a micro USB port for connecting immediately to the PlayStation 4, an HDMI input to connect to the PS4 ‘s video recording output, and an HDMI output signal to connect to your television .

Setup and Display

Hooking everything up is a fairly direct process, but it produces a nest of cables comparable with the HTC Vive and its Link Box. You need to plug the central processing unit box into the battlefront of the PS4 with the include USB cable, into the back of the PS4 with an HDMI cable, and into your television with another HDMI cable television. then plug the PS VR headset into the processor box with the VR connection cable, and plug the world power brick into the processor box. last, plug the PlayStation Camera into the back of the PS4. once connected, turn on the PS4 and you ‘re fix to go. Once it ‘s booted up, press the world power release on the inline outback of the headset. It will turn on and display the PS4 ‘s chief menu as a large filmdom projected in front of you, using the headset ‘s lights and the PlayStation Camera to track your status .
See How We Test VR Headsets
The PS VR uses a 1,920-by-1,080 OLED empanel split into 960-by-1,080 images for each eye, which is a bite lower solution than the 2,160-by-1,200 panels ( 1,080-by-1,200 for each eye ) used in the Rift and Vive. This means the PS VR ‘s visualize is just slenderly farinaceous, but aside from some minor pixelation with modest text, it is n’t a very noticeable downgrade. The PS VR ‘s panel besides sports a 120Hz freshen rate, which means the headset has the capability of smoother gesture than the 90Hz Rift and Vive. ultimately, it looks crisp and smooth, and stands solidly alongside the other two headsets in painting timbre .

Controls and Motion Tracking

The PS VR works with Move apparent motion controllers, primitively developed as a Wii-like motion control system for the PlayStation 3 ( but much more accurate ). These controllers are n’t included with the $ 399 bundle, but the $ 449 bundle includes a pair of them. Move uses two motion-sensing wand controllers with glowing bulb that the PlayStation Camera tracks along with the PS VR ‘s positioning lights. The solution is a motion-control system that performs identical similarly to the HTC Vive ‘s in terms of accuracy, though without the Vive ‘s restrainer ‘s touchpad. Because they depend on the PlayStation Camera, you ca n’t turn completely around like you can with the HTC Vive and its two fanned tracking sensors. If you stay sitting or standing in front of your television ( or wherever you mount the PlayStation Camera ), however, the controls are very authentic .

While the PS VR does n’t support whole-room gesticulate tracking like the HTC Vive, it still demands a fairly moment of space. I had to sit several feet back from by the screen on which I mounted the PlayStation Camera for the headset to track faithfully, which is a significant deviation from the performance of the Vive ( which uses two wall-mounted sensors that covered me in about all locations in our test room ) and the Rift ( which uses a desk-mounted camera that functions very well close-up ). Your PlayStation 4 is likely connected to a television for couchbound use preferably than a monitor for desk habit, so the need for distance is apprehensible. But it ‘s something to note if you have your PS4 hooked up to a monitor or if you plan to use the PS VR in a cramp area .
Because the PS VR relies on ocular tracking with color lights preferably than infrared trailing, it seems to be more vulnerable to disruptions from ambient unhorse and reflections. With the lights on in our test room, I noticed some tracking drift that made the view of the headset gradually float to the entrust, and there were some hiccups and other tracking disruptions that occasionally crept up while I played. Batman : Arkham VR ( described below ) demanded the most movement of the PS VR software I tried, and because of that it brought out quirks in the PS VR ‘s motion tracking more than early games .

Games

Of the three major virtual world headsets to come out final year, the PlayStation VR started with the best signal-to-noise ratio proportion of in full formed games rather than small-scale experiences that serve as technical school show. It does n’t launch with any single killer whale app to justify the headset, but there are enough dispatch games to provide several hours of entertainment so that it feels like more than just a technical school demonstration .
Sony includes a disk filled with software to get you started. It by and large consists of trial versions of retail VR software of varying scopes and prices, like Driveclub VR, Rigs, and Thumper. I tried several of the demonstration, along with some broad versions of PS VR software provided by Sony for the reappraisal including Batman : Arkham VR, Battlezone, and Until Dawn : rush of Blood .

Rigs

Rigs is a mech natural process plot where you play the navigate of a elephantine automaton in a fight sports league. Your team competes with other teams in different crippled modes. It uses the DualShock 4 restrainer, relying on the analogue sticks for controlling mech drift and PS VR head tracking for aiming weapons. The demonstration highlights the Powerslam game mode where you must exponent up your mech by destroying enemies and collecting power eyeball before sending it through the goal in the in-between of the arena to score points for your team. Aiming feels incredibly natural using head movements, letting you merely look directly at enemy mechs to shoot them while dodging and maneuvering wholly individually from your weapons. The graphics are impressive, with fairly detailed, slick mechs and some very nice cockpit and interface effects to enhance ingress. It ‘s a short-change demonstration that shows a lot of likely for the wide bet on, and demonstrates that VR can produce some compelling gameplay .

BattleZone

Battlezone is a modern claim on the classic arcade tank combat crippled. It besides relies on the DualShock 4 gamepad, using a conventional see layout where the left analogue stick moves the tank and the right analogue stay moves the turret and aims. Head motion is relegated entirely to looking approximately and finding targets, which makes the VR execution seem much less necessary than it does with Rigs. But the weapons reticule moves intentionally slowly because you ‘re in a tank preferably than a more agile mech, and clamant calculate through motion tracking would ruin that effect and unbalance the crippled. The graphics are slightly less impressive than Rigs, with a a lot more Tron-like neon-and-geometric-shapes look, but it ‘s still a fun natural process game that feels in full fleshed out .

Driveclub VR

Driveclub VR is a virtual reality-enabled adaptation of the Driveclub race game already released for the PlayStation 4. I gave my initial impressions on this PS VR experience at a preview event for the PS VR earlier this year, and the demonstration on the PS VR disk provides an identical experience. It puts you in the driver ‘s seat of one of three cars on a individual three-lap street subspecies. You drive with the DualShock 4 left analogue stick and accelerate with the right gun trigger, a standard rush command scheme. The big VR hook shot is that, because your scene is completely covered by the game and the camera tracks your forefront movements, you can look around the car while you drive. This sounds like a catch unless you consider just how a lot you move your fountainhead when you actually drive. The ability to look leave and right when casual, or to tilt your head up to see the rearview mirror ( or look directly over your shoulder for a better view behind you ) is extremely useful when drive, and it enhances the Driveclub experience significantly .

Thumper

Thumper is the most black cycle game I ‘ve ever played. You control a scarab-like fomite running down a set lead in a featureless evacuate, using the X button and left analog perplex on the DualShock 4 to respond to glowing bars and shrill curves on the track. A creepy, thumping soundtrack builds up as you play while a series of strange, tendril-filled geometric portals appear on the track, warping it and adding obstacles. It ‘s a fun and faze have, though very simple for a rhythm plot. Of all of the demonstration on the PS VR disk, this has the least justification for VR. The use of a headset makes the nothingness appear strange and more immersive, but it does n’t actually improve the gameplay in any way .

Batman: Arkham VR

batman : Arkham VR is a based on the Arkham games and uses many of the lapp graphic assets as Arkham City ( $ 19.99 at Steam ) and Arkham Knight ( and stars Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and the Joker ). It ‘s a technically impressive but fairly inadequate technical school demonstration that puts you in Batman ‘s boots, using the PlayStation Move apparent motion controllers as Batman ‘s hands to solve a series of puzzles to get to the buttocks of a violent crime .
Each Move restrainer works as one of Batman ‘s hands, which I used to both interact with the environment and consumption Batman ‘s gadgets. I had access to his grappling gunman at my correctly pelvis, a crime scene analyzer device at my leave, and batarangs on the presence of my belt. To use the tools, I physically reached down to each one as if it was on my body and pulled the trigger on the Move accountant to grab it. I could n’t actually move smoothly around my environments because I did n’t have an analogue stick and the PS VR does n’t have the lapp sort of sphere apparent motion trailing as the HTC Vive. rather, I jumped between set points by pointing at them and pressing the Move push button on the Move restrainer, or took out my grappling gun and aimed it at objects to pull myself up to them .
Despite the movement limitations, Batman : Arkham VR is a fun little jump back into the world of the Arkham games. The experience only lasts between 20 and 40 minutes depending on how flying you can figure out the problems presented, making it compelling only as a demonstration and not a plot you ‘ll reliably come rear to .

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Until Dawn : first-come-first-serve of Blood is the PS VR-specific standalone successor to the horror gamble game Until Dawn. It ‘s a horror rail shooter, a accomplished mechanical shift from the original game. You play an nameless person dropped into a slow-moving roller coaster that rolls through a bedraggled amusement park that becomes increasingly bloodcurdling and dangerous. You ‘re armed with two pistols controlled by the PlayStation Move controllers ( a DualShock 4 control schema is available if you do n’t have PlayStation Move ), and must shoot violent murderers before they can attack you. The PS VR head tracking besides comes into play, following your movements and forcing you to lean and duck to avoid dangers as the roller coaster goes through the tracks .

Non-VR Software

You can use the headset to play non-VR games and apps if none of the VR releases appeal to you. The PlayStation VR displays all non-PS VR software as a giant screen floating in front of your face, exchangeable to the Virtual Desktop software available for the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. gesticulate controls are disabled when playing non-VR games, but the system placid tracks your forefront drift to give the impression that you ‘re sitting in front of a big screen, quite than you plainly have one strapped at a fix point in front of your front. If you want to turn and use the view from another placement, a prompt appears to tell you to hold the options button on the DualShock 4 down for two seconds to reset the screen to whatever focus you ‘re presently facing .
This is a identical helpful sport that gives the PS VR some purpose beyond the games and technical school show designed specifically for it. It effectively gives you a virtual big-screen television that only you can see, through which you can enjoy any PlayStation 4 capacity. Of class, since it ‘s still a VR experience in itself, you need to be leery of eye and neck strain from long-run manipulation, and it ‘s just not as comfortable to use as sitting in battlefront of your television. It ‘s a fantastic option to have, though .

An Accessible Intro to High-End VR

Graphics-intensive, device-tethered virtual reality has been chugging along for a firm year, but it ‘s still a fairly expensive bangle with few must-have experiences on any arrangement. That said, the PlayStation VR offers the best counterweight of price, office, and features we ‘ve seen in the category even. At $ 700 including a PS4, its total cost of entry is significantly less than the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive ( $ 1,500 to $ 2,000 each, including the necessary VR-ready personal computer ). It besides packs far more graphic world power than any of the phone-based VR headsets like the Samsung Gear VR. We ‘re still not sold on VR as a necessary investment for every game, but so far the PS VR is the best value of the big names out there, and our Editors ‘ Choice .