![]() Cat & Mouse sees the VR player lunge forward from behind a curtain to try and catch robotic mice gathering pieces of cheese. The remaining minigames are rather throwaway. That bodes well for future properties emerging from Sony’s Japan Studio, even while their Western collaborations (judging by the controversy raging over The Last of Us Part II) leave much to be desired. The VR environments are extremely well-realized, exhuding a wholesome charm rarely seen outside Nintendo games or old-school Disney. Ghost House follows similar principles, adopting a Ghostbusters gimmick which sees the VR-player catching ghosts whose location is described by players looking at the TV. The time limit can put the VR player under a surprising amount of pressure, but it’s a satisfyingly hectic, boisterous affair, if short-lived. Other players must describe a succession of ne’er-do-wells and varmints whose mugshots are displayed on the screen, who the sheriff must then apprehend at the in-game saloon. Wanted! starts off well, with the VR player portraying a sheriff in a robotic Wild West. The other games are a mixed bag, but there’s no question that the high level of visual polish elevates the entire experience. Though it’s unlikely to keep your attention for more than a few rounds, Monster Escape is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, and is the sort of early VR experience which people are liable to remember fondly. It’s simple, bombastic fun, made all the more entertaining by the fact the PSVR microphone will pick up the monster’s “roars”, high-pitched versions of the same then being repeated via the TV. The tables are turned at the end of the level, when the VR Bots hurl various kinds of debris to try and drive the monster away. ![]() Here, the player with the headset assumes the role of an enormous, skyscraper-sized monster, who runs amok through a city, chasing the other players, who use the controller to run away while the “monster” uses his head to knock down buildings and helicopters. While Robots Rescue attracted most of the critical plaudits, my own favourite experience in The Playroom VR was Monster Escape. Fingers crossed I don’t have the same reaction when playing that! ![]() Robots Rescue inspired Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (2018), a fully-fledged platforming game heralded as perhaps the first truly great “VR video game”. But it rather sucked the joy out of things, and clearly indicates potential limitations of this type of experience. It abated if I moved forward very slowly, and I was able to complete the section in that manner. Unfortunately, it also occasioned by far the most dramatic feeling of motion sickness I have yet encountered in VR. The challenges are simple, but there’s no question that, as with many other things, merely transferring familiar platforming tropes to a VR environment is refreshing and stimulating while Robots Rescue’s bright, cheerful world is highly engrossing. To do so, you must complete various simple platforming challenges, while committing light acts of violence against cartoon enemies. Here, the player uses a Dualshock controller to guide a VR bot through a linear 3D platforming environment, where you are also tasked with rescuing other robots hidden throughout the level. The most substantial experience in this package is Robots Rescue. The Playroom VR will therefore help you engage the attention of a small group of non-gamers, or younger players – for an hour or two, at least. This is important because everyone who has tried VR knows it is much more fun for the person experiencing it than it is for spectators. The upshot is that an anaemic single-player experience becomes well-suited to allowing a small group to experience VR together. In some cases, these extra players can use a Dualshock controller in others, they simply shout instructions at the headset-user. This means that additional players, not just the person using the headset, are encouraged to participate in the minigames using the TV. One of the chief hooks for The Playroom VR is asymettrical multiplayer, in a manner reminiscent of the Wii U’s forgotten Nintendo Land (2012). ![]() Meanwhile, its salutary support for multiplayer ensures that The Playroom VR remains relevant in 2020, years after its initial release. The persistently upbeat, carefree energy, and uniform visual style, help to forge a more substantial experience, even if the individual games remain somewhat ephemeral experiences. Each game takes place within the same toy-like universe, featuring cute “VR bots” that have since become mascots for the hardware. For while VR Worlds is a collection of disparate, unrelated VR experiences, the minigames that comprise The Playroom VR share a unifying aesthetic. Developed by Sony’s Japan Studio, The Playroom VR differs from London Studio’s VR Worlds not only in its pricing, but in its branding. The Playroom VR (2016) is a free collection of minigames available to owners of PlayStation VR.
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