Shows the Potential of the Aim Controller
Alongside Farpoint, a brand-new PlayStation VR peripheral has been released – Sony’s Aim Controller. The vaguely gun-shaped controller improves immersion and aids with aiming and movement in virtual reality shooters. Although it has released at the same time as Farpoint, the Aim Controller is designed to work with many games, with Impulse Gears’ game simply being the proof of concept to launch alongside. Games including The Brookhaven Experiment and the upcoming Arizona Sunshine can be played with the controller, and hopefully more games will be developed with it in mind in the future.
Since the Aim Controller features every button on a standard DualShock 4, it could be used for all manner of different games in the future, or for things that aren’t simply shooting aliens. The light tracking technology is also more advanced than that of the seven-year-old Move controllers you’ve been using until now. The Aim Controller makes what could have been a generic shooter far more immersive, which gives us hope for its future.
Paves the Way For More VR First-Person Shooters
When you think about the kinds of game that would, in theory, work perfectly in virtual reality, first-person shooters always spring to mind. The London Heist portion of Playstation VR Worlds was a perfect example of this, but we have been treated to very little else that could be considered a traditional first-person shooter. Even other first-person games such as Resident Evil 7 or RIGS weren’t as focused on shooting as they were on movement and the world you were exploring. However, if Farpoint is successful, we will surely see more shooters come to PlayStation VR, or at least smaller experiences.
If this fall’s huge shooters were to have PlayStation VR components then the popularity of Sony’s headset would likely increase dramatically. A Call of Duty: WWII first-person shooter level, or another Star Wars Battlefront experience would attract a crowd that had never before been interested in virtual reality. Should Farpoint prove to be a success then it could lead to more shooters being developed.
Encourage Better First-Party Support
The Oculus Rift has been getting very strong exclusive support since the beginning of 2017, but that’s not been the case for PlayStation VR. In fact, Sony has been quiet about first-party support for PlayStation VR. The fear is that Sony’s own support for the peripheral goes the way it did with the PlayStation Vita – with major titles like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Killzone: Mercenary becoming few and far between on the platform. Farpoint is one of the first AAA PlayStation VR exclusives and hopefully it is successful enough to persuade Sony’s studios into developing more big titles for the headset.
They could even use Farpoint’s strengths to develop virtual reality spin-offs of their biggest franchises. A Killzone game would work excellently in VR. The Helghast are a menacing and recognized group of enemies, the story of the series is interesting, and the tight gameplay would work excellently with the new Aim Controller. How much we hear about PlayStation VR support at E3 will be telling.
True VRÂ Co-Op Experience
Co-op VR experiences are pretty uncommon on PlayStation VR. When it comes to multiplayer games, either competitive-style multiplayer, as you see in RIGS, or couch co-op that sees people help a single person in a headset such as the excellent Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, is all you see. We have yet to see a full co-op experience in a big game, that is, until Farpoint.
Farpoint allows two VR users to take on waves of enemies alongside each other. It is separate to the main campaign and gives you something else to play after the approximately five-hour story. If people enjoy the co-op mode, and people continue to play it, then developers may begin to add similar modes to other upcoming PlayStation VR titles.
 Could Lead to New, Improved PlayStation VR Controllers
While PlayStation VR has the sales and price advantage over Oculus Rift, where it lags behind is in terms of ease of control. The Oculus Touch controllers are far superior to the seven-year-old PlayStation Move controllers in terms of technology and options for use. If people like the Aim controller and feel like it works better than the Move controllers, Sony may be persuaded to develop brand new controllers that work excellently with PlayStation VR.
People that are worried about the PSVR control options may even be persuaded to pick up a headset if new controllers are revealed. It is the one part of the PlayStation VR package that needs improvement and it feels like something Sony could announce quite soon.
Published: May 17, 2017 02:24 pm