Like many, I have been waiting for months for the PlayStation VR (PSVR) device to finally release. I recently moved into a new house and ensured that the lounge room would be of an ample size to allow for a bit of arm swinging and set up my furniture accordingly. Then the wait set in………………….until yesterday when I picked up the device along with a list of games.
My first concern about the device as I was unpacking it was the multiple cords and how similar many of them were. At the best of times I can be slightly challenged when it comes to assembling sound systems and such so I was a little worried how I would go getting the PSVR up and running. Much to my delight the demo disk and set up booklet were extremely well done. In a matter of minutes everything was ready to go (although initially I had one cord left over which was worrying, however that was my bad, upon checking the book again I quickly identified my mistake).
With minor updates and installations out of the way it was time to put the headset on. Naturally the first game I chose to play was a horror game –Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. A game where you are effectively on a roller-coaster in a theme park, a very dark and terrifying one to say the least and your goal, in a nut shell, is to shoot, dodge and stay alive as pretty much everything is trying to kill you. 
As I went through the tutorial I was on edge (MINOR spoiler alert, progress to next paragraph if you would like to avoid) as the entire time I was expecting something, anything, to jump out at me, however it turned out that I was in fact rather safe during that part of the game. Something that blew my mind during the tutorial though was when the roller-coaster started to go up an incline I actually felt like I was being leaned back, and again when going down the other side of the rise, it was a surreal feeling.
I had a small issue of the screen fogging up to begin with as I hadn’t realised that the flaps that cover your nose actually need to be pulled inwards to go up over your nose as opposed to sitting on your nose to support the VR device. Once I worked this out, there was no more fogging issues.
Now that the tutorial was over and I had a consistently clear screen, it was time to embark on the actual game. I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath in and pressed ‘start’…………………”ok you can do this, it’s just a game” I told myself. Without going into any detail that might spoil your own experience (you can read my full review of the game later this week) lets just say that I lasted roughly 5 minutes before pulling my head set off whilst yelling “NOPE, NOPE, I’M DONE, I’M DONE!”. I subsequently returned to the game again later that night and gave it a more whole hearted attempt at enduring the horror that you cannot escape when trapped under that headset in the world of Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.
The terrifying environment that the PSVR brings to the table for a horror game such is Until Dawn is truly immersive and impressive. There is no escaping the fear, the darkness, and the dread as you are completely inside that world. 
After a brief break and a few cuss words I promptly removed Until Dawnfrom the disk tray and replaced it with PlayStation VR Worlds. It was at this point that I realized in total I had already spent 10 minutes under the headset and not a single sign of nausea had been felt. This was very encouraging considering previous reports I had heard stated that as quickly as within the first minute some users were experiencing this issue.
The first ‘world’ I delved into in PSVR Worlds was the underwater dive. The second the screen loaded up I could feel a massive smile on my face as I looked at the beautiful coral reef and had bright colored fish swimming up to my nose, the entire environment was stunning. Then I made the mistake of looking under me and realized that there was a dark open abyss underneath me. Regardless of it I knew in my own mind that I was sitting in the lounge room and not actually in that cage in the ocean, I still got a rather large fright.
I then ventured onto several different worlds, challenges and game types until I finally started feeling a bit nauseous wall running in outer space in a big mech. At this point I took the headset off expecting to find that I had been gaming for about 30 minutes, only to find that it had in fact been 2 hours.
Overall, I am extremely impressed with the device, the ease of set up and user friendly controls and the overall experience when under the headset. I am extremely happy with my purchase and am off to buy more games to experience on it today. Throughout the coming week I will be posting individual reviews of the games I have been playing during launch week, so for more details on those be sure to check back in with us.
If you are on the fence about the PSVR my opinion after having spent a good couple of hours playing on it is this device has delivered what we were told it would. Ease of access, immersive worlds, impressive graphics (which will only increase when the device is used on the PS Pro) and a unique experience that truly feels ‘next level’. If this is the future of gaming then sign me up right now, I’m along for the ride
