Sony reveals new VR games and exciting updates during its latest PS VR Showcase event.
Today marked yet another PS VR Showcase by Sony, during which the company revealed new games for the PlayStation VR as well as exciting updates on several highly-anticipated titles. The event highlighted seven games in total, from brand new experiences like Winds & Leaves to previously-announced titles such as After the Fall.
Let’s take a look at what’s next for PlayStation VR.
Winds & Leaves Trailer
Arriving next month on PS VR headsets, Winds & Leaves offers a breath of fresh air from the mountain of VR shooters available on VR headsets. Brought to us by developer Trebuchet, this relaxing terraforming adventure tasks you with restoring life to a barren wasteland in an effort to prevent an upcoming cataclysm.
Playing the role of the Gardener, you’ll travel throughout a variety of unique biomes in search of new species of fruit and flora. By planting trees, you expand your area of exploration, revealing ancient secrets and hidden surprises in the process.
Every forest you develop can be used as a starting point in your adventure, though each woodland area will require different levels of care depending on the biome and weather. For example, trees native to a dry hilltop can be negatively affected by a sudden change in humidity brought on by a passing rain cloud. You can even combine fruit to create brand new varieties.
After over a year of nation-wide lockdowns and social distancing measures, Winds & Leaves could be the mental palette cleanser many of us are in desperate need of.
Winds & Leaves arrives on PlayStation VR headsets July 27th.
Arashi: Castles of Sin Announced
Ever dream of stepping into shoes (slippers?) of an elite shinobi warrior and taking down bad guys alongside a wolf companion? That’s the premise behind Arashi: Castles of Sin, an upcoming stealth-action sandbox game coming this Summer to PlayStation VR.
You play the role of Kenshiro, an incredibly dangerous ninja and the last remaining son of House Arashi. Using a wide variety of devastating weaponry, including your bow and katana, you’ll battle alongside your wolf companion Haru to reclaim numerous castles captured by a group of bandits known as the Six Oni of Iga.
Along the way, you’ll receive support from your cousin Ayane, Spymaster to the Shogun, as you work to deliver justice throughout feudal Japan. Of course, being a ninja, stealth is key. You can rush into battle headfirst, or take a more tactical approach by laying deadly traps for unsuspecting enemies.
Developed by Endeavor One, Arashi: Castles of Sin arrives on PlayStation VR headsets this Summer.
Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey Heading To PS VR
Available now on Oculus Quest, Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey offers a fun take on the original color-matching arcade game while injecting new game modes and interactions built specifically with VR in mind. Thankfully, Taito and Survios’ colorful VR puzzle game will also be heading to PlayStation VR, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
For those unfamiliar with the long-running arcade series, Puzzle Bobble tasks you with clearing levels of bubbles by matching three or more bubbles of the same color using your bubble cannon. Whereas the original game had you controlling the action using old-school arcade controls, Vacation Odyssey allows you to take full control of your bubble cannon using your motion controllers.
The game features 100 3D puzzles spread across three game modes: Story Mode, Infinite Mode, and Duel Mode. The latter is an online PvP experience in which two players race to clear the level of bubbles. They can even interrupt each other using the brand new jammer bubbles. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with this new and improved VR puzzle experience on Oculus Quest, so it’s exciting to see PS VR players finally get a chance to play.
Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey arrives on PlayStation VR, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 later this year.
Wanderer Gameplay
A new trailer reveals more about M Theory and Oddboy’s upcoming time-traveling VR adventure. Arriving on PS VR at a later date, Wanderer puts you in the shoes of history’s greatest figures, from legendary inventors to infamous conquerors, as you travel through time to partake in some of mankind’s greatest moments. You can race an RC car on the moon, play the drums on-stage in front of a sold-out crowd, and participate in a variety of interesting minigames and puzzles.
The latest trailer tells us more about the characters you’ll meet and time periods you’ll explore, revealing a truly unique time-hopping adventure.
Wanderer arrives on PlayStation VR headsets at a later date.
Sniper Elite VR Release Date
Today, developer Rebellion revealed the official release date for its upcoming VR adaptation of its wildly popular WWII shooter. Developed in collaboration with Just Add Water and Coatsink, Sniper Elite VR puts you in the boots of a deadly sniper tasked with battling Axis forces.
Players take on the role of an Italian Partisan fighting to protect his homeland from the rising tide of fascist forces. Rather than porting an existing Sniper Elite game, Sniper Elite VR was built from the ground up for VR, allowing players to look down the scope of their rifle, manually reload weaponry, or duel-wield pistols using the PlayStation Move controllers.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Sniper Elite game without X-Ray mode. Exclusive to the Sniper Elite series, this incredibly entertaining game mechanic lets you see just how much damage you’ve done to your enemies. Sort of like a finishing move in Mortal Kombat.
Sniper Elite VR arrives on PlayStation VR headsets on July 8th.
New After the Fall Details
Today, we received a closer look at the enemies and combat in Vertigo Games’ highly-anticipated co-op zombie shooter After the Fall. Set 20 years after the fall of Los Angeles, this fast-paced and terrifying VR shooter lets you team up with three other players as you fight through a frost-covered post-apocalyptic city crawling with “once-human” creatures referred to as Snowbreed.
As a Harvest Runner, it’s up to you and your team to venture into the most dangerous parts of this once-great city in search of valuable resources to help various human settlements struggling to survive.
In addition to standard zombies, players will come face to face with a handful of particularly ferocious creatures. Today’s trailer offers us a quick look at a few of these ugly monstrosities, such as the massive Eater, armored Juggernaut, and extremely aggressive Smasher, just to name a few.
After the Fall launches on PlayStation VR headsets later this year.
New Fracked Trailer
And last, but certainly not least, we have a new trailer for developer nDreams’ upcoming adventure game Fracked. This unique VR shooter combines fast-paced gunplay with skiing, climbing, and ziplines, resulting in an adrenaline-fueled adventure perfect for extreme sports junkies.
This latest trailer highlights the freedom of movement players can expect to enjoy, as well as several pieces of weaponry, such as the shotgun, pistol, SMG, etc. We also catch a glimpse at the Blaster, an especially tough enemy in a surprisingly trendy jacket. It’s basically an action movie simulator where you play as the hero.
This incredibly fun-looking title will have you engaging in fast-paced gunfights, skiing your way through a barrage of bullets, and dangling from the side of helicopters. Think of it as a mix of Mission Impossible and James Bond.
Fracked arrives on PlayStation VR headsets this Summer.
For more information on all of today’s announcements, visit here.
Feature Image Credit: Sony PlayStation
