Vertigo 2 was one of if not the best PCVR games in 2023, and after a few delays it means 2024 could get of to a great start for PlayStation VR2. The question is has the port over been successful?
Release Date: January 15th 2023
Developer: Zach Tsiakalis-Brown
Publisher: Perp Games
Price: £29.99
Reviewed On: PlayStation VR2
* Code Provided For Review *
HELP SONJA GET HOME
Vertigo 2 carries on from where Vertigo left off, but don’t worry if you haven’t played the first (if you don’t have PCVR), you can re-cap the story at the start, and more details on the lore is available in the pause menus encyclopedia, if you wanted to dig deeper.
In Vertigo 2, you continue as Sonja, as she wakes up deep underground in the reaches of the Quantum Reactor VII. The question is can you successfully make your way home this time?
A HALF-LIKE GAME
I think how the game is described by Zach suits it the most, which is a Half-Like game – as he has taken inspiration for the best aspects of Valve’s classics, and could there a better game to take it from? I don’t think there is.
The main element of the gameplay is definitely the shooting and combat, which comes with a decent arsenal of weapons – all of these come with their own reload mechanics and upgrades to make them better. However, I found most of the time I was using the pistol once I had fully upgraded it – as the ammo synthesizes a lot quicker than the other guns.
Ammo synthesis is one element of Vertigo 2 that is slightly different, as you will not be looking for ammo crates or dropped ammo – once you have the gun it will automatically synthesize ammo – shown by loading circles on your belt while holding the gun. When it comes to damage taken, you will re-generate a set amount of health, but around the levels there will be med-bays on the walls and syringes and health fruit you can store in the inventory on your wrist.
As well as the guns having their own reload mechanics, they all also include their own physics, with Vertigo 2 bringing back the physics based element from the first. For me having this sort of system implemented really does help with the immersion – although, sometimes it does lead to funny moments as you interact with or get something stuck in part of the environment, causing the Stretch Armstrong effect on your arms (just unequip your weapon to fix this).
Next you will get some slight puzzles in the game, but these are never that taxing and in most cases will be easily solved in your current vicinity. They will also be some fetch tasks, that will see you going between areas looking for set items and taking on a large number of enemies while doing this. The enemies have decent variety of creatures, aliens and robots with each bringing there own abilities and difficulties to deal with.
Outside of the normal enemies, you are going to also encounter old school boss fights – like you did in the original. But, in Vertigo 2 these battles are more intense and ambitious in design and will see you taking on ten brand new boss encounters.
All of this also happens within a massive bespoke world, which will see you visiting an incredible range of different environments, helping Vertigo 2 feel like a true sequel as everything seems much more grand in design and feels like more of an adventure.
One thing that is clearly present throughout the gameplay is Zach’s love for Virtual Reality and developing for the medium. This is made clear by the little touches added throughout the game – for example having to use a mouse in the game to select items on a computer.
VIBRANT AND BEAUTIFUL SETTINGS
Vertigo 2 takes you through plenty of different environments in big open spaces that are all designed perfectly, to make you feel like you are really exploring this planet, and it really is a pleasure to take in. Everything looks really sharp inside of the HMD with the OLED screens and HDR making it look as vibrant as ever, and even though it carries a cartoon style you will be fully immersed in the world of Vertigo 2.
The audio is a massive high-point of the game, as this carried over everything that made it special in the first installment. The voice acting is outstanding, keeps your attention and throws in fantastic humor along the way. Adding to this a solid soundtrack that kicks in at just the right time and instills the feeling of action, unease and suspense when required.
COMFORT
THE VERDICT
Summary
Vertigo 2 has ported over perfectly to PSVR2, and has certainly made sure that its a great start to 2024 for those who use the platform. The game has a great mix of arcade feeling combat, beautiful environments to explore, voice acting and humor. Everything seems ramped up making this more intense and like a bigger adventure thanks to the worlds design and ambitious boss battles, in this eight to nine-hours campaign. All of this coming from a one-man development team in Zach Tsiakalis-Brown, which really blows my mind, as it’s all put together and works so well, to the point it seems like it has been made by a large team at a AAA company. If you own a PlayStation VR2, you are only doing yourself a disservice by not playing this.
