I went over a lot of this within my initial unboxing impressions (which you can read here) however it bears repeating – this really is easily the most attractive, comfortable and well-constructed VR headsets I’ve accustomed to date.
To begin with the headset is around 50g lighter than the first PS VR, but it's also unburdened by the mess of cables and breakout boxes that made the previous iteration feel far bulkier of computer actually. This time around, there's no extra box or HDMI passthrough or any one of that junk. It's just just one USB-C cable for that front of your PS5. A really, very long 4.5m USB-C cable that's also surprisingly light and definitely will have sufficient give for most of us to unknowingly wrap themselves in it several times during play without any disaster striking.
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Compared to the original PS VR’s IKEA-like setup, having the ability to take the thing out of the box, pop the cable into the front of the console and obtain playing is remarkable. I had been worried that, having also used a Quest 2 quite a bit, the added cable would become a pain but I can’t say that I’ve even registered its existence more than once or twice during the time I’ve been playing.
Putting the headset on is easy, as well. Not a good deal has changed from the last one, which is absolutely the best thing when that design was already fantastic. The headset is incredibly adjustable so once you slip it too deep by holding the button behind and stretching it to accommodate your noggin, you just spin a dial to tighten it up after which manoeuvre the front visor until it's sitting comfortably in front of your vision. Even with my fairly large glasses on Irrrve never once felt they were being pushed facing my face, with lots of wiggle room. Crucially, the design of the rubber blinders round the lenses blocks out an absurd quantity of ambient light.
Setting up the PS VR2 on the software aspect can also be refreshingly easy and intuitive, with the headset’s mounted cameras and eye tracking technology doing a lot of the legwork. You’ll configure your play space simply by looking around you while it intelligently maps out walls, floors and then any objects in the vicinity and creates an online boundary to help keep you from punching nearby furniture within the heat from the moment. It’s in this step that you’ll also find out whether you’ve got the minimum required 2m x 2m clearance for “room scale” VR gameplay (essentially being able to physically move about a virtual space) or, if you live in an inner-city single bedroom apartment like me, are limited to just the stationary standing/sitting experience.
One of the PlayStation VR2’s most fascinating tricks, its eye tracking tech, also helps immensely with the initial setup by giving you an on-screen help guide to how well-positioned the lenses have been in regards to your pupils. Having a combination of adjusting the position of the visor and turning the super-handy lens distance dial on top of the visor you are able to very quickly get things looking perfect for the eyes. Having eye tracking also enables the headset’s “foveated rendering” tech, which essentially allows games to render better detail in places that you’re actively looking and dynamically cut back detail in areas you’re not – lending to higher perceived visual quality and gratifaction overall.
I can’t overstate how great the PlayStation VR2’s configuration and calibration process is within comparison to pretty much every other VR headset I’ve used. With just about any guesswork eliminated by the intelligent mixture of software and hardware working together, Irrrve never had to wonder if I had been getting the optimal experience.
Something I’ve been incredibly grateful for within my time with the PS VR2 may be the capability to use its front-facing cameras as a window around the world outside the headset. The surprisingly clear, black-and-white view is easily accessible just by pushing the Function button around the underside of the front visor which makes it simple to quickly reassess where you’re physically situated in the area and if you’ve begun edging too close to a wall or little bit of furniture, locate any controllers or people around you or even quickly jot down PlayStation VR2 review notes inside your phone without having to remove the headset at all.
With the headset on and configured, one of the most immediately noticeable upgrades this is actually the pair of super-sharp 4K (2000 x 2040 per-eye) HDR OLED displays that represent a massive jump from the first PS VR and up there with some of the greatest resolutions that VR headsets have to offer. Aside from raw pixel count, the displays within the VR2 offer a fairly substantial 110 degree field of view and very decent brightness and colors. I’ve been particularly impressed with how little interference there is in the typical VR display issues like distortion and glare, with minimal god rays or “screen door” effect. It’s not completely without fault, there’s still a diploma of softness to specifics like text and a little bit of motion blur but overall it’s far superior to the likes of the Quest 2.
In the cinematic view, where the headset shows the standard PS5 home menu or any “flat” games or movies you might want to check out, is where I’m probably least inclined to find the PS VR2’s display over simply using my OLED telly. The novelty of the floating cinema-esque screen in a virtual void that only you can see is novel enough if it’s the first time giving it a go out, but because sharp as the displays are for VR gaming they’re less than fit for lengthy play sessions of standard titles.
RELATED: OUR HORIZON CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN REVIEW
One of the best inclusions, somewhat surprisingly in my experience, may be the little in-ear headphones that include the PS VR2. I’ll always go for over-ear cans where possible, and fully expected to be opting for a slightly-awkward combo with my usual gaming headset, but I’m glad I gave these a go. To begin with, they come mounted on just a little plastic bar that sits snugly in to the back band to permit the buds to hang in only the best location for the ears without any extra slack, and the headset even has a mounting port on both sides to pop them into when you’re not utilizing it.
They also sound great for an in-ear solution, with my playthrough of Horizon Call from the Mountain coming finished a good amount of crisp detail and juicy bass. Combined with the 3D audio processing and minimal physical interference it can make for any genuinely immersive audio experience as they are – by far a lot more than I was expecting from some packed-in earphones.
The next piece of the hardware puzzle originates from the included Sense controllers. It’s hard to believe we ever made do with Sony’s decision to repurpose the godawful PS3 Move controllers for that original PlayStation VR, a smaller amount they saw fit to market them separately to the headset itself. Sure, it made the basic starter kit cheaper but needing to tack on an extra $200ish to obtain a set of Moves and the required camera on the top sucked the joy from that value proposition. We’re off to a far greater start this time around using the controllers included in the box with no extra camera bits needed.
The Sense controllers an even more logical and comfortable design now, their hollow orb-like design ergonomically tailored to every hand to ensure every button is at reach and simple to read with no benefit of being able to see them, together with your fingers naturally positioning around the analogue sticks, L1/R1 bumpers and L2/R2 triggers. It's a lot like wearing a pair of sci-fi gloves with their stark black and white, orb-like design and I'm here for it. If you’ve used the Quest controllers previously, the idea is comparable here but a definite improvement again.
The Senses also pack in some especially neat features to create a new degree of immersion (and hopefully some neat future gameplay possibilities) towards the table. Similar to the PS5’s standard DualSense controller, they boast detailed haptic feedback along with adaptive triggers to simulate the emotions of the actions in games, something that Horizon Call from the Mountain uses to great effect. Having the ability to have the difference between grabbing onto a rope along with a stone ledge, or the tension of a bowstring that I’m pulling in real-time adds a lot of immersion and extremely helps to take away the disconnect inside your brain when grabbing or touching things in the virtual world isn’t reflected in the physical realm. You can even find haptics within the headset itself that are used to pretty good effect in games like Horizon and Thumper so I’m keen to see and feel much more of that.
Something I’m hoping developers latch onto early and frequently may be the finger tracking, which senses whether all of your fingers are gripping the controller to somewhat represent any in-game hands as close for your actual hands as you possibly can. It’s fairly simplistic with what it understands about the positions of your fingers when you are able to wave or throw up peace signs in something like Call of the Mountain is fun nonetheless. I’d be keen to determine Sony operate in some full hand-tracking ala the Quest 2 with potential software updates but for now what’s here could be accustomed to decent effect.
With the cameras mounted into the front of the PS VR2’s visor, inside-out tracking implies that not just is the whole thing much more simple to setup and employ, it’s freakishly accurate and truly feels 1:1 all the time. Having spent a ton of time using the original PS VR I can’t overstate how wonderful it is to have motion controllers that are genuinely responsive and reliable, though that’s not saying the Senses are totally infallible. Lighting and environment continue to be essential to getting the best experience, with everything performing its best in a well-lit space with as few errant lights and reflections as possible.
