WAYWARD SKY

Every cloud has a silVR lining

There’s going to be no shortage of PS VR games to make us scream; developers are already making absolutely sure of that. Consider our spines well and truly tingled for the next year. But what about the kinds of experiences when we don’t want high blood pressure? The kinds of game that give you the same feeling as biting into a tea-dipped biscuit that’s exactly the right consistency before it falls to pieces? Step in Wayward Sky, a charming narrative puzzle adventure that does just that and carves an interesting VR control model at the same time. It’s the story of Bess, a young girl who’s crash-landed on a floating fortress of robots. 1 She’s on a quest to find her father, who has unfortunately been stolen by an evil AI…

Inventively, to tackle any problems of headset-induced motion sickness headon, control is handed to you from a helpful position in the sky. Aim to where you’d like Bess to walk to by using the laser pointer on the in-game torch, press the trigger and she’ll jog on over, point-’n’-click style. It works fine with a pad, but two PS Move wands make the experience that bit more satisfying and it’s pleasingly accurate. Then, when it’s time for any close-up puzzling, you seamlessly switch to Bess’ viewpoint for flicking switches and positioning bulbs.

Wayward Sky looks beautiful, and there’s an element of playing with a giant toy as you switch angles in the sky and take in the view. Yet while they look lovely, the puzzles2 aren’t quite challenging enough, and more brain teasers would have been welcome in the game’s threehour run time. Nonetheless, this is a peaceful puzzler with genuine heart. Louise Blain

FOOTNOTES1 With a wrist-worn gizmo, you take control of robots to perform out-of-reach tasks. 2 Puzzles stretch from traversing spinning bridges to connecting pipes and drenching evil robots.