THE PLAYROOM VR
Fantastic freeware? Domo arigato, little robotos
Do those little digital mugs look familiar? They should. Just a few years ago, robots were running riot around your living room in PlayStation Camera-powered, augmented reality title The Playroom. Now they’re back to cause all sorts of adorable anarchy in PS VR multiplayer mini-game collection The Playroom VR – and you won’t pay a penny for ’bot babysitting privileges. The Playroom VR uses the headset in inventive ways, each of its six simple treats polished to rival your robo-buddies’ sparkly bonces. From the vivid ’toon city of Monster Escape (the VR player a skyscraper-headbutting Godzilla squishing controller players) to the glossy toys won from Mini Bots’ claw machine, it looks top quality.
Whether playing solo or with friends, the experiences reflect their pristine presentation. Take Wanted!, a Wild West saloon shootout sim where TV-viewing players describe the virtual varmint the VR gunslinger’s looking for. Blue eyepatch, white hat? Plop –a click of the touchpad, and a dart suckers onto his glassy face. Four difficulty levels provide co-op challenge, but if you’re going it alone, then third-person platformer Robot Rescue is a special highlight.
A staggeringly elegant VR mashup of the Super Mario 3D World aesthetic and Tearaway’s mechanical genius, you swipe the touchpad to fire your grapple, move your pad to raise the tightrope your robot avatar’s walking on, and look over your shoulder to spot hidden areas and more dinky droids in distress. Sadly brief, it inspires multiple plays.
FREAKS ‘N’ SQUEAKS
The same can’t be said for Ghost House or Cat & Mouse, the former a spectre-hunting, repetitive point-and-shooter and the latter a Grandmother’s Footsteps-esque affair that quickly tires (and ends with a hilariously uncomfortable mouse-spanking mini-game for victorious felines).
But it’s the delicious, VR-specific details sprinkled throughout The Playroom VR that really sing. Using PS VR’s mic to blow smoke from your dart gun’s barrel, pushing your face through a curtain of green vines or hearing your friend’s helium-addled Godzilla giggles – and everyone in the room laughing, too – makes its gaggle of robots worthy of a space on your hard drive. We’d happily have paid for this.
VERDICT
No need to splash the cash: here’s a no-fuss, free party game collection for all ages, and with some style. Even the weaker games will be shortlived hits. Jen Simpkins