The Persistence

In virtual space everyone can hear you scream

“EVERY TIME YOU DIE THE LOONY COMPUTER WILL WAKE A NEW BODY FOR YOU.”

PUBLISHER FIRESPRITE / DEV FIRESPRITE / PLAYERS 1-4 / ETA OCT

TakeThe Fly’s gene-splicing body horror, set it aboard a spaceship run by a HAL-like computer gone bad, and you get close to imagining what The Persistence brings to PS VR.

The crew of the Persistence have been mangled in a teleporting malfunction and mutated beyond recognition, and somehow you’ve survived. Your goal is simple: get the heck off this hell-ship. Doing it’s not so easy. You need to move through the ship using your wits to escape the Mutoids. Every time you die the loony computer running the show will wake a new body for you to play in. The Persistence is a VR roguelike where you’re the prey, not the hunter, and we love it.

LIVE, DIE, REPEAT

You start the game with little chance of success, but with persistence, and a lot of dying, you can build a better you. There’s XP in the form of stem cells harvested from your enemies for upgrades such as extra health, speed, and power. Gadgets, weapons, and gear can be built from scavenged parts, ‘fabrication’ chips, and schematics, and everything carries over into your next ‘life’ (let’s not ask how the mad computer transfers physical items like your weapons when it resurrects you) so you’re always inching forwards.

The snappy rinse-and-repeat structure is the perfect antidote for anyone who fears VR motion sickness. You can drop in and out and constantly feel like you’re progressing. Add in four-player couchplay, in which three friends using tablets that show the ship’s map and its hazards can work with or against the virtual survivor, and The Persistence has a nasty streak we have to admire.

Stem cells harvested from enemies can be used to develop new skills that carry over into your next ‘life’. team picks “A roguelike FPS in VR? Sounds like a match made in heaven to me. Having played it, The Persistence is shaping into one of PS VR’s...