THE PERSISTENCE

A horrifying hands-on with the smartest VR scarefest to date

VR’s a double-edged sword: at once deeply immersive and deeply isolating. In Firesprite’s sci-fi survival horror roguelike, that adds to the fear factor: trapped on a malfunctioning spacecraft with snarling mutants, you’re made to feel truly alone and afraid. And yet if you’ve got other people in the room, they won’t be left out, thanks to one of the most ingenious co-op modes we’ve seen.

The Persistence’s roguelike structure is cleverly baked into its fiction. Disaster strikes the titular ship on a colonisation mission: after one hyperjump too many, it ends up in the pull of a black hole. The result? The ship’s systems are on the fritz, including – uh-oh – the clone printer making copies of the seven-strong crew. It soon begins splicing engrams and chucking out mutated versions that quickly overpower their originals. Luckily, Serena, the ship’s designer, is able to make a functioning copy of security officer Zimri. Since her memories are stored on computer, new copies can be printed when she dies. And any stem cells from fallen crew members can be slotted into her DNA sequence, letting her come back stronger and faster. Upgrade, die, repeat.

And you will die, because this is not an easy game. The mangled doppelgängers aren’t smart, but they hit hard, and they don’t often come singly. That said, you have a small energy shield, letting you parry a couple of attacks – though against later, tougher enemies, a single hit will break it – and a varied arsenal to take them down. Purchased from fabricators scattered across each deck, weapons don’t come cheap, and ammo is scarce. Look-to-aim means headshots are a doddle, but after safely negotiating a handful of rooms we’re already down to our last three rounds.

HARVEST BOON

Alternatively, you can use your stem-cell harvester (and you can guess what that does). Successfully approach an enemy undetected, and a stab of r will fire two drills into the back of their neck to extract that juicy DNA. And if you’re spotted? Well, the harvester makes a pretty decent blunt instrument with which to bludgeon those screeching freaks.

They’re not the only threat. Sentrybots will zap you if you enter their line of sight, while skittering nasties called Skulls will have you looking around anxiously every time you enter a crawlspace. With standard FPS controls, most enemies are easily outmanoeuvred, and a short-range teleport lets you zip quickly to safety as long as you’ve got enough dark matter to keep it running. A local pulse highlights nearby enemies in red; again, you’ll need to use it prudently.

If you’re still struggling, you can rope in a friend or family member to help via a companion app – and it’s here The Persistence gets really devious. They’re given a top-down view of the ship, which lets them guide you away from danger and towards pickups, which will show up as question marks until tapped. They can open doors and temporarily freeze enemies, too, and there’s incentive to do so: a score builds for actions completed, and points are deducted when the player takes damage.

ONE GOOD TREASON

But there’s a twist: occasionally, they’ll be offered hefty bonuses for underhanded play. Holding a tablet while Firesprite’s Stuart Tilley dons the headset, we gleefully turn out the lights when he enters a new room, annoying mutants so they spin around as he’s about to harvest their DNA. Well, it’s his fault for making a game that scared the wits out of us.

Mind you, even the jumpiest of players will find plenty to admire. If you were looking for another reason to hang onto that headset, you’ve found it: The Persistence’s shrewd structure and deliciously duplicitous multiplayer make it one of the most thrilling PS VR prospects so far.