Republished on Sunday, 8th March 2015: We're bringing this feature back out of the archives following a big week for Project Morpheus at the Game Developers Conference. The original text follows.
Originally published on Saturday, 22nd March 2014: Project Morpheus has been officially unveiled, and judging by the first batch of hands-on impressions, it's better than anyone really imagined. The prototype PlayStation 4 headset uses a combination of PlayStation Move motion tracking technology and fancy face mounted displays in order to immerse you inside game worlds in a way that you've never really experienced before. With the hardware already showing signs of serious promise, then, we've gathered together eleven Push Square editors in order to discuss our dream virtual reality lineup. This list consists of existing franchises that aren't currently announced for the futuristic format, but ones that we reckon would make fantastic fits.
Afrika
Sammy Barker: Much like Farming Simulator – which, incidentally, would also make an ideal Project Morpheus accompaniment – Rhino Studios' drastically underappreciated safari simulator Afrika is one of my PlayStation 3 guilty pleasures. The primary objective in this photography-based escapade is to snap images of the various animals that you encounter out in the African outback. While you'll need to commandeer jeeps and – yes – hot-air balloons to complete your objectives, a lot of this title is spent simply admiring the scenery and the habits of the wildlife that you encounter. This slow, steady pace coupled with the title's outstanding visuals would make it a perfect companion for the PS4's virtual reality headset – especially when embarking on a real equatorial tour doesn't come cheap.
Assassin's Creed
Joey Thurmond: There are plenty of possibilities for what developers could accomplish with Project Morpheus, but I think that Assassin's Creed would be a great place to start. This may seem odd as it's traditionally a third-person game, but imagine how head tracking technology could enhance your perspective of the beautiful environments. You could even use the accessory to lock-on to specific enemies, or get a better view of combat scenarios. Picture even being able to look behind you when you're outrunning goons, who will no doubt have cottoned onto your sneaky stance during another obligatory eavesdropping mission.
BioShock
Edwin Garcia: The BioShock series has always been known for its fantastically imaginative environments, whether it's a dilapidated underwater death dome or a flying metropolis above the clouds. Sure, the gunplay is fun and there is some creative combat to play around with, but it's the world that you explore that is truly impressive. This is where Project Morpheus could come in. Imagine going face-to-face with the giant Songbird or even talking to the chilling Andrew Ryan as he recites one of his famous lines. How about experiencing the first venture into Rapture, witnessing everything first hand while you ride down in the bathysphere? Project Morpheus could add even more immersion to already incredible worlds.
Dishonored
Ben Tarrant: As the dust settles on a new generation, it appears that virtual reality is going to revolutionise everything once again. Project Morpheus already looks the part, and I was excited to see that Square Enix's recent Thief reboot was one of the titles being demonstrated on the device. This has got me thinking: what about Dishonored? With an oil-painted art direction and plenty of high-octane missions, the headset would give you even greater control over protagonist Corvo, and allow you to plan your sneaky infiltration to perfection. This technology seems built for first-person experiences, so it only seems natural to combine it with Arkane's masterful romp through the dank streets of Dunwall.
Flower
Graham Banas: When virtual reality is thrown about, there's one game that jumps straight to my mind: Flower. The seminal thatgamecompany release is already a beautiful game, but the ability to physically look around those vibrant meadows in real-time sounds absolutely amazing to me. You could perhaps even control the petals using your head, and then maybe use your arms to direct the wind. All that Sony would need to do is develop some kind of nasal sensory technology that would allow you to inhale the aromatic scent of the scenery, too.
G-Police
Nicola Hayden: How can you have a virtual reality headset and not have a flight simulator for it? You can't, and that's why it's a perfect time to revive the PSone classic G-Police. Patrolling space colonies with ships full of missiles, it already offers an experience that's yet to be matched by a more modern flight sim since. While the next-gen graphics would make this sci-fi shooter bliss, we suppose that travelling through tunnels may make you feel queasy – especially if you're in a hot pursuit. Perhaps the platform holder could bundle a sick bucket with pre-orders?
Jumping Flash!
Jamie O'Neill: It was Sammy who suggested Jumping Flash! as an interesting fit for Project Morpheus, and this fired my imagination, because its first-person platforming would be well suited to Sony's new technology. It's natural for your head to look around and take in the environment when you first don a futuristic headset, but the simplistic bold colouring in an update of the PSone classic could ensure that the landscapes don't leave you feeling disoriented. Robbit's versatile ability to quickly traverse huge vertical structures would also provide a sense of awe. I especially think that depicting the outer space scaffolding stage from the end of the game could be an effective way of providing a visual sense of scale and wonderment. Plus, this may compensate for early reports of the PS4 headset's technical shortcomings, such as black borders in your peripheral vision.
Mirror's Edge
Alex Stinton: When I think of the potential for headsets like Project Morpheus, the game that always comes to my mind is Mirror's Edge. By the time that the long promised sequel arrives, we'll hopefully have the accessory strapped to our heads, and I for one will be the first in line for an even more immersive free running experience. I already find the leaps of faith and long drops make my stomach lurch when playing on a normal television, so the move to virtual reality could take this series to another sickening level.
Silent Hill
Brett Young: Outlast recently demonstrated that first-person horror can be truly terrifying. As such, if Konami could bring a new instalment of Silent Hill to Sony's virtual reality headset, it could be the shot in the arm that the series needs to repair its much diminished status – and one hell of an experience. Could you imagine traversing the soiled corridors of the town's hospital, trying in vain to find a lock that isn't broken as its denizens close in from all directions? I find the prospect not only ridiculously frightening, but extremely exciting.
The Elder Scrolls
Robert Ramsey: While I'm still not completely sold on Project Morpheus or virtual reality in general, I certainly wouldn't pass up the chance to try a title from The Elder Scrolls series using the technology. Bethesda's hand crafted worlds already do a fantastic job of immersing you in the game – at least when they're not bugging out – but having the feeling of being right there standing on the peak of a mountain, looking down upon the lands below might just take the freedom-based experience to the next level.
The Unfinished Swan
Kell Andersen: I think the Unfinished Swan would be a perfect candidate for the virtual reality treatment. This is mostly because I think that the game's first level would be an almost religious experience if ported to Project Morpheus. What's more, the relatively slow paced puzzle gameplay would mean that it wouldn't require you to take out a gym membership just to pass the first level. With that said, if we're rating potential titles on their likelihood for stomach upheaval, perhaps Giant Sparrow's dark fairy tale isn't such a good idea.
These are some of our ideas, but which titles or franchises would you like to see support Project Morpheus? Do you agree with our suggestions, or do you suspect that not all of these games would work? Strap yourself in courtesy of the comments section below.
Which game would you like to play with Project Morpheus? (90 votes)
- Afrika
- Assassin’s Creed
- BioShock
- Dishonored
- Flower
- G-Police
- Jumping Flash!0%
- Mirror’s Edge
- Silent Hill
- The Elder Scrolls
- The Unfinished Swan
- Other
Please login to vote in this poll.
[ Image Credit: Road to VR ]
Comments 46
Definitely Mirror’s Edge but a new Unfinished Swan would be cool too.
Elder scrolls is my first choice, but I think assassins creed could actually be more likely...
I'd like to play Batman: Arkham Knight with the Morpheus. Everyone has always dreamed of being the dark knight, but now that dream could become a reality.
What they need to do is announce a Sword Art Online game exclusive for ps4 compatible with the Virtual Reality headset. The internet would explode and it would help both the anime/game (Sword Art Online) and the ps4/VRset take off.
Then again, that makes too much sense, so I don't see it happening. All I can hope for is a move like success.
As from the actual available games at the moment, I'd go with Skyrim. Didn't enjoy the Unfinished Swan and can't think of anything else that would make much sense.
It's all about Dishono(u)red.
KINGDOM COME DELIVERANCE. The way I see it, it's entirely possible for humanity to invent and create things akin to many so called 'futuristic' game concepts like space travel and crazy weaponry within our life times.
However, I don't think anyone's going to master time travel. I want to experience ages gone by, with all their romanticism, cultures, perceptions - something entirely impossible for me to experience outside of a virtual world.
Also sieges. Can't forget sieges.
Elder scrolls, silent hill was second choice.
Africa is w/o a doubt the best dynamic background my PS3 has ever seen. I can only imagine how cool they could make a sequel look w/ the PS4's power.
Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt" would make a cool $15 download game, though you would probably only want to play the end once.
I think some kind of flight sim would be amazing. I voted for flower as, motion sickness aside, flying around with a vr headset would be easy to immerse yourself in.
Wouldn't Shadow of the Colossus be great for this. I mean the thought of the battles in a VR setting get me excited for this tech.
Silent Hill definitely caught my eye, but I have to go with Fallout... One of my favorite series with virtual reality? You might as well glue the Morpheus to my head
@naruball Someone in Japan will do it, count on it. I'm also confident that Sunrise will get someone on a Gundam VR game
Oh, Btooom! would also make a great VR game: http://youtu.be/H92d6YZkVO8
I voted for the Elder Scrolls, but really any good first-person RPG would work great. Horror would also be a great genre for VR, imagine playing a classic Resident Evil or Silent Hill with it.
elder scrolls of course. assassins creed would be awesome. imagine an performing an aerial assassination, twould be great
DOOM !
I agree with the above post about sword art, but i voted mirrors edge
G-Police.....bring that classic series back as it's been too long and just imagine being strapped into the cockpit of one of those zippy choppers zooming in between futuristic sky scrapers.
Anytime I play an Assasins creed game I spend half the time just looking at the environments and architecture. I'd love to be able to wander around in Ancient Rome looking at stuff. They could even make a ten buck FPS of walking around the different game worlds with no other game play and I'd still get it.
first person VR Silent Hill would make me poo myself.
@chazaroonie I was just thinking the same thing. Looking at the list here doesn't really show anything that would grab me with VR tech, but something along the lines of IL-2 Sturmovik on Ps3 would be surreal in VR. Locked into first person cockpit view, having to look around to seek out targets using the Move as a flight stick maybe. That'd be a great showpiece for VR. Would be really immersive once the flak starts & your bobbing n weaving between bombers in your trusty Spitfire.
@MadchesterManc WW2 flight sim would be ace. Even something like pilot wings, the old N64 game would work well. I do think driveclub may be impressive too. Just something that could give the impression of speed and motion that could take you away from reality for a while. I know that most games do that but with VR, you really would be stepping into a new world, quite literally.
Am I the only one that thinks this is going to end up not being as cool as it sounds? Maybe it's just hard for me to believe the technology is there to really pull this off.
One game comes to mind.....WIPEOUT
Personally I am not 'excited' by Virtual Reality and really can't see this being much more than a fad. There is too many negatives that outweigh any potential benefits - that being said I am surprised that things like Gran Tourismo or other racing game isn't on this list. Some flying game like Ace Combat could work well too.
Fallout 4 for Morpheus! Please Bethesda!
@BAMozzy I kinda like the idea of VR. It won't be entirely ground breaking from the get-go, but in a few years it could become a staple. Who knows, depends on how the wind blows. As for games, first person rpgs like Fallout/Elder scrolls, and Racing games would be great on VR. I don't expect much, but I hope for the best.
@NomNom The issues I have are not so much the gaming potential but I really don't want to be shut off from my surroundings that much. I don't want to have no idea about what is happening around me. Its bad enough with a headset on and not able to hear what's happening but peripheral vision is still available to you. I have been known to game for many hours and wonder what the long term effects of VR gaming could be. Disorientating? Probably at the very least. Having screens that close to your eyes too can't be good long term. I had one of those Tomy 3d games that you looked into and a Nintendo Virtual boy too and both left me with migraines after a short time. I don't think its great if you have family or live with someone either. I certainly wouldn't want my kids 'lost' in a VR world.
There are still far too many negatives and potential risks (not just to health in wearing but things that could happening around you too) just for a little bit more 'immersion'. Alien: Isolation is tense and scary without VR. Racing or Flying games are still fun too.
I have more interest in Holo Lens (Augmented Reality) as that still allows peripheral awareness but still not 'that' interested.
In all the years I have been gaming, I have never thought a game would be so much better in VR. I do think that games that are story driven - particularly linear games are not suited to VR. These games,like movies, use the on screen visuals to help drive the narrative and focus your attention on certain areas - not great in VR if you are looking elsewhere or could feel weird that it moves and your head isn't when the rest of the time it's based on your movement.
What if someone taps you on the shoulder trying to talk - not only will jump out of your skin, you will spin round and expect to see someone there. May not sound that bad but I bet its disorientating and I don't know anyone that likes being made to 'jump'
Maybe I am being 'old' but I really can't see how the benefits outweigh the negatives and whether the benefits can even justify the costs. Maybe a few games may benefit from it but I think most won't. A FPS shooter may sound like a good idea but aim could be thrown off by movement of head as well as the aiming thumbstick control too.
@BAMozzy you bring up valid points but there are positives with it too. It's definitely a bold endeavor by Sony but I can see VR applying to things besides games as well. Maybe wearing it to the watch certain events like sports or concerts. I agree that it might not be a good investment if you have a family because you're basically shutting yourself odd from them, but as a single guy who enjoys techy things I'm definitely interested in it
@Cowboysfan-22 Like I said I can see the positives whether that be in gaming or watching an event but those benefits to me do not outweigh the negatives. Its not like I can't watch these events on a TV and you tend to get the best viewing angle on here anyway. Its not going to replace the TV so all these games/events etc will still be watchable. Even without considering the health or social points, I can't see that benefits are worth the costs. In games where you can and need to actually look around, that has been possible on a TV anyway. In racing games, you don't want to move your head too much as you need to focus on the road ahead.
I would be worried about my child using something like this for any length of time - worried about their health and any mental impact from 'living' in a virtual environment. It also a lot easier to be aware of what game they are playing if you can see the screen too. I do think the lack of peripheral vision and awareness of your surroundings could lead to injury - like moving your head to dodge something and smacking it against a wall or something. You could knock over a glass or hot drink. If you live on your own, who can notify you that the fire alarm is going off? It could happen...
As I said I can see more benefits and usage from Augmented Reality - such as Holo Lens - the fact that you still have peripheral vision and awareness of your surroundings also makes this a more interesting, safer and versatile technology...
I would LOVE it if they somehow implemented it for FFXIV and maybe No Man's Sky.
Where's gta? That first person mode combined with the device would truly provide a crazy experience!
The Elder Scrolls would be EPIC on a VR headset
oh and Gran Turismo too especialy cockpit view
I think Flower and The Unfinished Swan would be a great fit for VR.
Those are games without fast motion, without sharp turns and without fast camera movement (so not likely for anyone to get motion sickness), so I think that would translate really well to a great immersive experience in VR, without too much modifications to the game.
And I don't think those games require that much processing power, so that means they can target a high framerate that is necessary for an enjoyable VR experience.
Games like Flower, The Unfinished Swan, Afrika, No Man's Sky are games I would love to see in VR!
Games like Mirror's Edge, Assassin's Creed, Dishonored would require to make some big graphical trade-offs to make them work in VR I think. But it could be a trade-off that's worth it of course.
@BAMozzy for the screens' being close to the eyes, it was debunked that it leads to worsened eye sight. You can sit right next to a TV or a few meters/feet away, and it would still affect you relatively the same.
I'd also like Everybody's Golf and Sports Champions in VR.
@Splat I'm definitely not sure about it. I'm honestly not sure that I'd ever wear a VR headset while someone else is around. It's creepy and if they wanted to speak to me, they'd probably tap me on the shoulder, which would be scary. Even on my own, I still need to be able up pick up my phone, which I'm not going to switch off. So many problems with VR, unfortunately.
please watch the language -Tasuki-
@splat I think it has the potential to be the next stage of gaming going forward. The only thing holding it back is that I don't think current games would work well with VR. The tech is going to require some radical new ideas to transpose the likes of Elder Scrolls etc into VR properly, whilst some genres like racing games & flight sims will be ridiculously easy. Sure VR could fall flat on its face, but there's genuine potential to innovate in numerous way with new experiences for an industry that's stagnated.
Nothing can be more suitable for full immersion than horror genre. Imagine playing the first Dead Space with VR... I could piss my pant...
@naruball The only problem is technology still isn't at level with SAO, or .Hack standards. If you made SAO or The World with just standard VR and not full immersion it would just be clunky and difficult to play.
I'm surprised there aren't more racing games here. Take F1 for example, being immersed in the cockpit with a true sense of depth perception would feel amazing, add the head tracking to that and it becomes a far more natural experience.
That alone is worth getting excited about for me, everything else is a bonus.
@dacendarin Yeah, that's definitely the biggest problem, but I think they could take baby steps. The game doesn't have to work perfectly, just well enough to get a bit closer to SAO than the psv games do.
@Beta yeah FFXIV would be amazing, I was just thinking exactly that myself! Highly unlikely any time soon though. I do, however, think No Man's Sky is a lot more likely to end up supporting it. Sony would be mad not to try to help the guys at Hello Games get VR up and running - get that done right and just that one game will be shifting tons of PS4s and Morpheus all on its own!
I won't pick up a virtual headset for any of that! If there's not enough game company's supporting it then I won't ever buy one.
I think I will be great just for head tracking in ANY First Person View game.
@NomNom yeah the whole tv will ruin your eyes thing was a leftover from the early tv sets as they would ruin your eyes if you was too close because of the emmisions they gave off
modern tv's and screens don't have this issue
Silent Hills...or at the very least adding compatibility into PT
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