If there’s one thing that VR can do, it’s give you experiences you’ve never had before. Want to know what it’s like to climb a giant, imposing mountain while robot dinosaurs screech at you in the background? Horizon Call of the Mountain is your game. Prefer to live the life of a tiny mouse scurrying about ancient ruins and trying to piece together their history? That’s where Moss comes in.
There’s potential for VR to augment and enhance any genre, but one of the most exciting areas in which we’re looking forward to seeing what VR can do is the skating sim. VR Skater looks like a step towards realising that dream, and since it’s releasing for PlayStation VR2 pretty soon, we thought now would be a good time to take a look at the game and what it’s going to bring to Sony’s virtual reality system.
VR Skater release date – when does the game come out?
According to VR Skater publisher Perp Games, the game is launching on PlayStation VR2 on June 21st. Somewhat frustratingly, the game currently doesn’t have a release date listed on the PlayStation Store; it can sometimes take Sony a little time to update its listings there. However, you can currently wishlist VR Skater on the PS Store, so do be sure to add it if you need more info.
VR Skater trailers – what have we seen so far?
Since VR Skater has already been out on PC for a little while, there are plenty of trailers to draw from if you want to see gameplay footage. Since we’re a PS5-focused site, though, we want to home in on the PS5 trailers that have been released for the game.
Firstly, there’s this extremely brief three-second clip of publisher Perp Games testing out VR Skater on the PlayStation VR2. It consists of a player grinding down a rail and skating off towards some obstacles, and it’s likely intended much more as a teaser than as an actual trailer.
Our first glimpse of VR Skater on PS5 came with a “coming soon to PS VR2” trailer, which was uploaded in early April. Soundtracked by exactly the kind of upbeat pop-punk you’d expect, that trailer shows off VR Skater’s unique skateboarding gameplay. It doesn’t reveal the release date, but that would come in just a few weeks.
Following that trailer, Perp Games released a short trailer (literally; it’s a YouTube Short) revealing that VR Skater will release on PS VR2 on June 21st. A longer trailer then followed, again reiterating the release date and showing some more VR Skater gameplay. Amusingly, this “release date trailer” was also uploaded to the official PlayStation YouTube channel, but Sony somehow omitted the actual release date from their version of the trailer.
VR Skater platforms – is it coming to PS VR?
Bad news if you’re still holding onto your PlayStation VR headset: VR Skater will be a PlayStation VR2 exclusive. You won’t be able to play it on PS4 at all, so it might be time to upgrade to a PS VR2 if you’re holding out hope that you’ll be able to play this exciting-looking VR skating game on your original PS VR.
VR Skater also won’t be playable outside of the VR environment, for obvious reasons; it’s been built from the ground up for VR, so being able to play it without the trappings of VR would likely feel slightly redundant. This is absolutely a PS VR2 exclusive through and through; you will need one of Sony’s new VR headsets in order to play it.
VR Skater features – what will the game offer?
There are some games that try to be jacks of all trades, and some that focus in on one single gameplay mechanic, honing it to perfection. You’ll find VR Skater in the latter camp; it’s a VR skating sim, and that’s all it wants to be. Let’s take a look at some of the gameplay features you’ll find in VR Skater.
- Hand tracking for executing tricks. Since PS VR2 doesn’t have any kind of full-body tracking, you’ll be executing tricks using your hands. Publisher Perp Games says this will give you a “perspective and level of control never before seen”; if you’ve ever mimed riding a bicycle using your hands, you’ll probably know what the developers are going for here.
- Lots of different trick types. Flips, grabs, manuals, slides, and grinds are all fully represented in VR Skater, giving you the full authentic skating experience. If you can do it on a skateboard in real life, then chances are you can also do it in VR Skater (within reason, of course).
- 7 levels, plus the Mega Ramp. You’ll be able to skate across 7 different urban environments in VR Skater, and there’s also the terrifying Mega Ramp, which will give you that oft-sought plunging stomach feel you can only get from VR games.
- Lots of different gear. As you play VR Skater, you’ll be able to swap out parts of your skateboard, customising your wheels, trucks, grip tape, and lots more. Of course, that also includes your board itself; you can choose what kind of artwork you want to rep while you’re out on the course.
As you can see, VR Skater is shaping up to be a great little VR skating sim on PS VR2. It’s coming out on June 21st.