PlayStation VR review

But the era of PC-exclusive VR has now come to an end thanks to the arrival of Sony's long-awaited PlayStation VR.

This is the excellent, and comparatively affordable, introduction into the world of quality VR that we've all been waiting for. 

It has its problems – the most notable of which is the fact that you'll need to buy a PlayStation Camera if you don't already own one, and then shell out for PlayStation Move Controllers on top of that to get the full experience – but by and large PlayStation VR proves that not only is console VR viable, but it's actually enjoyable, too.

Over a week's time I tried close to a dozen games on the console, from Rocksteady's impressive (but short) Batman: Arkham VR to the laugh-out-loud funny Job Simulator to the tear-jerking Wayward Sky and even a horror game – Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.

Some of these titles were more fun than others, obviously, but all of them made the same point: PlayStation VR doesn't suck.

How does PlayStation VR work?

Like other virtual reality headsets on the market, PlayStation VR has the arduous task of completely immersing you in a video game by producing two images simultaneously and then sending them to a headset a few feet away. But unlike the competition who require expensive graphics cards to get the job done, PS VR can do it using only the PlayStation 4's built-in GPU.

It achieves this by using the PlayStation Camera to track nine different points of light on the headset and the lights on either the Move controllers or on the DualShock 4, depending on which game you're playing.

It's surprisingly accurate given the fact that it's only using a single camera to track what's happening ... but it's not foolproof by any stretch of the imagination. We'll cover performance in detail in a minute, but be prepared for the camera to lose track of the controllers. A lot.

But the real bummer here is that because Sony only uses one camera instead of two, it's harder for PlayStation VR to track you if you get up and walk around than it is for a system like the HTC Vive which can offer true room-scale VR. That said, it still can support you if you decide to get up and wander around, but don't expect to take more than a few steps in any direction without a warning from the system that you're straying too far away.

To that end, most PlayStation VR games can recommend that you stay in one of two positions, either sitting down or standing up and stationary. If you're prone to motion sickness, sitting down might be a bit more comfortable, however, certain games are definitely better played on your feet.

Depending on where and how you angle your camera, switching between the two might not be so easy, so it's best to find an angle that covers the majority of the room in case you want to switch from one to the other without having to get up, move the camera and recalibrate.

But let's back up. Up until now, I've thrown the words "VR" and "virtual reality" around a lot and haven't provided much explanation for them.

VR has existed in one form or another for decades, but the modern version of the technology is more immersive and less nausea-inducing than it's ever been. In more or less words, virtual reality is just that – a virtual world that gives you the experience of being somewhere else in a different time, at a different place, sometimes as far as an alien world, all without ever leaving your home.

And yes, it's just as cool as it sounds.

If you want to be specific about it, PlayStation VR can handle 1080p games on its 920 x RGB x 1080 OLED display at either 90Hz (meaning that the image refreshes itself 90 times per second) or at 120Hz depending on the VR game or application.