The PS VR Sessions: Robinson: The Journey

The PlayStation.Blog team can’t wait for October 13. With the launch of PlayStation VR in North America, we’re entering a new era of gaming — one that places players directly into the worlds that developers so lovingly create. To prepare for this amazing next chapter in PlayStation history, we all donned that PlayStation VR headset and sampled a bevy of upcoming PlayStation VR titles.

The world of Robinson: The Journey is equal parts enormous and beautiful. The power of virtual reality is especially significant in Crytek’s latest given the extraordinary vistas players will climb on their journey across an alien world. Here’s what we thought when we hiked through the lush jungles and up the dizzying peaks of Robinson: The Journey.

This experience left me speechless, outside of occasional cries of “woooooow.” I explored a prehistoric alien world populated by dinosaur-like creatures. Using DualShock 4, I navigated tricky paths through soaring treetops while hungry raptors nipped at my heels. Robinson focuses on exploration and the sheer wonder of the exotic environments, but there are puzzles to solve — I lured a hungry dino out of my way using a giant fruit, and scaled trees using a slick hand-over-hand mechanic. But the real attraction here is the gorgeous, mysterious world of Tyson III.
–Sid Shuman

As I get more experience with VR games, and the technology in general, I’m finding that my favorite moments are the quieter ones. Despite the high-octane action sequences, hilarious party games, and barrier-shattering showcases of presence in game worlds we’ve seen on PS VR, one of my most surprising VR experiences to date happened in Robinson. A particular scene saw me standing on a cliff, overlooking a vast landscape teeming with various creatures and blanketed in the light of a gorgeous sunset. When I was younger I used to go on road trips to hang out on Santa Monica pier, just to look out at the ocean and appreciate life. This moment in Robinson is the first time I’ve felt that sense of humbling calm and contentment in years.
–Justin Massongill

The key to Robinson: The Journey is scale. The nearly endless jungles towering around you, winged creatures snapping and crying overheard, and dizzying heights to overcome — all these elements play into the feeling of immersion. But perhaps most telling of the power of PlayStation VR came towards the end of the demo, when I tiptoed through a fallen tree stump riddled with vines. As I passed underneath low-hanging branches, I expected the leaves to touch my face. In fact, I was surprised when they didn’t. Take this sense of realism and couple it with Robinson’s colossal scope to better understand the potential of the platform.
–Ryan Clements

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