Share of the Week: Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Landscapes https://ift.tt/v34NEyZ
Last week, we asked you share the epic landscapes of feudal Japan in Assassin’s Creed Shadows using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
irmarie_diazshares Naoe riding a horse through agricultural fields in the fall.
visualcam9shares Naoe wandering through cherry blossoms
RivalsUniverseshares sunlight streaming through a bamboo forest
DexM_dsshares Naoe perched atop an icy winter landscape
TakaSanGamesshares a castle surrounded by cherry blossoms
tim14009498shares Naoe atop a roof overlooking a settlement in fall
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Heights
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on April 9, 2025
Next week, look down below. Share breathtaking moments taken from great heights in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Sci-fi shooter/smasher Harpagun slams onto PS VR2 April 10 https://ift.tt/yNSJCUl
What is it? What’s the formula, the secret ingredient to make a VR game bring pure excitement and adrenaline to the players? How can we make them smile and go “wow” after they take off the headset? For us devs at Something Random working on Harpagun, it all comes down to a few simple elements. Let’s take it from the top.
Movement that matters: Speed, control, and immersion
Action games are all about movement. An issue mostly already solved in flat screen games but still problematic in VR. Some forms of locomotion allow for precision but are pretty slow and unresponsive. Others let you zoom around the locations, but can be uncomfortable. Those that are, are limiting or take you out of the illusion of “being there”.
In Harpagun we needed a system with a clear set of goals: comfort, simplicity, responsiveness, speed and immersion. In a proper arcade game players have to be able to react in a blink of an eye, immediately focus on what’s the most important, change their position to avoid danger or get a better shot at an enemy.
We managed to achieve that with our “pylon and anchor” system. Players move between sets of points with their eyes anchored to points of interest such as a path forward or center of the combat area. The movement is smooth but fast enough to be comfortable while allowing for total control of the battlefield.
Grab, smash, throw: The power of the Magnetic Ray
The first thing everyone wants to do in VR is to grab something and throw it. Sadly it requires the player to come very close to an object and can sometimes be very finicky and actually ruin the illusion of presence due to the limitations of the medium (mass of objects, pressure on hands etc.). But you need to do it. You need that interaction with the world and enemies, that’s what VR is for. So how can we have a cookie and eat a cookie? Use a Magnetic ray of course. (not for the cookie, for the interactions).
Distance grabbing is a well-known concept in VR at this point so the challenge here was to make it as juicy and essential to the gameplay as possible. You can use it on enemies and each will react differently. Some may be squashed on the ground, others reveal their weak point or may part with parts of their bodies. The ray can also grab projectiles, move around elements of the environment from as small as tin cans to as big as fridges and tractors. Of course all of them can then be used to smash some more enemies.
Juice it up: Impact, chaos, and a soundtrack that slaps
It wouldn’t be much fun if you zoomed around and squashed grey boxes in grey locations now, would it? You need “juice”, a lot of it. Animations that show personality and intent. Hit reactions give you a sense of impact and power of weapons. Splashes and explosions telling you that an enemy turned into a pile of marmalade under a falling sentry turret. Add to that audio and music. A proper squeak of an alien jumping on your face, followed by a thud of a tv set hitting it and a splat when it, well, splats all over the place. In terms of music for Harpagun we settled with a mix of army marches, jazz, balkan beats and a touch of slavic folk. Hey, stop, don’t close this page – I assure you, it all works – the soundtrack slaps.
A quirky universe to unravel
Two important elements of the experience – a “what?” and “where?” If you want players to continue playing beyond the first few minutes you need to give them a reason. Places to discover, people to meet, quest to complete. Going too “over the board” wouldn’t serve an action game though. Who wants to read lengthy lore snippets when there are enemies to unalive? You might want to make it a bit simpler, something like – a team of space junkers wanting to strip an abandoned planet from natural resources loses contact with an expedition member and sends a deck hand on the planet to check it out. Seems basic enough.
Now let’s add to it alien plant-mushroom-creatures, Slavic retro-futurism, dark humour, incompetent crew “helping” the hero, some happy-go-lucky attitude and voila. A world full of quirky characters and colorful locations is ready and waiting to be discovered. “Smacznego”.
Stir it up and serve hot! Smacznego!
Pretty simple, isn’t it? Just follow those few steps for three years – working hard, putting effort and love into what you’re doing. Then, hopefully, you’ll end up with an action game that VR enthusiasts enjoy and cherish as much as you do.
Incidentally we’ve just made a thing like that – it’s called Harpagun and you’ll be able to play it as soon as April 10 on PlayStation VR2. Give it a go and tell us if any of our theories are actually true. See You Space Junker!
Players’ Choice: Vote for March 2025’s best new game https://ift.tt/ihLyuYR
Last month we saw quite a few adventure games spring into action. What game from last month’s lineup was a fresh start? Some of the big new releases included Assassin’s Creed Shadows, MLB The Show 25, Hitman World of Assassination (PS VR2), and Split Fiction.
How does it work? At the end of every month, PlayStation Blog will open a poll where you can vote for the best new game released that month. After the polls close we will tally your votes, and announce the winner on our social channels and PlayStation.Blog.
What is the voting criteria? That’s up to you! If you were only able to recommend one new release to a friend that month, which would it be? Note: re-released games don’t qualify, but remakes do. We define remakes as ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds such as Resident Evil 4 (2023) and Final Fantasy VII Remake.
How are nominees decided? The PlayStation Blog editorial team will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll.
Share of the Week: Assassin’s Creed Shadows https://ift.tt/kLivwOJ
Last week, we asked you to take a leap into Assassin’s Creed Shadows and share epic moments of dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
TakaSanGamesshares Naoe in traditional Assassin white, in front of the Hidden Ones symbol
Evo_Pixelshares Yasuke striking with his katana in the rain
Yuric83shares Yasuke in ornamental armor emerging from shadows
calisarah1998shares Naoe approaching a large red gate
Milz_VPshares Yasuke wearing a samurai mask in the morning fog
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
Download the image
THEME: Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Landscapes
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on April 2, 2025
Next week, we’re focusing on the beautiful environments of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Share landscapes across the seasons of Japan using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Baby Steps was first revealed to the world in June 2023, and upon first viewing it, I didn’t know what to think. Surprises are few and far between when you have been gaming for over 30 years, but the reveal trailer left me with perplexing emotions. I was in a mental tug-of-war between, ‘I’ve never quite seen something quite like this’ and, ‘Does this concept really have a leg to stand on?’ Well, after about an hour of playing the game, I was ten toes down.
The game starts with a snippet of exposition. You’re a grown man named Nate living at home, and without warning, you’re thrown into the game world. You’re taught how to walk and tasked with making it out of a cave that serves as the tutorial area, and then you take the first steps into the open world, with one goal in mind: make it to the mountain in the far off distance.
To the ends of the earth
This wasn’t a mountain separated by cut-scenes and different hub areas, but a specific geographical goal I would have to advance to in real-time, creeping closer with every step. This realization swept me off my feet.
“It started on a much smaller course,” Said Bennett Foddy, one of the creators of Baby Steps. “But just as a test, I made a level that was 100 meters wide, and it was immediately clear to us that that was going to make for much more interesting gameplay, involving strategic route-finding as well as tactical foot placement. And surely it wouldn’t be that hard to make an open-world game!”
Step-by-step
Once the shock of the world’s scope wore off, I instantly bypassed the direct route for something more interesting that caught my eye and headed for what appeared to be a carousel in the distance. Since there is no map or waypoints here, where you go depends on you as the player. With campfires in the distance serving as markers for the ‘true’ direction you should head toward. As I walked through mud, puddles, sticks, and stones, the DualSense controller features began to shine, as every texture was met with the appropriate sensation and the oddly satisfying crunch of the earth and other material under my feet.
“There’s a cutting-edge experimental music system that works in sync with the walking sim,” Foddy said. “I think we’ve woven a pretty thought-provoking story from Nate’s situation as well. And the game is packed full of other surprises.”
Since I breezed through the earlier tutorial and started making tracks through a bizarre, seemingly desolate carnival, I spied a mysterious object atop the carousel, which led me to my first challenge: conquering medium—to medium-high ledges and slippery surfaces.
The object called me like a moth to a flame, and I spent some time figuring out how to raise my knees high enough for a step big enough to clear the ledge and how wide of a step to take to complete the motion without falling over. Though it was only a minute or two, I felt like I had conquered a tough boss battle. What awaited me at the top of the spiral slope? A hat.
A simple hat, yes, but one that held surprises, that I’ll let you discover for yourself. Baby Steps has dozens upon dozens of collectibles to find, and the purpose they serve is part of the journey. Though none of them will help you walk better – that’s always in your hands (or rather, feet).
But don’t worry—the devs assured me the game is something to enjoy for players of all skill levels. That’s the beauty of the open world. If you fail or fall, you can always head toward another point of interest or stumble upon the unexpected.
“I have had a pretty good time in the past putting out difficult games and not turning too many players away,” Foddy said. “But we’ve tried pretty hard to make a game that looks hard but plays pretty chill. Probably we’ve made it too easy.”
Break a leg
There are no checkpoints, you can’t die, and no fast travel. The only change is your ability to walk up straight and the terrain. While there is a story and a definitive end to the narrative, you can explore and see what you can find after the credits roll.
Like many open-world games, how much you’re willing to learn about the world and Nate will depend on the player. I saw Nate as nothing more than a vehicle to experience the world, but after a few discoveries and a cryptic note or two, my desire to find out the who, what, where, when, and why of his strange predicament became my first priority.
While my time was brief, it was still enough to meet a handful of supporting characters, some of whom can be completely missed. There was always a new thread to follow and the proverbial/literal mountain to climb. I asked the team if Nate’s journey had some grander subtext, or if he was just a guy with an objective to complete.
“Everyone has days where they’re feeling a little awkward,” said Foddy. “A little clumsy, maybe a little lost and confused. I think we can all relate a little. But as for his glutes, that’s a power I could only dream of having.”
I didn’t expect to be so enamored with a game where every step you take can be challenging, but I was. I was willing to spend ten minutes or an hour to get that item slightly out of reach or to find out what that out-of-place structure was in the distance. While I have no idea what’s out there in Baby Steps, I’m looking forward to seeing where my feet will take me.
Masters of Light: Hand Tracking update available now on PS VR2 https://ift.tt/QsKYBxy
The wait is over! Masters of Light is now one of the first games to introduce full hand tracking on PlayStation VR2, pushing the boundaries of immersive gameplay like never before. As the creator of Masters of Light and co-founder of Coven, I’m beyond excited to bring this revolutionary update to PlayStation fans.
Learn specific gestures to teleport, block meteors and fight!
Harness magic with your own hands
Imagine stepping into the world of Masters of Light and casting spells with nothing but your hands—no controllers needed. This is the power of PS VR2’s new hand tracking technology, allowing you to unleash beams of light, summon shields, and control energy like a true celestial warrior. Every flick of your wrist, every precise movement, translates into real-time spellcasting, making battles feel more intuitive, immersive, and exhilarating than ever.
Masters of Light features high energy first person combat where focus, timing and strategy are keys to victory.
A new standard for immersion
When we first envisioned Masters of Light, our goal was to make players feel truly empowered. From the very beginning, we built our combat system around fluid, natural gestures—inspired by self defense moves. Now, thanks to PlayStation VR2’s advanced tracking capabilities, players can experience the game as we originally imagined: with pure hand movement, free from controllers.
Frantic hand tracking moves will keep you physically engaged in the fights. You WILL break a sweat!
The evolution of Hand Tracking in VR
At Coven, we’ve been developing hand-tracking games for years, pushing the technology forward with every project. Bringing this feature to PS VR2 was an incredible challenge, but also a dream come true. This would have not been possible without the support of our incredible porting team, VR Monkey. Here is what they have to say:
“Implementing the hand tracking in two and a half months was a challenge, since officially Unity hasn’t added PS VR2’s hand tracking support. So one of our developers (Thanks Eric Gregory) created an in-house plugin that took advantage of Sony’s new state of the art tracking system to make hand tracking run at 60 frames per second (currently the highest available on the market).
After that, we could harness the powerful gesture detection system of the PlayStation 5 to recreate all of the game’s powers and interactions in a week’s work.
We’ve refined the system to make sure every motion is responsive, every action feels powerful, and every battle is a seamless blend of strategy and skill.“
New enemies and superpowers are unlocked as players progress in the game, climaxing in insane battles that will leave you breathless.
Play your way
With this new update, Masters of Light now offers multiple control options:
Hand tracking mode – No controllers, just pure hand movements for spellcasting and navigation.
PS VR2 Sense controller mode – Experience the game with the precision and feedback of adaptive triggers and haptics.
Whether you prefer the tactile power of controllers or the freedom of true hand-tracked gameplay, the choice is yours.
Use the “shockwave” gesture to push away all the enemies at once. Reactivate ancient crystals with your inner light to open Gates to other constellations.
A galactic battle awaits
If you haven’t joined the fight yet, now is the perfect time. Step into the role of The Wanderer, a being of light battling against the encroaching darkness. Travel across stunning cosmic landscapes, uncover ancient secrets, and challenge the black hole’s core in a fight to save the galaxy. With 36 action-packed levels, leaderboards, and the intense Grand Master difficulty mode, there’s always a new challenge to conquer.
Hidden in the 36 levels are ancient ruins that can be reactivated by the player to unlock pieces of the lore.
Join the revolution
Hand tracking on PS VR2 marks a huge leap forward for virtual reality, and we’re honored to be among the first to bring it to PlayStation fans. Whether you’re a longtime VR player or diving in for the first time, Masters of Light delivers an experience that’s intuitive, thrilling, and truly next-gen.
Are you ready to wield the power of light with your own hands? Masters of Light is available now on PlayStation VR2—download the update and step into a new era of VR gaming today!
Into Black announced for PS VR2 https://ift.tt/18lSweZ
Picture yourself stranded alone on an alien planet. With no-one around to help, and no-one coming to the rescue, your only salvation lies in the endless darkness of a sprawling cave system. Would you dare face the dangers that lurk in the dark?
Welcome to the world of Into Black, a VR action/exploration game about a deep space scavenger trying to repair his ship and escape a mysterious alien planet. You scour the caves for resources to upgrade your gear and rebuild your ship, all while fighting off hordes of deadly alien creatures.
And while the game features a fully voice-acted story campaign, playable solo or in co-op with up to 3 friends, as well as a standalone battle royale mode, the true heart of Into Black is the sense of exploration as you navigate the darkness and uncover wonders and dangers beyond reckoning.
PS VR2 owners will soon get to experience this sense of exploration first hand, but rest assured, this is no mere port. By utilising the power of the PS VR2 hardware, we’ve been able to reshape the world of Into Black into something truly next level.
Let there be light
As the name implies, so much of Into Black is about the interplay of light and dark as they explore the underground expanse, so much so that one of the first items we give players is a torch. That exploration is now much more vivid and alive with the use of real-time shadows.
Sweep your torch over a prowling insectoid grunt, and see its spider-like silhouette thrown up against the cave wall behind it. Observe inadvertent puppet shows as your co-op crewmates dash around, each with their own torch throwing its own shadows. The immersive feel of shadows stretching out and parallaxing along the ground as you pass by cave openings, swinging your torch side to side as you look for valuable resources, is second to none.
And of course, the other side of this equation is the darkness itself. New HDR lighting and volumetric effects, as well as the deeper blacks of the PS VR2 OLEDs, adds a richer sense of foreboding to the depths of the caves, and makes exploring them a true journey into the unknown.
The Devil is in the details
But what is the point of ultra-realistic lighting if there’s nothing to see when lit? That’s why the world of Into Black has also been given a full visual overhaul.
We’ve rebuilt the cave environments with a much higher geometric density, giving them gorgeous new depth and complexity, especially when seen in tandem with the improved lighting. We’ve also enhanced the textures and detail maps, to give increased fidelity to the visuals.
We also wanted to enhance the feeling of life in the caves, so we used some of the new processing power to dramatically increase the amount of atmospheric flora and fauna in the caves. Whether it be unidentified airborne creatures circling high overhead amongst the stalactites, fields of grass, or swarms of alien fish swimming through massive coral structures, the caves you are exploring are not only full of danger and treasure, but also life.
Combine all this with higher resolution, eye-tracked foveation, and a smooth 90Hz refresh rate, and you have the cleanest, most striking version of Into Black yet.
Once more, with feeling
Sure, visuals are great and all, but there’s more to a game than just how it looks. All new headset haptics, and, most importantly, adaptive triggers of the Playstation VR Sense controllers offer a whole slew of new immersive capabilities for Into Black.
Feel the impact of every pickaxe swing, and the kick of the shotgun blast. Get rocked by a swipe from a colossal rock golem, or by the errant throw of a buddy’s grenade. We all know the magic of VR is in the immersion, and with so many tactile feedback options now at our disposal, that feeling of being there is deeper than ever before.
A little about us
As a veteran VR studio, The Binary Mill takes pride and joy in bringing fun and exciting experiences such as Rush, Mini Motor Racing X and Gun Club VR to enthusiasts of all types. Our previous game, the award-winning Resist (available on PS VR2 April 10) will also give PS VR2 players the ability to swing through a dystopian city and battle for the fate of humanity like never before.
With Into Black we wanted to allow our players to feel the thrill of discovery. And with Into Black on PS VR2, we feel like we’ve truly delivered on that promise, and we hope you’ll join us on this journey into the unknown.
You can wishlist Into Black today and be ready to descend into the depths when it launches on PlayStation VR2 soon!
