Vertigo 2 on Playstation VR 2 Is Not the Port the Game Deserves
Today sees the release of Vertigo 2 for Playstation VR 2. The bad news: the port of the PC VR hit has a number of problems.
After several delays, Vertigo 2 will be released for Playstation VR 2 on January 15, 2024.
I tried the PSVR 2 version last week and here are my impressions of the port's technical aspects and performance:
- Render resolution is fine, but could be higher. The image looks blurry in places. Foveated rendering does not seem to be used.
- A bigger issue is the frame rate, which can drop noticeably, especially in outdoor environments.
- There are annoying bugs here and there, some of which forced me to replay a short section of the game.
All in all, Vertigo 2 would certainly have benefited from a little more development time.
I won't draw any conclusions about the game itself, as I haven't played through it yet. Read Jan's review of the PC VR version of Vertigo 2, which is on our list of the best VR games of 2023.
I've asked publisher Perp Games if there are any post-launch plans for Vertigo 2 to address the above issues, and will update the article if I hear back.
PSVR 2 has a history of flawed ports and releases
Vertigo 2 is far from the first PSVR 2 game to experience a bumpy launch. In 2023, a number of flawed ports and games were released, only to receive patches with bug fixes and graphical enhancements in the following months. It's a shame for the platform to start the new year with another such example.
A report a few weeks ago revealed that smaller studios in particular are struggling to develop for PSVR 2, in part because implementing foveated rendering is time-consuming or not supported at all, depending on the engine used. Last summer, No Man's Sky demonstrated the difference foveated rendering can make in terms of performance and visuals. However, the implementation took the graphics programmer a full four months.
Vertigo 2 was created by a solo developer, Zach Tsiakalis-Brown, who has to deal with a completely new platform for the PSVR 2 port. Hopefully, the port will be improved in the coming months so that the fans get what they deserve, and the game reaches its full potential on the platform.
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