Kayak VR Mirage PSVR2 (Virtual Reality)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): February 22, 2023
- Release Date (EU): February 22, 2023
- Publisher: Better Than Life B.V.
- Developer: Better Than Life B.V.
- Genres: Water Sports
- Also For: Computer
- Official Store: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/concept/10004438
Game Features:
When the original PSVR came out I was intrigued but sceptical. How could a piece of hardware, and an expensive peripheral at that, REALLY improve my gaming experiences? I took a dive a couple of months after it was released, and went all in on a bundle with everything I needed, and I honestly haven't once fallen off that exciting VR bandwagon.
Enter the PSVR2, almost six years after its predecessor, it has some pretty updated specs and tricks up its sleeve to really push mainstream VR into your front rooms. With triple-A title experiences touted, and over 30 games available at launch, obviously, I bought one day one and really wanted to give Kayak VR Mirage a spin to dislodge my PSVR2 V-Plates.
Beautifully Detailed And Incredibly Immersive
Kayak VR Mirage brings you an incredibly rich, detailed, immersive marine experience, along with all the jaw-dropping environments and lush tropical foliage you could possibly desire, without having to leave your house. With several varied aquascapes to explore, including Australia, Norway and Costa Rica, you can absorb yourself in a deeply realistic adventure with either a free roam, chilled tour or race vibe depending on your mood.
Starting off in the training pool, you get to grips with your controls, and it honestly couldn't be more straightforward. Simply paddle, as you would in real life! After a couple of lessons which involve useful skills such as reversing and turning, you're good to explore the outside world, inside your headset.
The sensation of motion, dipping your paddle in and causing your Kayak to turn, bob and plough through the waves are quite unlike anything I have ever experienced in VR. I have been ACTUAL canoeing in my youth, and kneeling down whilst hoiking one oar in the water is a similar yet differing action, but the sense of control you have over your Kayak here is especially tactile. you feel your vessel get up to speed, you feel the yaw and roll, and you are in absolute control of what you're doing: as long as you remember paddling on the right turns you left and vice versa. That took a little time for me to get drilled into my head successively.
Yes, you can beach yourself, and yes you can knock over penguins who are minding their own business. This is a physics playground on a large scale, and it's up to you what you do within it. Searching for submerged wreckage, observing sea creatures, or flogging a giant inflatable turtle 200m back to sea: all this can be yours should you explore every nook and cranny of each environment.
Quite often I found myself hammering around to get to the next place only to have to back-paddle to turn sharply or really gun it in an attempt to launch myself out of the waters and get air over a floating block of ice. The paddle technology is so simple yet so effective, it's wonderfully intuitive and accessible to virtually everyone who can hold the controllers. The devs also recommend strapping your controllers to a pole for even deeper immersion, and a more realistic feel.
(Kayak gives you unparalleled freedom and some daft tasks)
A Stunning Demonstration Of What Is Possible For PSVR2 Users
The haptic feedback in the headset works well if you bounce your bonce off an overhanging log, or if you happen to submerge your face in the crystal clear blue tropics to snorkel with fish or scour the murky depths of more pelagic locations for hidden monuments. The vibration is subtle but suitable for the activity and it just adds to the immersion.
I would have liked to perhaps see a "Pokedex" of sorts, to log every creature you come into contact with, and tick them off on your expeditions. I managed to personally find Toucans, Turtles, Snakes, Killer Whales, Sharks, Penguins, various fish including Piranha, a dog, and much more whilst I was venturing around. The collector in me wanted a little more to work towards, perhaps also checking off interesting spots, or views. Though trophies do pop when you come across significant finds, and I really enjoyed finding all 31 of them.
(Screenshots do not do this game justice, but at least you get an idea of the foveated rendering and water effects)
Graphically the environments have an ultra-realistic "Crytek" look about them with lush vegetation, craggy rocks, sand, and organic textures looking weathered and fantastic throughout. The water is notably incredible too, and by now you all should know just how fussy I am with water effects, especially with games that are heavily water-focused. The way the water glistens, the marbling surface nuances, ripples, splashes, sub-surface refraction, and in stormy conditions: the swell and motion of waves all combine into one visual treat: for the most part.
Visually Fantastic But Technically Challenged
I would have loved to see day-to-night cycles, to give a feeling of time to your journeys. Additionally, perhaps something clever, like real-time weather based on your location's current climate, or just random rain/shine/wind/storms would have been fantastic to see. Maybe this feedback could make it to Better Than Life, and we could see a sequel or enhancement updates for this one.
There are some visual oddities and missteps within this game, and they mainly stem from what I suspect are the foveated rendering methods. Darting your eyes from one place to another you quite often notice the textures change, or the geometrical level of detail model changes in front of your eyes. It's a little distracting and really needs to be done far more quickly to reduce users noticing it so much.
(Realism at every turn: refractions and reflections look superb!)
There were also places where I noticed slight ghosting in places and frame drops from the otherwise pretty stable 60 FPS dipping to a literal slide show for a couple of frames. Perhaps it's a reprojection issue where the 60 FPS is being pushed to a 120hz display combined with some loading issue in the background but I hope the game would be optimised a little more through specifically refined update patches.
Another oddity is that of the global illumination (the sun) shining through glacial cliffs and stone walls in places. While the sun is doing a fantastic job of almost photorealistic lighting and shadows, there are places where the reflection of the sun can be seen through otherwise rock-solid geographical features. It's not game-breaking, but it is disappointing to see such a beautifully nuanced water surface with ripples, refractions and flow display brilliant sunlight through an arctic wall.
(Lighting going through geometry in places, but otherwise a beautiful experience)
Kayak is superb in terms of features, ease of use, and replayability, though a real online multiplayer mode would be a nice addition. I honestly can't fault the vision the developers have striven for with this title, and the considerable scale and atmosphere are captured in such a way that you don't realise just how long, or for how many kilometres, you have been on your adventures for. There aren't a million modes, and there aren't hundreds of things to see or do, but that is entirely the point of this experience. Just sit back, and enjoy the view!
Verdict
- Just £18.99 for unlimited fun.
- Fantastic for exercise.
- Plenty of trophies to pop.
- Online ghosts to race!
- Stutter & pop-in in places.
- No day-to-night cycle.
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Can I play online in pirated games? (with ps3hen either enabled or not)
4.90.1?