During the inaugural 2014 PlayStation Experience, Sony PlayStation had a whole booth set up for the Project Morpheus virtual reality headset. I recall a time during the mid-90s when virtual reality was an emerging technology and was expected to be all the range in video gaming. However, it did not really take off. Virtual reality did not really provide immersive gaming as promised. That could soon change with new technology like Morpheus and the Oculus Rif. The Morpheus reps were nice enough to let me sample one of the Morpheus tech demos. The headset game I sampled was an aerial space shooter called Vanguard V, which used the Morpheus headset.
Vanguard V is a shooter that plays in a similar fashion to Star Fox, except instead of a controller, all the controls are done with the headset through the flick of your own head. In Vanguard V, you are a female armored fighter pilot. With the help of a computer AI system, the pilot is guided through an asteroid film, various space debris and dangerous insectoid drones. Essentially, the AI system provides the pilot with a tutorial on how to maneuver around the debris and how to target the insectoid drones.
I was not big on virtual reality headsets when the tech was initially emerging. However, I am encouraged by how immersive and user-friendly the new technology has become, specifically with headsets like the Morpheus and the Rift. The Vanguard V demo moves the pilot according to how the user points and aims his/her head in the Morpheus headset. It was easy to get a hang of the movement of the character and it was fairly responsive. Targeting was a bit more janky. To target and fire upon enemy drones, you have to aim your head so the cursor inside the headset screen locks onto the drones. Then, the pilot will be able to open fire. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it feels a lot better.
The graphics for the Vanguard V demo were not all that impressive. However, I am told the graphics are still in the beta stage and not reflective of the final game. I am not positive if the developers plan on finishing a final game of Vanguard V, or if it was merely a demo designed for the convention to show off the capabilities of the Morpheus.
I enjoyed the opportunity of getting to use the Morpheus. I am intrigued by the possibilities of the new emerging virtual reality headsets and how this tech can improve the video gaming experience. However, I was much more impressed with the Oculus Rift presentation for Pacific Rim at the San Diego Comic-Con, which was not even meant for an actual upcoming game release. It will be interesting to see where Morpheus takes the tech in the future.
Ms now also have a confirmed VR headset should be an interesting E3