The announcement that Skyrim was coming to PlayStation VR was made during the PlayStation Media Showcase at E3 2017, but the audience wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it. Since most people expect new games to be announced at E3, this wasn’t as exciting as that, but maybe we should be more thrilled about this than we thought, as it will be the full immersive and huge experience that we enjoyed in 2011, but in Virtual Reality. Check out the E3 preview down below.
Let’s be honest, we all wanted to know how would Skyrim feel in VR, and Justin Massongill got to play it, and he shared his experience with us in his latest PlayStation blog. He played it with a pair of PS Move controllers, and DualShock 4 support is also being implemented. As in the normal game, each hand can hold a weapon, shield, or a spell, and each controller is mapped to one hand. Holding a bow and arrow is special, as you have to use both hands, and according to Justin, it was really satisfying to shot down enemies:
Wielding a bow and arrow is especially fascinating. It’s a fairly one-to-one affair, requiring the player to maneuver the PS Move controllers into position to nock an arrow, hold the right trigger, pull the controller / arrow back, and release the trigger to send the projectile on its merry, violent way.
As in most VR games today, you move around by teleporting. While this is the most effective way of getting from one place to another, it could break the immersion for some players. Thankfully, Bethesda has plans to add options that will allow the players to move in a more traditional sense, which will probably be harder than teleporting, but if it maintains immersion, it’s worth it.
As you could expect, the most fun was when Justin equipped two spells, one in each hand, and laid waste to his enemies. Be it fire, lighting, or ice, holding the power of the elements in your own hands must feel very empowering.
Bethesda obviously wants us to keep buying The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim until the end of time, and we can expect it to come to PlayStation VR this year in November.
