Horizon: Call of the Mountain: PSVR2 Review

Developed by Guerrilla Games

Published by Sony Interactive
Platform: PSVR2

One of Sony's major launch titles, Horizon: Call of the Mountain is the biggest promoter of what the PSVR2 can do and what AAA games should be aiming for.

Within minutes of beginning the game, it's clear what Horizon: Call of the Mountain wants to do - it wants to once again build the world of the Horizon series and yet provide something deeply immersive that truly soars visually when it needs to.

You play as Ryas, a disgraced Shadow Carja warrior, who begins the game being escorted down a river as the prehistoric dinosaur machine robots walk through the foliage around you. Within moments Guerrilla Games shows off the scale of this title as one of the game's largest creatures, a Tallneck stomps past and above your character, forcing you to crane your neck to see its monstrous scale and  leaving you visibly gasping.

But things quickly go wrong, and suddenly it's down to Ryas, as he seeks a pardon for his crimes, to deal with a new threat to the kingdom - and yes, Aloy makes an appearance.

Climbing mountains as winds whistle around you, and wooden panels creak, the game borders on the vertiginous and you don't really want to look down - unless you want to marvel at the scope and scale of what the developers have done. (You'll have plenty of time to do this - there's a lot of climbing in this game.)

Adding to the thrills and making use of the haptic feedback is fighting which like the original game relies on you stringing a bow, and firing at machines as they attack. It takes some time to master but is adrenaline-filled and thrillingly immersive.

While the floating hands still seem a bit strange (and always have in the VR world), the game gives you a workout by having you move hands around, pass up and down rocks - and weirdly, will let you cross your hands over and upside down in ways that truly defy physics.

With the use of an instinct option and a fairly guided climbing route, the game's a little about holding your hand along the way, and not quite as open world as the Horizon: Zero Dawn series is.

With the option to grab a bow from over your shoulders and an endless supply of arrows, combat is still satisfying, but is also comparatively harder in the VR world as you're trying to aim carefully to ensure each arrow does maximum damage. It's here the game delivers the adrenaline.

Compelling and a fascinating expansion of the world, Horizon Call of the Mountain appears to offer the very pinnacle of what PSVR2 can do - and is an essential launch title and a tantalising promise of what is to hopefully come.