Horizon Call of the Mountain is not only a demonstration of the possibilities of PS VR2. The game is a great addition to the series.

After reviewing the latest virtual reality glasses from Sony, i.e. PlayStation VR2, it’s time to evaluate the flagship game that the company offers for its device, i.e. Horizon Call of the Mountain. Without a doubt, this game is a must have for every PS VR2 owner. Check why!

Horizon Call of the Mountain is an interesting spin-off of the famous series

The plot of the VR spin-off of the well-known Horizon game series, in which we save an extraordinary post-apocalyptic world and fight the red-haired warrior Ela in huge machines, is centered around a completely new character. In the last game, we control Rias, a former Shadow Carja, a member of the group we fight in the original games, which is hated in the presented world because of its cruelty. In terms of story, this is a very interesting addition to the world presented in the games of the series, and weaves our story of personal redemption, but also a significant threat, into a rich universe.

Horizon Call of the Mountain is a genre of linear first-person action game with puzzles that shouldn’t be a problem for anyone. The game features well-known characters from the series, including the protagonist of both main parts of Horizon - Aloy. We also meet other famous and previously unknown characters. Between the main missions, we can have dialogues with them, which in an interesting way allow us to better understand the presented world, playing the role of one of its more typical inhabitants, and not the heroine of the main games, unique in all respects.

But most importantly, in the game we see the cars we are familiar with from the series from a completely new perspective. It’s amazing to be immersed in this world in virtual reality. When viewed from the eye level of the protagonist, and not from behind the character, everything seems much larger and more monumental. This makes even less dangerous vehicles that we used to beat en masse now look much more challenging.

Climbing, fighting and… climbing again

In Horizon Call of the Mountain, we move our character either with the analog sticks, like on the PS5 tablet, or with various gestures. Both paths are well thought out and work well when passing through subsequent locations. Climbing is undoubtedly the main element of the game. It’s undeniable that we largely explore the world by pulling up on rock ledges, climbing and jumping between ropes, or climbing rocks with an ice pick and various advanced tools that should make things easier for us.

We do all this with the help of PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, which perfectly mimic the real movements of our hands in virtual reality, allowing us to catch more stone handles, ladders or ropes. Also, the use of tools, whether it’s sticking ice axes into rocks and pulling them up, or destroying obstacles in our path, or throwing a tool that creates more climbing ropes for us, is very natural and contributes to a better feeling in the virtual world. This is helped by adaptive triggers on the controllers and vibrations both in them and in the PS VR2 headset itself.

The climb itself was well done. Looking down, hovering in virtual reality on a ledge above a precipice several hundred meters deep, we can really feel a sense of unease. However, despite the fact that the creators are trying to diversify our overcoming stone and ice walls by changing the nature of the surrounding area and using new tools, it cannot be hidden that after a while this activity begins to get boring.

Sometimes there are mistakes when catching consecutive handles or penetrating elements - but these are problems of a fairly young technique.

In addition to climbing, the second most important element of the game is the fight against huge machines. And only with them, because in Horizon Call of the Mountain, unlike the main series of games, we do not fight people directly. Combat takes place using a bow and slingshot, tools well known from the original series.

It was limited to arenas where we don’t move freely and only dodge to the side in circles. Stopping, we can take a picture. Sometimes we can also use various elements of the environment to help us defeat opponents, such as ballistas or exploding containers.

However, despite significant limitations, combat is satisfying, primarily due to the very natural archery of huge machines. Just like in the original, the machines have weak points that are revealed by the corresponding button to be shot at in order to deprive them of stronger attacks and win faster.

Our opponents also have stronger elemental attacks that affect our character in a certain way. For example, at certain points, we need to move the controllers appropriately to remove the ice from the face or shake off the flames.

PlayStation VR2 demo

While climbing and fighting are the main elements of the game, they are not the only ones that perfectly demonstrate the possibilities of virtual reality. Although the world we travel through is linear, we find many elements that we can interact with in a variety of ways. They appear only in those places and with those items with which the creators made it possible - but despite these restrictions, we still feel quite a lot of freedom. Some of these interactions are basic elements of the world mechanics, others are used to complete missions, and some are entirely side-activities.