The PS VR Sessions: Battlezone

Holy mackerel does Rebellion know how to design a cockpit. The moment I strapped into Battlezone on PlayStation VR, I felt the comfort of thick steel between me and the enemy troops, the green of the weapons interface glowing up at me from the console. Also, I’m an absolute sucker for a theatrical launch sequence (Thanks, Evangelion). So rocketing through an underground tunnel before doing a systems check lends tremendous weight to the immersion.

Once I hit the battlefield (Zone?), the smooth combat shines like neon. Aiming is tight, the movement is buttery, and the pace makes Battlezone one of my favorite VR experiences to date.
–Ryan Clements

Absolutely a PS VR standout. Planted inside a nimble tank, I blasted waves of incoming enemies — tanks, turrets, aircraft, bot swarms. Immersive visual beauty is a big part of Battlezone’s charm: looking over my right shoulder and watching my cannon’s intricate firing and reloading animations is kinda mindblowing.

But it’s Rebellion’s gameplay expertise that makes this one so much fun to come back to. The combat is fast and fluid, and provides a tantalizing vision into VR’s gameplay potential. Most impressive.
–Sid Shuman

It might sound silly, but some of my favorite moments in virtual reality are the ones where you’re not actively doing anything. The beginning moments of Battlezone are a perfect example: the scene opens in a dark cockpit, but as the shields around you retract, the inside of your tank is bathed in bright, colorful light — an effect that’s impossible to convey via words or simple screenshots.

After initial combat preparations, you roll toward an inclined tunnel leading to your battlefield. The swell of music that accompanies this ascent invokes the same feeling of giddy anticipation that Disneyland fanatics might associate with the beginning moments of Space Mountain. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way, I can’t get enough of it.
–Justin Massongill