Firewall Ultra (PS5 VR)
By: Sony
IT'S been over six months since Sony released their next-gen VR headset for PS5, yet while some of its launch fodder was best-in-class, the well has run rather dry of late for blockbuster first-party games.
So, what better time to dust off your 500 quid headset and lock 'n' load with a sequel to the best VR shooter around? Part sequel, part reboot ('Requel'? 'Seboot'?) to 2018's Firewall – one of the original PlayStation VR's finest hours – Ultra has big virtual boots to fill, but ultimately shoots itself in the foot.
Promising the thrill of a virtual Rainbow Six, there's plenty of immersive military hoo-ha in its first-person, multiplayer-focused blasting, as players choose from various mercenaries and join an online quartet, attacking and defending electronic devices.
Its team combat certainly knocks paintball into a cocked hat – and you aren't nursing welts on your bum the following day.
In four-vs-four matches, players take it in turns to be attackers or defenders of laptops, while in PvE mode you're locating and hacking various gubbins while fending off a glut of AI nasties. Each of its eight maps is chock-full of corridors and open spaces to navigate – many lifted from the original and given a facelift.
No Call of Duty trigger-happy gunplay here: Firewall is all about group tactics and communicating effectively: if any of your team are shrinking violets, you're sunk.
Being VR, brandishing guns is a physical affair as you tote imaginary pistols, assault rifles and the like with your God-given arms, while the glare of flash grenades can be avoided by covering your face or closing your eyes.
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In fact, with PSVR2's fancy-pants eye-tracking, you can navigate menus and aim grenades with a glance of the pupils.
Where Firewall falls apart, though, is in its implementation of VR. You want to be grabbing guns from your hip, slamming ammo into the stock, chucking grenades with a hearty swing – not reloading and throwing explosives with simple button presses. I can do that while playing on the bloody telly.
Aiming involves squinting with your stronger eye to focus, so rather than running amok like Arnie in a jungle, you're like some tooled-up Columbo, taking out terrorists through one eye.
I mean, when a VR game involves pressing a button to slash with a knife, there's something seriously wrong. If you want a full-body military experience, best get yourself down the TA.
Grindy progression, corpse-stiff movement and a lack of interactivity make this more Drywall Ultra at times, and in terms of using all of VR's tricks, it's firing blanks.
As a blasting bonanza, Firewall is at least reason to dust off the old VR headset – even if it is a few updates away from being worth a shot.
