Tag: PlayStation

Dead Island 2 Deluxe Edition: Buying the Whole Meal Instead of Ordering Extras Later

Game Review · Purchased January 16, 2024 · $70.50 CAD via PSN

Key art for Dead Island 2
Dead Island 2. Photo: PlayStation Store

The Setup

Dead Island 2’s Deluxe Edition bundles the base game with its full expansion pass and a handful of cosmetic extras, essentially pre-purchasing both the story expansions I reviewed separately elsewhere in this series and the core game in a single transaction.

The Review

The base game earned its positive reception honestly: gory, physical melee combat with genuine weight behind every swing, and a strong, distinct sense of place across a zombie-infested, sun-bleached version of Los Angeles that manages to feel different from the series’ earlier tropical island settings despite the shared DNA. Character progression through the skill card system gave real room to build a personal combat style, whether that meant leaning into elemental weapon effects, crowd control, or straightforward melee damage.

Buying the Deluxe bundle upfront, rather than the base game alone with the intention of grabbing the expansion pass later, turned out to be the financially smarter move: bundled together, the combined price undercuts what buying both pieces separately at full price down the line would have cost, a fairly rare case of a “deluxe” tier actually representing straightforward savings rather than just cosmetic upselling.

The expansions themselves (covered in more depth in their own post in this series) landed as solid, if not essential, extra content, which does put a small dent in the overall value proposition of the bundle, but the core game alone was strong enough to make this purchase worthwhile even setting the expansions aside entirely.

What I Liked

  • Genuinely satisfying, weighty melee combat
  • Distinct, well-realized setting
  • Bundled pricing meaningfully undercuts buying the pieces separately later
  • Flexible skill card system supports different playstyles

What I Didn’t

  • Included expansions are decent rather than essential, slightly softening the bundle’s overall value
  • Open-world structure occasionally repeats itself across the map’s different districts

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Buying the Deluxe bundle upfront was the smarter financial call versus buying the base game and expansion pass separately later at full price, and the core game’s combat and setting hold up well enough on their own to justify the purchase regardless.

Where to Buy

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, A Horror Rail Shooter That Knows Exactly What It Is

Game Review · Purchased January 1, 2024 · $35.94 CAD via PSN

Key art for The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR. Photo: PlayStation Store

The Setup

Switchback VR is Supermassive Games’ on-rails horror shooter spin-off from their Dark Pictures Anthology, pulling characters, monsters, and settings from the existing narrative games into a faster, more arcade-focused format built specifically for VR.

The Review

This is not trying to be a deep narrative experience the way the mainline Dark Pictures games are, and it is better for embracing that instead of fighting it. The on-rails structure keeps the pacing tight, jump scares land with real physical presence in VR in a way they simply cannot on a flat screen, and the callbacks to existing Dark Pictures lore and characters give longtime fans of the anthology a genuine reason to care about scenes that would otherwise just be shooting galleries with a horror coat of paint.

For anyone who has played Man of Medan, House of Ashes, or the other anthology entries, spotting familiar faces and locations adds a layer of context that elevates what is, mechanically, a fairly simple format.

What I Liked

  • Genuinely effective horror atmosphere and jump scares in VR
  • Tight, arcade-style pacing
  • Meaningful fan service for existing Dark Pictures players
  • Solid replay value chasing different scoring and branching moments

What I Didn’t

  • Shallow compared to the mainline narrative games in the same series
  • On-rails structure limits player agency by design, which will not appeal to everyone

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

Reasonable for what it sets out to be: a shorter, arcade-style horror experience rather than a full narrative adventure. Existing Dark Pictures fans will get the most value out of the callbacks and cameos here.

Where to Buy

A Fisherman’s Tale 2: A Short, Clever VR Puzzle That Knows Not to Overstay Its Welcome

Game Review · Purchased January 1, 2024 · $22.50 CAD via PSN

Key art for A Fisherman's Tale 2 on PSVR2
A Fisherman’s Tale 2. Photo: PlayStation Store

The Setup

A Fisherman’s Tale 2 continues the recursive, mirror-world puzzle concept the original built its whole identity around: you play as a puppet, controlling a smaller puppet version of yourself, inside worlds that fold in on their own scale in ways that would be genuinely disorienting outside of VR and feel like magic within it.

The Review

What made the first game work was never raw production values, it was the cleverness of individual puzzle moments, the specific instant where a scale trick clicks into place and you realize the solution was staring at you the whole time from a different size. The sequel leans into that same design philosophy rather than trying to reinvent it, delivering a tight sequence of puzzle rooms that build on each other without ever padding themselves out with filler content.

Playing this on PSVR2 specifically benefits from the headset’s improved tracking precision, since a lot of the puzzle interactions rely on fiddly, small-scale manipulation that a shakier tracking system would make frustrating rather than satisfying.

What I Liked

  • Clever, well-paced puzzle design
  • Short enough to never overstay its welcome
  • Strong use of VR’s unique perspective tricks
  • A natural next step for anyone who liked the original

What I Didn’t

  • Short runtime means it is a light purchase for anyone wanting a long session
  • Puzzle-VR is a narrow enough niche that non-fans of the genre should not expect it to convert them

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

For the genre and the price, this is easy to recommend. It is not a long game, but puzzle-VR titles like this tend to deliver strong “aha” moments per dollar spent, and this one delivers plenty of them.

Where to Buy

Pistol Whip: Still the VR Game I Recommend First

Game Review · Purchased January 1, 2024 · $31.34 CAD via PSN

Key art for Pistol Whip on PSVR2
Pistol Whip. Photo: PlayStation Store

The Setup

Pistol Whip plays like a music video you step inside of: dodge, shoot, and move to the beat across a constantly expanding library of scenes and tracks, blending rhythm-game timing with on-rails shooting in a combination that sounds simple on paper and feels genuinely exhilarating in the headset.

The Review

By the time I picked this up on PSVR2 in January 2024, the game had years of live support behind it and a track library big enough that finding a scene and song combination that clicks with your taste is basically guaranteed. The PSVR2 version specifically benefits from the headset’s improved haptics and tracking, both of which matter a lot in a game where the entire appeal rests on precise, physical timing feeling satisfying in your hands.

This has been consistently rated among the best VR titles available on any platform, and playing it confirms exactly why: it is one of the few VR experiences that genuinely gets people who are skeptical of VR to understand the appeal in a single session.

What I Liked

  • Exhilarating rhythm-shooter gameplay loop
  • Huge, constantly growing track library
  • PSVR2’s haptics and tracking noticeably elevate the experience
  • A genuinely great “convince a skeptic” VR demo

What I Didn’t

  • Repetitive by design once the novelty of a specific track wears off
  • Physically demanding in a way seated VR games are not, worth knowing before a long session

The Verdict

Rating: 5/5

This is a must-own VR title, full stop, and the price reflects a mature, well-supported live game rather than a launch-day gamble. If you own a PSVR2 and do not have this yet, it should be near the top of the list.

Where to Buy