Raw Data

This sci-fi action game can be fun, if you manage to keep the game calibrated and the action works the way it's supposed to. One of the interesting things about VR games is that, despite all their hype about a fully immersive experience, most still have a certain level of disconnect in action. Sure, you can look around and get a little more hands-on with some objects, but it doesn't always feel natural. Instead, it feels more like you're on an interactive amusement park ride. Raw Data looks to change that, having been built from the ground up with VR and motion controls in mind. And when it works, the game does an amazing job of making you feel like you're genuinely in another world and an active part of everything that's going on around you. In fact, when everything is at its best, Raw Data is easily one of the most fully immersive VR games available today.

Unfortunately, as good as Raw Data can potentially be, it's held back considerably by certain frustrating restrictions. For starters, as fluid and natural as the combat feels, whether it's swinging a katana or dual-wielding pistols like a sci-fi gunslinger, it only applies if you've got your hardware configured just right and you never stray from the relatively small "sweet spot." This would be difficult to do even if you weren't strapped into a headset that gives you no real-world frame of reference for your position. If you're even just slightly out of sync with where the VR thinks you are or should be, everything falls apart. Even minor interactions become difficult, and you find yourself fighting the controls more than you do the hordes of robot foes trying to kill you. The game is also relatively short and somewhat repetitive. HTC Vive and Oculus Rift gamers can extend the shelf life of the game with some interesting co-op play with friends, but unfortunately PSVR owners have to stick to solo play.