DOOM VFR

While visually this is one of the best looking games out there for Sonys VR platform, mechanically this is a rather bland and uninspired shooting gallery for most of the time. Just using the well known assets is no guarantee for a dynamic shooting experience.

Doom VFR won't look as badass as the last main installment's version looked on regular televisions and gaming monitors, but such is the burden of enjoying it all in VR. Sure, you'll have to forfeit the complete run-and-gun tactic that was almost required, and you'll need to take more of a strategic approach until you're well versed in one of the three control schemes. It's easiest with the DualShock 4 controllers, miserable with motion controllers, and downright fun with the Aim controller, so the play style is up to you. It's not a masterpiece, but it's a pretty good start. It feels great that the game wasn't a quick money grab priced at the full $60, and it gets a pass due to the lack of VR titles, but any sequel that comes next will have to really step up to the plate. The motion controller difficulties can't persist, or it'll be a major downfall for the Doom franchise in the VR marketplace.

Bethesda keeps placing its bets on VR and brings us one of the greatest shooters of the current generation. DOOM VFR loses some of its identity, although the feeling of being inside each and every encounter with hell's demons is awesome. Perhaps it doesn't have the best controls, although once you get used to it, you're bound to have a good time.

DOOM VFR makes its way to PSVR but doesn't do so without compromise. The graphics are great and it certainly feels like DOOM but every controller option has a downside and it feels like it's been dumbed-down to compensate.

Much of your time in the game is spent wandering the UAC facility, waiting for the chance to unleash wrath on Hell's inner circle. When you do, it can feel great, but Doom VFR feels like a game unsure of whether that's the case. The result is a game that feels tentative about its own considerable power.

A worthwhile attempt to bring one of the most seminal shooters to VR. Gory and visceral lead-based exorcism, let down by some frustratingly inadequate controls.

Doom VFR is a remarkable experience in almost every way. There are intense battles, terrifying enemies, and amazing settings to explore, all tied together with a combination of creepiness and wit. All of this is almost upended by one of the worst control schemes ever implemented on the (admittedly difficult) PlayStation Move controllers. Doom VFR is still well worth playing (in fact, it’s a blast), just go into the experience with the understanding that no matter which controller you decide to use, you won’t be 100% satisfied.

In the end, Doom VFR leverages extant resources to construct an intimate sensation of murdering hell demons in virtual reality. Dealing with Satan entails a short list of sacrifices which Doom VFR obliges through its compressed experience, inadequate control options, and risk averse experimentation. Safe and sensible, however, are sufficient labels for Doom VFR’s pledge of menacing intensity.

Despite its scattershot approach to control and bite-sized scope, DOOM VFR provides a tantalizing, gore-soaked and adrenaline filled peek at the future of PSVR.

Flawed by facinatingly so, Doom VFR is a daring virtual remix that almost comes off. [Feb 2018, p.73]

DOOM VFR is not a bad game at all, but one of the potentially funnest shooters currently on PSVR. However, it tastes like a wasted opportunity.

I found DOOM VFR to be more of a novelty than top-tier shooter experience and if you were hoping for a true FPS experience in VR, then you'll probably be disappointed. The movement is awkward enough that you're always aware of it and so it detracts from the action. It will probably be more appealing to those who have played DOOM before as it will fully immerse you in world that you're familiar with, but even in that case you'll probably wish that you could move without thinking about it while shooting demons.

Doom is proof that vr games can be played in high tempo, making it physically challenging at some points. There are not many of these points though, and you are mainly teleporting through the rest of the game, making things a bit boring.

Doom VFR doesn't quite live up to its original counterpart due to its limitations both in content and controls. There may be some enjoyment to be found for die-hard Doom fans, especially given the budget launch price, but even if living Doom in VR is a thrilling experience, it's still too little to recommend the game to everyone.

After the release of Skyrim VR we were expecting something similar for Doom. Unfortunately what we got is a quite short spin-off that showcases the perks of VR, but fails to deliver the overall superb experience of the original (2016) Doom.

DOOM VFR sounds like a great idea but it doesn’t do enough to justify its existence. Take away the VR headset and it would be just as playable on a TV or computer monitor. It might have actually been better that way, because then I wouldn’t have gotten so uncomfortable. Control issues aside, this is a competent and solidly designed video game that means well enough even though it strips away the cool things that made DOOM great. Skyrim and maybe Fallout aside, not every Bethesda game has to be made into a VR version of itself.

Looking like a DLC for the 2016's DOOM, VFR can easily be considered a pleasant experience as it's still a bloody nervous FPS. But none of the ways to control the main protagonist feels fully satisfying, which is too bad.

When the best thing you can say about a VR game is that it makes you want to play its non-VR inspiration, an opportunity has been missed. There are definitely glimpses of the game it could have been, but too few to salvage the experience. Add a point if a substantial patch materialises to address some of the issues.

An inspired effort to try and make Doom work in VR, but the limited control options on PlayStation VR leave the action feeling clumsy and frustrating.

Bethesda’s really tried to make DOOM work in virtual reality, but despite supporting all three of PlayStation VR’s control options, it doesn’t really feel like the title was designed with any of them in mind. That said, if you can ignore the flaws with whichever peripheral you choose, then the over-the-top action of id Software’s series transfers well, and this is arguably one of the better looking virtual reality titles to date. It’s a little on the short side, but the price point reflects that, and the gunplay is still as intense as it’s ever been.

While Skyrim VR made a great case for the VR port, Doom VFR brings us back to the drawing board. On PSVR, the game has its moments, largely thanks to the foundations it was built upon with the 2016 original. In the end, though, the real fight is with its awkward control setups that eventually led me back to play with just a standard gamepad. Though the foundations of a hugely enjoyable shooter are intact, VFR’s struggle with the platform’s limitations makes it feel like the VR support is holding it back more than anything.

This specific vision of DOOM is not compatible with PlayStation VR. Mainly due a horrific controls scheme that breaks everything DOOM stood for: a frenetic combat ballet that uses both weapons and movement.