What can VR Bring to PlayStation's Racing Games

The thing with racing games is that anyone can play them. Even if you can’t drive and just enjoy crashing repeatedly, you can still have fun. It’s a universal thing, pull trigger, turn corners, try not to destroy yourself.

The next level of racing game appreciation has always been steering wheel peripherals. Because what’s more authentic than controlling a virtual car like an actual car? Of course this means a hefty, space consuming setup of wheels, pedals, seat and a stand.

Whilst the cost side of things might not be changing, the incoming support of VR might make that kind of cost outlay sweeter.

Yes you can spend the same amount on a full wheel set up as you could for the PSVR but you can play other games of different genres with the headset. So once it launches, it will become one of the most interesting add-ons for the racing genre.

While Sony’s own racing offerings have under-steered off into the gravel recently, it still has a lot to offer. Firstly it’s got two exclusive games coming to PSVR in the shape of Gran Turismo Sport and new support coming for Driveclub.

Vroom

Driveclub will be an interesting part of the package because it is presumably already finished. With Evolution Studios having been closed and amalgamated into Codemasters, the support for VR must have already been developed, or is being finished by another studio.

The game is incredibly fast and, whilst not 60fps, does convey the feeling of speed very well. But it’s the graphics that stand out. It’s not just the colours and the scenery, but the cars.

There’s some outrageous attention to detail, and some free flowing head movement to look around will certainly be a great showcase of what PSVR can do.

Then there’s the main player, Sony’s key racing franchise - Gran Turismo Sport. GTS is likely to be a much more subdued affair with different classes of car and more simulation and track based racing. But that does mean that it will be an easier time on the eyes.

That sounds like a cop out, but one of the things that VR will hinge upon on is how long you can wear a device for without feeling any adverse effects, especially for a console where the user base is arguably either younger or more casual in their approach.

The way Gran Turismo has played previously, with a smoothness and less intensely visual experience, could suit the length of time you play a racing game.

Because games like Gran Turismo and Project CARS, which will also have VR support with PSVR, are slow burners.

Honk

Not in the sense that they take any time to get into, but they have far more content, and the nature of the simulation racing means they take longer to complete.

If Project CARS will let you do the full 24 hour Le Mans race in VR, then you might as well have the same water bottle set up as the drivers themselves.

VR for racing is going to be, to use an incredibly overused phrase, an immersive experience, but it’s not without its dangers.

Project CARS and Driveclub have had an intense close-field experience if you’re in amongst it, but if you stream away in front, or are languishing behind, you’ll never find it and VR would then just become a driving simulator.

Gran Turismo has the opposite of that problem. Whilst the racing is less aggressive, it is more attuned to the give and take of closed circuit racing and how smaller gains make a massive difference.

Yes it won’t be as fast or breakneck as Driveclub, and it won’t be as chaotic as Project CARS, but you can bet it will be rewarding, smooth, graphically brilliant, and perfectly attuned to its exclusive console status.