Some of its battles are telegraphed, theme park-like rides, where player input is reduced to firing an arrow at exploding barrels, or hiding in grass stealthily – but occasionally, Call of the Mountain opens its impressive jaws, for action-heavy set pieces where players enter open arenas, and must use their reflexes to survive. This satisfying feeling of pure, genuine immersion is amplified in the game’s machine battles, which are rarely littered throughout the action. You’ll genuinely feel like you’ve climbed a mountain in some areas of the game, to the point where you’ll need to take breaks, and let your arms rest before continuing. While it’s certainly a novelty that wears off after several hours and fairly severe muscle burn (some climbs are particularly rigorous), they add a unique physicality to Call of the Mountain. The way the PSVR2 maps real-world movements to in-game actions is brilliant. Read: Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC depends on PS5

This isn’t a simple matter is pressing buttons, but a physical, real-world act using the PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers to reach up and grab for ledges, stretching your body to mirror Ryas’ in-game struggles. For the most part, you’ll be climbing (either free-handed or with picks) along narrow pathways, keeping an eye on your real-world stamina, and finding the easiest landings to haul yourself to your final destination. This isn’t a narratively dense thriller, or a game designed to push the bounds of experimental VR rather, it’s an adventure hooked on clever gimmicks and an expansive, wonderfully-rendered world.Įach chapter of the game takes you to a new region, where tools must be deployed to overcome your surroundings. Story takes a backseat as you’re thrust into quests hung on loose plot threads, where physical traversal (and occasionally, battles) become your primary focus. While this tale is rife with conflict and possibility, any sense of narrative largely vanishes against the primary goal of the experience: to highlight the possibilities afforded by PSVR2, in the flashiest and most impressive ways possible. You spend your time in Call of the Mountain as Ryas, a Shadow Carja warrior corralled into helping Aloy and her pals investigate and defeat a rising threat in the heart of the mountains.

Horizon call of the mountain aloy