VR Gaming

50 Days of PS VR #7: 'Tekken 7' Brings The Fight To VR

, & Jamie Feltham

6 October 2016

50 Days of PS VR #7: 'Tekken 7' Brings The Fight To VR

One week to go until the launch of PlayStation VR! We’re counting down to the release of Sony’s VR headset on October 13th by highlighting one game a day for its anticipated release. Today stepping into the ring for another round with Tekken 7

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Tekken was a franchise that helped launch the PlayStation. I have fond memories of the early days of the PS1, button mashing my way to victory in Namco Bandai’s famous fighter. Its history is synonymous with Sony’s console. That’s why bringing Tekken 7 to VR, no matter how surprising it is, feels like we’ve come full circle in many ways. We may not know much about it, but that makes it all the more exciting.

Having hit Japanese arcades in early 2015, Tekken 7 is now on its way to consoles. It takes the same 3D 1 on 1 fighting system that everyone knows and loves and refines it while adding more characters and stages. It’s legacy as a worthy rival to Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise has endured over the years, and the positive reception to the game overseas suggests that this is bound to be a great entry into your VR library.

PS VR support was announced at last year’s Paris Games Week showing, but we still don’t know exactly how it’s going to work. It won’t be a first-person option, thankfully, as we can only imagine something like that being uncomfortable and unfaithful to the game’s mechanics. Perhaps, though, we could still get the game’s usual viewing angles, but now seen as if we were actually standing in these arenas of death, watching fights as if we were real spectators to them.

There a lot of other ways VR could be integrated into the experience, though maybe not as strict gameplay experiences. Perhaps we’ll see something similar to the extra VR content found in Rise of the Tomb Raider, where we get a story-driven experience that relies on exploration rather than the game’s usual mechanics.

Whatever it is, though, we want something that helps us experience every punch and kick with a much better sense of force.

Tekken 7 hits PlayStation 4 next year, while PlayStation VR itself is due out next week.