C-Smash VRS

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend an event showcasing the upcoming PS VR2 exclusive: C-Smash VRS.

- Mike Crewe

This allowed me to try an early build version of the game from developer Wolf & Wood (known for several other VR titles, including Hotel R’n’R and The Exorcist: Legion VR) and publisher RapidEyeMovers.

Opening the event was Jörg Tittel (developer of the upcoming VR title The Last Worker), a stalwart of the gaming industry who, 23 years prior, had been inspired by Cosmic Smash. Fast-forward to today, and we have C-Smash VRS, a game that has been lovingly crafted as a reimagining of the little-known arcade/Dreamcast title Cosmic Smash. It was clear that this VR experience is a labour of love not just for Tittel, but for everyone involved.

I’ll be honest: I’d never heard of Cosmic Smash before attending this event. Luckily, the arcade version was available to try out, and it was great to be able to compare the modern title with this classic sports/puzzle hybrid. In its most basic form, think of the sport of squash mixed with Breakout. It was addictive and hard to pull myself away from!

So onto the game I was there to play. I popped on the PS VR2 headset, the Pulse 3D headphones, and (after some help) managed to get my hands into the Sense controllers. Now, I’m no expert on all things Virtual Reality, so I was fully expecting to make a fool of myself in a room full of gaming industry veterans. To my relief, however, C-Smash VRS was so intuitively effortless to jump into playing that it was instantly a non-issue. The menus were slick, and I learnt — after speaking with one of the UI designers — intentionally kept simple and unobtrusive to keep the action flowing without being bogged down by too many menus.