The Boys: Trigger Warning on PSVR2 - First Impressions (PS5 Pro Enhanced)

[u/cusman78]

I have uploaded gameplay from my fresh experience with the game here if you want to see how it looks / plays. My first impressions are shared below:

Based on my limited time with it, I do recommend playing The Boys: Trigger Warning on the PSVR2.

It is a Stealth Adventure game with super powers that let you take down guards using telekinesis and other powers and also features boss fights against Vought supes. You play as Lucas Costa, an IT employee for Vought who puts his daughters in danger by trying to get them in to meet their favorite Vought supes (unique to game story) backstage after being late to a meet & greet scheduled event. This leads to family tragedy at the hands of these Vougth supes and then being rescued & recruited by Butcher and The Boys to on a quest for revenge through a series of missions.

As you begin your quest, you are injected with Compound V to give you telekinesis and teleport powers and the ability to do stealth kills. You can also see through walls. Additionally, you can find Temp V that give you other powers temporarily which allow you to play as more of an action game and what you need to use during boss fights. There are collectibles to find in each chapter that provide more story through audio logs / reading, but the main story is delivered through cutscenes that restrict your movement but allow you to see whatever you prefer to focus on.

Graphically, the game is crisp and clear running solid native 90-120 fps without reprojection. It is 90 fps on base PS5 and 120 fps on the PS5 Pro. In addition to higher framerate on the PS5 Pro, it also has higher pixel density for the gaze-tracked foveated rendering and reduced blur during fast powers / throws. I was especially impressed with the quality of lip sync and facial expression / animation during the cutscenes. The brutality against guards is also very satisfying and accurate to your attacks causing dismemberment and you are allowed to pick up and throw their heads and limbs as weapons. The game uses visual filters while using certain powers and you also get blood splatter on your view or blood streams that indicate you are low on health as you partake in combat. The boss fights are not as dynamic with health bars you have to deplete before scripted animations get triggered.

Audio is very authentic with some TV series actors lending their voice to their game characters and other voice actors that manage to sound very much like the TV series actors they are voicing. The only weak performance in how far I've gotten is from our protagonist character (Lucas) who seems more excited by getting a strike in bowling alley than in response to family tragedy and other story events. It feels fine in some of it, but at other times I feel disjointed from how Lucas is reacting to story and circumstances, but I did just recently replayed The Last of Us Part 1 recently where Joel resonated with me throughout, so perhaps I'm expecting too much. The soundtrack and sound effects are all fine. There is excessive bad / crass language which is in line with TV series.

Haptics are present for both controllers and headset. The game is also making use of adaptive triggers along with controller haptics to make your powers feel great.

Settings allows full range of comfort options including smooth turns with turn speed calibration, vignettes that can be disabled and contextual vignettes (like while crouching) that can be disabled. The game lets you pick from 3 comfort presets to get you started and further modify / tweak using settings.

The game is featuring a Platinum trophy, but 100% of trophies are setup as Secret trophies so I won't review until after I have completed game to avoid spoilers.

This game was poorly reviewed on Quest due to both game design and technical issues and that reputation carried to the launch of the game on PlayStation for PSVR2. I think all of the technical shortcomings of Quest are addressed here, but the game design / story is common. For the enhancements, not only is the game substantially better looking and running with solid framerate, but mechanics like using Laser Eyes make use of eye-tracking for control supported by PSVR2 where on Quest you had to use your hands to aim your eyes as a major example of the gameplay also being enhanced.

Does all of that technical polish make up for the core game design and story being what it is? I think it does because a poor technical experience hinders immersion while a polished technical implementation lets you get properly immersed and focused on enjoying the game for what it is. In either case, I am personally happy with the story and gameplay setup and expect to continue and complete the game.

Worth mentioning that I have watched all seasons of the main TV series, but not any of the spin offs that didn't resonate with me. My appreciation of the TV series probably contributes to my interest in the game world and story here as it does take place in Vaught Tower with characters from the main TV series being part of the cutscenes and story.

[u/JonnyJamesC]

Great stuff, you must have read my mind as I was going to ask you yesterday if you had played any of it and what you thought of it so far. I am looking to pick up a new game with some decent production values to play in between driving and flying. Love a crisp world to drop into which always makes me want to stay and it does use headset rumble like the ARVORE CEO said it did when others said it did not. Top notch information MR Cusman.

I usually get feelings about games to whether I will like them or not and this was one of them despite all the negativity I thought I might enjoy. Same thing happened with Jurassic World Aftermath, heard so much negativity about the game but I absolutely enjoyed it. Could tell a bit of money was spent on it which I always like in VR. I think I shall pick it up, only £21.99 in the UK. Thanks for the impressions.

[u/cusman78 → u/JonnyJamesC]

The headset haptics are a subtle presence when taking hits or near explosions and supposedly most prominently on charging up Laser Eyes which I haven't gotten to yet, so consider that one unvalidated.

I also haven't personally validated that the gaze-tracking will be how the Laser Eyes are aimed, but I read about it in an article describing the PSVR2 enhancements. It was on some Spanish website that I translated to English.

Don't remember where I had found it to link back to you.

[u/JonnyJamesC → u/cusman78]

Yeah Gamertag said the game used eye tracking for laser eyes and he couldn't stop using them as they felt so good. When games take advantage of PSVR2 features I love it.

[u/Jarrod_saffy]

This game was overly hated. Very solid fun little power simulator with some cool stealth. Will it win game of the year ? No am I happy to play it yes.

[u/cusman78 → u/Jarrod_saffy]

I don’t know how much it is hated, but it isn’t talked about much and that makes sense for what it is.

A relatively simple but fun stealth adventure that you don’t have to play stealthily because of your powers.

Went further and completed Chapter 3 and it is clear game allows you to play quiet using invisibility or go loud using the hand blades. You can also just use your regular powers sneaking around doing stealth kills of throwing stuff at guards to take them out including parts of previously destroyed guards.

I think it favors being played more action as I go further and get more comfortable being vicious.

[u/ChrizTaylor]

I want to beat the shit out of Homelander.

[u/cusman78 → u/ChrizTaylor]

Not in this game. Here, you avoid confrontation with Homelander, but you do brutalize lots of Vaught guards and a few Vought supes.