Horizon Call of the Mountain, from developers Guerrilla Games and Firesprite and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is a gorgeous showcase of PlayStation VR 2 technology. While it’s not a perfect game by any means, and the VR technology can still be a little hit or miss in terms of immersion, Call of the Mountain is an excellent foundation upon which Sony can build out its PSVR 2 library.
Horizon Call of the Mountain‘s story follows a new protagonist, Ryas, a former soldier fallen into disgrace because of his actions prior to the game’s narrative unfolding. Freshly released from prison to engage in a dizzying journey up the mountains fo the Carja Sundom, Ryas must ascend to their peaks to unravel the mystery of increased machine hostility. Along the way, he’ll meet fresh faces and familiar ones – including Aloy – and build out his own story within the greater universe of Horizon.
It is worth noting that Ryas’ story is much more contained than Aloy’s previous adventures, offering a deeper look into the cultural touchstones of the Carja Sundom and how its people prioritize ways of life. That works well given Horizon Call of the Mountain‘s sense of scale – inevitably, the story takes a backseat to the sights, which are incredible. Call of the Mountain is visually pleasing in every corner of its world, and the 360 degrees of movement are taken advantage of in each biome.
There are two main Horizon Call of the Mountain gameplay elements that complement its incredible world-building: climbing and archery. The former feels like a fun little excursion to a rock climbing gym, minus the intense cardio workout, while the latter is a much more standard method of VR combat. Climbing is the most fun, operating as a dual exploration and puzzle solving element in Call of the Mountain‘s narrative. The PSVR 2 hand- and finger-sensors are pinpoint, and the game really captures the rhythm and movement of climbing.
Combat, on the other hand, is a little less smooth. Many of the PlayStation VR 2 features are put to good use here, with Ryas’ able to produce his bow, pull an arrow from his quiver, and holster it pretty seamlessly. At times, however, Horizon Call of the Mountain seemed to get confused as to which hand was doing what, with a few clunky combats the result of accidentally pulling the bow out using our less dominant hand and not having time to correct it.
That said, fights in Horizon Call of the Mountain are amazing at one thing that’s crucial to a good VR experience: setting the scene and delivering on emotional responses. Each fight felt appropriately subdued or frantic depending on the situation, and the intensity of dodging (using the Sense controller’s analog sticks, in the setting we chose) and then aiming to hit an enemy weak point in a small window felt satisfying. Once again, the visuals were absolutely stunning, even at the game’s most hectic.
Horizon Call of the Mountain does suffer from something that many virtual reality titles eventually do, no matter how clever their conceit – there just isn’t that much variety in terms of its gameplay loop. As long as a player is fully sold on either climbing or combat, that shouldn’t be much of an issue, but as a fairly sizable VR game that took multiple lengthy play sessions to complete, a bit more changes of pace would’ve been appreciated.
The crafting sub-system, which features realistic hand movements, is a nice touch that would perhaps have been better buoyed by a few additional small additions. That, plus its relatively bare-bones story – Ryas definitely isn’t as interesting as Aloy, though later in the game things get much more compelling – means Horizon Call of the Mountain doesn’t quite reach the lofty bar set by the other games set in Guerrilla Games’ universe.
Horizon Call of the Mountain is, however, an excellent game in its own right. As a showcase piece for the early days of PlayStation VR 2, Sony probably couldn’t have asked for a better launch title. Call of the Mountain‘s intensely beautiful visuals and well-developed main gameplay systems make it a meaty virtual reality experience that’s absolutely a must-own for anyone who picks up PSVR 2. While its price feels a little steep, especially in conjunction with the hardware that supports it, anyone willing to make that leap will be just as satisfied as they will inevitably be by Ryas’ adrenaline-pumping feats of strength hundreds of feet in the air on a mountainside.
Horizon Call of the Mountain releases on February 22, 2023 for PlayStation VR 2. Screen Rant was provided with a digital download code for the purpose of this review.
