EVE: Valkyrie is as close as we’ve got to Star Wars VR

We’re getting Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission at some point, but for now PlayStation VR doesn’t have a Star Wars experience. I’m not even a massive Star Wars fan, yet I get slight chills thinking about zipping about in space, looking around the cockpit of an X-Wing as I scan the distance for incoming TIE Fighters. Perhaps I’m in the virtual body of Luke Skywalker, with info from R2D2 appearing on a screen in front.

EVE: Valkyrie, a space combat game from CCP (the makers of the massively complex EVE MMO), currently offers more or less what you might want from that Star Wars VR game, but without Star Wars. If you’re an EVE fan you may well get a kick out of seeing the various ships on offer, but to me they’re just space ships. Cool space ships, for sure, but not Star Wars cool.

CCP’s effort delivers a single-player campaign of sorts, presenting you with memories of previous missions, but its main offering is a multiplayer suite that throws you into 16-player battles. I’m not entirely convinced Valkyrie is worth the £50 it’s priced at retail (£55 on PSN), but there’s no denying that its combat is some of the most intense and spectacular gaming available for PlayStation VR.

With your ship giving you a great view from the cockpit, simply looking at the space battleground around you is pretty amazing. When people start firing missiles at each other and ships start blowing up, your view is filled with cool effects. The headtracking feels great and I found following and targeting enemies far easier than I normally do in aerial combat games.

There is, as with a lot of PlayStation VR games, a touch of ropiness to the visuals, with the overall impression being one of impressive scale but technical roughness. You can easily get lost in the experience, but pause to actually look at the textures and details and the seams are a little too visible. I also found long sessions resulted in a dizzying effect and uneasy feeling once I’d removed the headset. Considering I’d been spinning rapidly that probably shouldn’t have been too surprising, but it’s the only VR game I’ve played to date that has had a noticeable effect on me.

Until X-Wing VR Mission is released or we get a proper VR game in the Star Wars universe, EVE: Valkyrie is a good option. You don’t get the classic John Williams music or a lobby full of famous Star Wars characters, but you do get exciting space combat that is as immersive as any of the PlayStation VR launch titles.

EVE is certainly much more than a VR tech demo, but £50 feels too rich for the experience on offer. That’s the kind of money Star Wars can get away with charging, because Star Wars would hopefully put me inside the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and Chewbacca would be my friend.