PlayStation VR Game Golem Has an Interesting Control Scheme, New Gameplay

A new PlayStation VR game called Golem was featured during PlayStation Experience with new information and gameplay shared by the developers.

Golem mixes swordfights and VR together in a way that immerses players in the battles against other humans and large, earthen enemies. Jaime Griesemer and others from Highwire Games discussed the upcoming title while first clearing up any question about the pronunciation of the title.

The first game from the independent developers, Golem is all about adventuring, something that the VR medium is perfect for. You start out as a young kid who's been injured and is working her way back up to an adventurer status, and along the way, you begin to gain control over the imposing stone golems that you'll come across.

Through the use of VR, the game incorporates some pretty impressive detail in both the characters and the graphics overall. The character quality is an integral part of the game, according to a PlayStation Blog post from Griesemer.

"One of the most powerful VR experiences is the human connection we feel to virtual characters. When a well-realized character looks you in the eye for the first time, it is as breath-taking as any traditional action scene. In Golem we focused on telling a very personal story about an injured child learning to explore the world through her magical gifts, with help from her fearless older sister and their over-protective father. With talented actors and MocapNow's cutting-edge performance capture techniques, we have tried to bring this family and their struggles to life with subtlety and nuance that would not work outside of VR."

But one of the most interesting parts of Golem that might take some getting used to is the control system that's being called "Incline Control." Instead of using a typical analog stick or other control method, the control scheme requires you to lean forward slightly as if you were about to take a step. After you get that down, Griesemer says the rest will come naturally.

"The result is an intuitive control scheme, one that gets out of the way and lets you immerse yourself in the world. Once you master it, you can move effortlessly through the abandoned ruins of the Endless City, exploring the large open environment full of mysteries, hidden shortcuts and dangerous enemy golems.

Golem will be released for the PSVR on March 13.