Shuhei Yoshida, former PlayStation boss and a longtime advocate for virtual reality in gaming, is backing Reach, a bold new action-adventure VR title from nDreams that pushes the limits of immersion with detailed traversal mechanics and versatile weapon systems.
Built in Unreal Engine 5 and launching across PSVR 2, SteamVR, and Meta Quest, Reach blends intuitive movement with cinematic action, offering what Yoshida calls one of the most impactful VR experiences to date.
For more than a decade, Shuhei Yoshida has been one of the most vocal champions of VR gaming. His journey began with a handmade virtual reality headset cobbled together by the team at Santa Monica Studio, using PlayStation Move controllers and a repurposed PS3 HMZ-T1 visor. “They put that handmade headset on me and I was inside the God of War game,” he recalled. “I looked down as Kratos, and it was an amazing feeling.” That early prototype ignited a VR movement within Sony that would eventually give birth to PlayStation VR for PS4 back in 2016.
Redefining VR action?
Fast forward to today, Yoshida’s deep commitment to immersive gaming continues, this time with his support for Reach, an ambitious new title from UK-based VR studio nDreams. Known for pushing the boundaries of VR, nDreams’ past titles like Synapse have already demonstrated the potential of intuitive gameplay systems that utilize PSVR 2’s eye-tracking tech. “You can just look at the enemy and grab and throw – it’s an amazing experience,” Yoshida said, calling Synapse one of his favorite VR titles ever.
Yoshida has been watching Reach evolve over the past three years. “They always showed me their roadmap,” he noted. “When I left SIE, they reached out and asked if I could help promote the game.”
With Reach, nDreams is raising the bar again. Designed as a full-bodied action-adventure, the game incorporates a variety of traversal mechanics that set a new standard for the genre. “We really wanted to redefine the action adventure in VR,” said producer Calum Green. “It hadn’t been done to the standard that we are doing in Reach.”
During my 30-minute demo of the VR actioner, I understood that sentiment completely. Reach has players stepping into the shoes of a female spy thrown into a conspiracy revolving around an underground civilization. From my time with the game, mechanics are split between gun and arrow play and traversal, which sees some serious evolution in clever ways.
The improvements from Synapse to Reach are significant. Green highlighted a fully integrated body system that allows for natural interactions from head to toe. “Your feet place themselves on the wall when you’re climbing. Your fingers have wrinkle maps. These small details really help create immersion.”
Jump, climb, and conquer
Climbing is a concept that’s been done to death in VR from Half Life: Alyx to Horizon: Call of the Mountain. However, Reach takes things further by how they handle jumping. It’s more than just pressing a button. Users hold the A button and swipe both arms down to jump. Though it took a minute to get used to, by the end of the demo, it felt like second nature. I found myself jumping and grabbing ledges like Arnold Schwarzenegger in one of his many 80s action flicks. This mechanic also goes for side climbing into a jump from one platform to the next, like in the Uncharted series.
The first weapon our hero gets in the demo is a bow, which has become something of a VR staple. There’s a level of skill that many games have made with the weapon, but Reach features a small aim assist that goes a long way to helping players feel like an action hero. Accessibility and balance were core to Reach’s design, according to its developer. “There is a slight aim assist,” Green explained. “It makes you feel cool, like you’re doing something impactful, without being unfair.” This allows me to take out over a dozen enemies at once, like I was John Rambo. For an added touch, some enemies will drop guns that our hero can pick up as well.
While the bow serves as the primary weapon early on, players will encounter a variety of tools with multiple functions. Yoshida teased: “You get different kinds of arrows – some freeze, others explode. You have to think quickly in each situation.” nDreams Senior Communications Manager Tom Davidson expanded on this by noting the tactical possibilities. “You can fire arrows into walls and climb them, then pull them out and use them in combat. Every tool we give the player allows two, three, or four ways to engage with it.”
Built for every headset
Set to be released sometime this year, Reach will find its way to various VR platforms, including PSVR 2, SteamVR, and Quest. The team also worked to ensure scalability across platforms. Built in Unreal Engine 5, Reach is designed for devices ranging from Meta Quest to PSVR 2 to high-end PCs.
“We built the game with sensible loading and streaming areas,” said Green. “That allows us to maintain high fidelity visuals without sacrificing performance.” I played Reach on a Quest 3 headset connected to a PC, and there were some neat explosions and fast-paced action, all without so much as a dip in framerate.
So far, the visuals didn’t impress as with nDreams’ Synapse. Unlike that title’s interesting use of monochrome matched with neon colors, Reach’s visuals lean toward a less stylized aesthetic that looks more realistic so far. So it’s not quite as immediately visually appealing, at least for me.
In an industry where VR is still carving out its mainstream space, Reach feels like a culmination of years of experimentation, refinement, and ambition. With Yoshida’s endorsement and nDreams’ continued evolution, it might just become the new benchmark for immersive gaming.
“VR doesn’t make me sick,” joked Yoshida. “I could be in there for hours. And with Reach, I probably will be.”
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