Flying an X-Wing in virtual reality is absurdly cool
Is the Rogue One-inspired X-Wing mission in Star Wars: Battlefront the best reason to own a PlayStation VR right now?
Yes. Yes it is.
The free virtual reality minigame feels like a dumbed down version of the classic PC game X-Wing, reborn. You hop into the iconic rebel fighter's cockpit, blast a few TIE Fighters into oblivion and run circles around an Imperial Star Destroyer.
Oh yeah, you also get to watch the stars melt away right in front of you as your attack fighter leaps into hyperspace. OMG.
The Battlefront virtual reality mission is the best kind of fan service. Criterion Games, the studio that built it, had the right idea. Before the mission even starts, you're deposited in an empty space with a parked X-Wing in front of you.
This freeform section of the experience allows you to examine the fighter from all sides in VR. You can even climb into the cockpit and futz with the buttons; many of them even work.
One button opens and closes the X-Wing's trademark S-foils ("Lock S-foils in attack position!"). Another communicates with your Astromech droid -- yes, you have one -- with its bleep-bloop responses turned into text on a little readout screen.
The mission -- which connects to Rogue One but doesn't spoil anything -- lasts about 20 minutes, which is a perfect amount of time. For those among you that don't have PSVR, I played through the entire thing on a Facebook Live stream and you can watch it below.
Please give us more, Criterion. We've gone too long with no new X-Wing or Rogue Squadron games. This scratches that itch, but only just.
Topics Gaming Star Wars Virtual Reality
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
