Horizon Call of the Mountain Review (PS5) | Push Square

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Ever wondered why Aloy has abs so rippled they’d make a Greek statue blush? It turns out surviving the tribal world of Horizon is tough – as PSVR2 launch title Call of the Mountain can attest. This next-gen virtual reality effort from The Persistence developer Firesprite and famed first-party Guerrilla Games is unflinchingly physical, but its unique platforming gameplay and jaw-dropping vistas make it a perfect showpiece for Sony’s impressive new hardware.

Before we dig into the details, it’s imperative to underline exactly what this outing is: it’s a relatively linear platformer with an enormous emphasis on first-person climbing, and not an open world RPG like its console counterparts. While its story and lore is consistent with characters and events referenced in the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, it’s very much a spin-off that pins its flag to its unique scrambling gameplay.

You play as a character called Ryas, a voiced protagonist with about as much personality as a cardboard box. The plot, if you choose to engage with it, demands knowledge of Horizon’s fiction – and it doesn’t spare any time to catch you up on events if you glossed over any of the main games. Personally, while we appreciated the cameos from characters like Aloy and Blameless Marad, we found it almost impossible to keep up with the politics, all involving the Carjas and the Red Raids.

That’s partly because existing alongside these characters in virtual reality is so dazzling that it’s difficult to pay attention to what they’re actually saying. Make no mistake, this is the mind blowing PSVR2 visual tour-de-force that Sony promised: the Horizon world has always looked extraordinary, owing to the series’ outstanding art