New game from Canadian developer gives PSVR2 first AAA title of the year.

Become the Untethered One and set out to save the Bio-Chasm.

Arken Age by VitruviusVR is a virtual reality (VR) adventure, launching today on the PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) and Steam VR.

You are a hybrid reptilian-like being made up of both the native Nara race and technology of the evil Hyperion. As the one being who cannot truly die – more on this later – you set out on a quest to save your world and find out what happened to the Grand Arborist – the being who created the Bio-Chasm.

On your journey that spans at least 15 hours and numerous different locales, you’ll face off against a corrupted Hyperion enemy. These are robotic soldiers who have no use for you or the Nara peoples.

While there are numerous foot soldiers in your path – with a slew of weapons and abilities like tangling you in vines, lobbing grenades, etc. – there are also a few boss fights which test your mettle as a warrior. The enemy AI is quite adaptive, and while some of them do seem to do dumb things, like walk in front of the attack of their comrade, they mostly fight in a smart and coordinated way that makes you fight smarter.

To combat Hyperion, you’re given three weapons – a melee sword, a sidearm, and an over the shoulder two-handed weapons – with each being customizable and able to be made your own.

All weapons run off batteries which are harvested from Arkenite, the source material of this world. You can find batteries lying around each area, in breakable boxes, but mostly in the crystals that you find in each area. To get it: just break the crystals open and hold out your hand to absorb the energy. You can also use the batteries collected to buy items at the kiosks around the Bio-Chasm.

While we’re on the topic of absorbing energy, when you die you are transported back to the start of each area; however, your body remains where you died. Remember to go and find your body, as there is always residual energy which you can reabsorb to get more batteries.

Fighting in this game is fluid and physics-based. Your melee weapon – initially starting as a sword, but can be changed into an axe, mace, and other styled weapons with mods – is your best friend throughout your adventure. Parry your enemies blows and strike back by taking their head – or limbs. You feel every blow as you fight, and unlike recent releases such as Skydance’s BEHEMOTH, using your melee weapon to parry and attack works extremely well.

Guns in Arken Age are versatile and fun to use, however, you may find them underpowered. Your sidearm pistol can become an SMG, launch a circular blade, and even an homage to Halo ‘needler’ weapon – among other mods. Your two-handed weapon – starting as a shotgun – can become a ballista to fire arrows, a laser cannon, a fully automatic weapon and more.

Using these guns is immersive and feels great, with adaptive triggers helping you feel how unique each weapon really is. As well, VitruviusVR has done an amazing job of taking an immersion to another level by implementing things like being able to close one eye to activate your sniper scope. They even have headset rumble active which is great for even little things like dropping down from a great height, or diving into the water.

Changing your weapons are done at mod stations found across the Bio-Chasm, showing you stats and allowing you to customize your weapons to your liking – right down to the colour palate for each.

The only problem – and you may not even really consider this a problem – is that sometimes the guns feel underpowered. For instance, using the ballista fires a powerful arrow at your Hyperion foe. The issue? If you shoot one directly in the face, it gets up and keeps coming – at one point it took three arrows to put a very low level enemy down.

Considering how powerful some of these guns seem to be, it should not take multiple clips of a fully modded weapon to level an enemy whose head can be taken off with one swing of the sword.

As mentioned, this may be the only gripe one could come across while playing this stellar game.

As you journey across each area you are presented with a slew of main quests which need to be completed in each area, as well as some side ones to keep the completionists engaged. Missions can be as easy as killing all the Hyperion soldiers, or you may find yourself having to journey across several areas to collect all the items needed to open a doorway.

Exploration is key here, and there is no running in a straight line to complete simple missions. Instead, you truly feel like you’re part of an epic adventure as missing out on finding a hidden alcove means you’ll end up confused later on.

And a heads up: you will absolutely need to backtrack to areas you visit previously – you’ll even need to move on from areas without finishing it – in order to move ahead. There are even many areas – in game they’re known as tombs – where you’ll have to work a little harder in order to earn the key needed to open these locations.

This extra work comes in the form of taking on waves of Hyperion soldiers in order to earn loot.

The story and quests you take on during the game is really engaging and does not disappoint. Even the side quests like finding Nara relics – small pyramid like items scattered across each area – is something that you’ll want to complete; not because you have to, but because the loot you get from doing everything makes the new game+ that much better.

Oh, before it’s forgotten, the world is basically yours to traverse.

Whether you’re swimming through the water by moving your arms, or climbing around using the pickaxes that spring into your hands – by holding your hand open and flicking your wrists, you’re able to have your pickaxes appear; you then open them by closing your hands/ gripping the ‘R1’ & ‘L1’ buttons. This is just another way in which VitruviusVR did an exemplary job of making the game more immersive for the VR gamer.

Let’s talk about the graphics now, because they’re truly spectacular. The world is lush and vibrant and it all looks incredible in headset. Arken Age runs at 90 frames per second, but can be reprojected at 60/120 as well. There was never a moment where there were framerate drops, nor was there a time when anything looked blurry. Throughout the entire campaign, this game looks great and is a testament to the time and effort put into creating something unique.

Overall Arken Age is an impressive VR entry that should make anyone who buys this on the PSVR2 very happy. The gameplay is engaging, and the action is always fun, giving you a challenge that leaves you with a sense of accomplishment.

VitruviusVR lead designer Blake Stone and the rest of the team should be commended for the product they’re releasing. This is not only the first big title to be released for the PSVR2 in 2025, it’s a shining example of what a developer can do for the gamers of VR when they put in the time and effort to make something great.

Anyone who owns a PSVR2 and wants something new to play, Arken Age is a game that should not be missed.

Arken Age, was reviewed on the PSVR2 after receiving a pre-release key.