Horizon Call of the Mountain review: Rock climbing galore

Horizon Call of the Mountain is tons of fun if you had bought the latest Sony PlayStation VR2. As the flagship title for the virtual reality headset, the game lets you explore the world of Horizon in first person, fight machines, and climb a lot of stuff. And as a bonus you get a bit of a workout — your arms will feel sore from all the virtual rock climbing and archery.

Quick notes

Gesture controls for walking feels natural, but you may get some motion sickness
Graphics are amazingly detailed
Rock climbing is the best part of the game, as combat is a tad repetitive, just fire arrows until the enemy dies.

Call of the Mountain sees you as Ryas, a former Shadow Carja (basically a bad guy) who's looking for redemption. You're sent on a mission to climb plenty of stuff, fight the big bad machines of Horizon, and of course, save the day. In between, you get to find collectibles, shoot at hidden targets, and chat with characters. Everything in the world looks really good. You'll enjoy exploring the lush greenery of the Wilds, admire rusted hulks of dead machines up close, and check out the dead ruins of the new world. It's a lot more intimate than the mainline Horizon games, and I love it.

Combat in the game is pretty on-rails. You dodge from side-to-side, all the while firing arrows at your enemies. Like in the Horizon games, you can target weak spots on machines, aim at critical spots, or if you're like me, just spam arrows nonstop like a machine gun. You can also craft shock, fire, and freeze arrows. I didn't quite like the combat, but it's mostly at the end of each stage, and didn't take long to finish. There's also a stealth section, but I realised you could sorta shoot your way through somewhat (while still moving around).

The highlight of the game, though, is the rock climbing. I daresay you'll feel tired after a session if you're playing standing up. It's because you're actually swinging your arms around, and pretending to climb up a mountain. The experience feels extremely real, and will leave you gasping if you accidentally let go while over a drop. I have to close my eyes when that happens. Besides climbing, you'll solve navigational puzzles, swing on a lasso, and make terrifying jumps across chasms. This game packs thrills, and you'll love it.

At S$79.90, Horizon Call of the Mountain is priced like full game, but is roughly around eight hours long. You can play it seated or standing, but standing is preferable. Motion sickness may be an issue (I get it slightly), but my colleague, Vincent, had no issues. Get it from the Shopee (bundled with the PS VR2), Lazada (bundled), or the PlayStation Store.

Note: Review game provided by Sony.

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