It’s all over, the largest gaming expo in the UK has closed its doors for 2016 and what a blast it has been. I saw plenty of upcoming games, got to extensively try out Playstation VR, smelt odours I didn’t know could exist in this universe and drank so many free Tornado energy drinks that I’m pretty sure I could knock out a horse right now.

So now is a time of reflection, to provide you, my dear readers, an insight as to what I experienced at EGX 2016. So let me take you on my EGX Journey, all whilst I try to ignore the fact that my throat is slowly closing up from a disease that I’m positive I caught from that slimy controller.

Anyway, where do I start?

Well there’s only one true place where I can begin The EGX-Files (see what I did there) and it has to be in one of the most paradigm shifting technologies gaming has seen in recent memory –  Virtual Reality.

VR had a big presence at EGX, with all manner of headsets being tested out on the show floor. Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Playstation VR were all available to try out, complete with those hilariously awkward movements that the human body can produce when presented with something so alien. You really can’t comprehend how stupid someone can truly look until you’ve seen them crawling on the floor wearing a HTC Vive, pawing out at the nothingness in front of them, whilst hundreds of eager eyes are fixated on their clumsiness. It’s hilarious.

Eager to make myself look just as stupid, I took to the 2 hour long queue for Battle Zone VR on the very first day of EGX. Developed by Rebellion, Battle Zone VR is an arena style tank battler, with a stylistic flare not too far from the likes of TRON, that will be available on the Playstation VR at launch. It’s premise is simple and a great proving ground for Playstation’s consumer friendly product. Who doesn’t like to pretend they’re driving around a rip-off Batmobile?

The moment I put the headset on I was thrown into the cockpit of this futuristic tank, surrounded by several screens that heralded weapon system readouts, tutorials on how to control the tank and a radar indicating enemy locations. It was staggering to be able to look all around me and feel so surrounded by this fictional tech, as if I could reach out and touch it myself. It produced such an expansive and realistic sense of space that it took me a moment to grow accustomed to. I knew the Rebellion booth I was sat in was small, no bigger than 7 feet by 5 feet, but in that tank, in that VR world, I felt as if I was at the helm of this huge, monstrous machine. Playstation VR had completely fooled my brain’s perception of space and it was nothing short of astounding. Looking out at the top left of my tank’s windscreen, seeing the enormous turret rotate and fire as I controlled it with the DualShock 4’s right analog stick, spread this stupid grin right across my face. I have no doubt that I looked as idiotic as everyone else I’d seen use VR, except now I knew why.

Once I’d acclimatised myself to the tank’s control scheme I was thrown out into one of Battle Zone VR’s arenas and given some AI enemies to have a go at blowing sky high. Now this is where I experienced one of the dreaded pit falls of VR – motion sickness. It was very slight and totally manageable but this technology’s capability to be so visually convincing is at complete odds with what your body actually feels. My brain is telling me that I am driving this behemoth of weaponry at super high speeds, able to move my head freely to locate the enemy and blast them to high heaven, whilst my body feels not a single g-force from such speeds nor rattle of the tank as it takes a hit. It is inherently jarring and a little disorientating at first but in the short amount of time I got to spend with the game I did begin to adjust to this all too unnerving sensory attack.

I probably had less than 10 minutes in total with Battle Zone VR and in those few short minutes Playstation VR was well on it’s way to convincing me that it was the way games should be played. Fortunately for me, I was able to book one of a very scant amount of “Try VR” sessions at the Playstation Booth. My session would give me a full half hour to try out Playstation VR and achieve some sense of what it’s like to play it for an extended period.

There were 12 or so games available to try out at the Playstation Booth, including Batman VR, Farpoint, DriveClub and RIGS. Once signed in I was invited to crash out on the Playstation themed beanbags whilst I waited for a game to free up. As I waited patiently in those bean filled clouds of comfort that cupped your arse just so, I began to wonder what game I really didn’t want to be immersed within. Out of all that was on offer there was only one that made me feel a little on edge – Resident Evil 7. Now I’m not the best when it comes to your standard horror games, I am just a terrible wimp, so the thought of being fully submerged in the terrifying Resident Evil 7 (after I’d played The Beginning Hour demo only a few months prior and shit myself) did not bear thinking about. I knew I’d be alright though, the odds of me getting RE7 were negligible at best; I mean c’mon, 1 in 12 are some mighty slim chances. If I were a gambling man (and I am) I’d certainly throw a cheeky tenner down on that.

Anyhow, my name was called and I eagerly followed the Playstation Representative around the corner to my booth. I was excited and could not wait to get a full half hour to really see what Playstation VR could accomplish. Then my stomach dropped. I would have lost that tenner. I got Resident Evil 7, the only VR game I did not want to play and here it was right in front of me. Ever the falsified tower of bravado that I am, I put on a brave face and accepted my fate. I could have easily turned it down and opted for a safer experience, but in front of all those people? No sir. I’d walk through fire and roll around in broken glass before I’d embarrass myself in front of a crowd of more than 3 people. As such, I sat down, got strapped in and embraced the terror to come.

So in case you didn’t know, what we’ve seen from RE7 suggests that the game is to be set around a similar theme to that of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Y’know the terrifying concept where you get kidnapped and trapped in a house with a deranged family who want to munch on your quivering flesh. The Beginning Hour demo, that was released post E3, gave us a taste of how that concept was starting to materialise in an absolutely bone-chilling fashion. The VR demo continues this theme, placing you in the position of a young woman who is trying to escape the house, whilst being chased by the crazed mother of your captors who just wants you to have dinner with her family…err no thanks love.

The demo began by presenting me a chance to learn the controls. Controls which were a bit strange to say the least. The left analog stick worked as it does in any other first person game – forward, backward, strafe left and strafe right – all fairly vanilla FPS controls on that front. Where things got a little unknown is with the directional movement – usually controlled by the right analog stick. In this instant you have to physically look in which direction you want to move and push forward on the left analog stick. This is all very alien in this current dual-analog gaming zeitgeist, as it essentially replaces the function of the right analog stick with your head movement. The right stick does have some slight control, overriding the head control and moving the camera in short 30 degree increments if you so wish. This does allow faster movements when needed and helps with overall traversal, but it is still a far shout from the right analog stick’s traditional functionality. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, it does take some time to grow accustomed to this strange way of playing. It is like learning how to play video games all over again, which is perfectly natural in this instance because this actually is an all new way of playing them. With some perseverance though, I did begin to get the hang of it and came to understand the minutiae of how to successfully traverse the world almost incident-free.

So the game itself? Well, I’m still in awe. I ran from that deranged woman, hid in the walls and ducked behind crates, trying feverishly to avoid the madness my capture would bring. I moved my head to peek around corners and through the small cracks in the rotten wooden walls to see where she was coming from. I saw the deep wrinkles in her crazed, cragged face as I cowered in the shadows whilst she crept by, searching for me with a devilish look in her eyes. I was breathing heavy, wracked with nerves and in full survival mode. At this point I’d completely forgotten about the headset that was strapped to my head or that I was even at EGX. I was in that horrible house, trying my hardest not get captured by the crazy bitch that wanted to peel the flesh from my bones. Playstation VR immersed me so much and let me become such a part of what was happening in the game’s narrative that I truly believed I was in danger, yet fully in control. Being so in the moment and having been granted that same spacial awareness that I felt in Battle Zone VR, I was confident in my movements and my ability to hide. VR made horror games simpler for me to conquer by making them more real and, above all else, provide the truest sense of involvement I’d ever experienced within gaming. After playing in VR I don’t want to play a video game in any other way right now.

Of course, Playstation VR does have its shortcomings. The resolution leaves a lot to be desired and how well this tech will accommodate the more hardcore and more competitive genres remains to be seen. However, what I did discover at EGX is that VR is well on its way to realising what games have been trying to achieve for so long – fully fledged, fantastical worlds where the player is an integral part. VR is a real-world cancelling experience that encapsulates you entirely in the game-world, holding your full attention and providing the truest form of that fabled “escapism” that games have always yearned for.

So, should you buy it? Well, if you’ve read this far (and you’re not my mum) then the answer is a simple one. Yes. If you are deep enough into the gaming rabbit hole to be seeking out Playstation VR previews then Playstation VR is certainly for you. Of course it isn’t cheap at £349 but in the 40 or so minutes I have spent with it, I can already predict with confidence that £349 is a true undervaluing of the experience that this technology is going to provide.

Well that went on a bit didn’t it? Anyway, I’ll be back over the next few days giving you more insights into what I’ve seen at EGX, so make sure you don’t miss any of it!