Sweet Surrender is out now on PlayStation VR2, and we went hands-on once more. Read on for our impressions.
Four years since Sweet Surrender first arrived on Quest and Steam, the cel-shaded roguelike is back with today’s PlayStation VR2 launch. Tasked with fighting your way up through different regions using one of six main playable classes, our former Senior Editor considered Salmi Games’ challenging shooter to be a solid effort with room to grow in our original 2021 review.
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Come 2025, the post-launch updates haven’t stopped. Last year’s “Resurrection” update delivered gameplay adjustments and updated visuals on Quest 3, while earlier this year saw Salmi Games release Chips Revamp: Part 1 that aimed for “better balance” across the game. A public roadmap confirms there’s more on the way.
So, how does this PlayStation VR2 edition compare? Pretty well, going by my three hours of hands-on time; there aren’t any revolutionary differences compared to other platforms, though PS VR2 comes with timed exclusive new content. I’ve not found all 20 of the new or improved upgrades yet, but double-back holstering for larger weapons is a useful addition.
There’s not much of a story to worry about here beyond some discoverable lore, and Adventure Mode sees you ascend through the game’s four main areas with randomized levels. Classes like the Medic and Sniper provide some nice variety, while Trainee offers an easier alternative that doesn’t get counted towards the online leaderboards.
Only one class is initially available; the rest are gradually unlocked through methods like killing a specific boss or healing a set amount across all of your runs. Death means a complete restart, and there aren’t any more permanent ability upgrades, though shortcuts can be unlocked for reaching higher levels faster.
It’s standard stuff for roguelikes that quickly becomes challenging, and you can’t just go guns blazing into every situation. Sweet Surrender’s clean arcade-style action leaves you quickly searching for cover, as staying still is a guaranteed ticket back to your base. You can’t be too hasty either, lest you fall foul of a trip mine like I did on my first run.
Landing those kills feels rewarding with good haptic feedback in the Sense controllers, helped by a decent range of enemies from your standard troopers to exploding bots. Running through areas armed to the teeth with shotguns, various pistols, and grenades remains entertaining.
My personal highlight is the upgrade system, letting you swap out a decent variety of power-ups like health upgrades or greater damage. You’ll gradually power up your abilities through chips that are placed into both of your wrists, but said upgrades only apply if that specific hand is holding your weapon. It’s the sort of VR-specific design I appreciate.
Some aspects betray its older VR design though, namely the visual assists. You can switch off your ammo count from appearing, though you can’t turn off weapon descriptions when moving them closer to you. It’s helpful when picking up something for the first time; I don’t necessarily know what abilities that item has, and this makes perfect sense for chips. With weapons, I’d like the option to turn that off.
PS VR2 screenshots taken by UploadVR
I have some smaller gripes too. Adaptive trigger support is certainly welcome compared to Quest, though it doesn’t feel closely adapted for individual weapons, and headset haptic feedback could be more reactive. On several occasions, I’d start the game only for the menu to be nowhere in sight even if I recenter my position, only to find it 90 degrees to my right. That only syncs up if I turn left just as far and recenter.
Hardly dealbreakers by any stretch, but I’d love to see it take further advantage of PlayStation VR2 where possible. Some of my PlayStation VR2-specific complaints are already in the public roadmap, so I’m hoping these updates come through soon.
It’s worth noting that while Sweet Surrender previously confirmed it would launch with light and dynamic foveated rendering, Salmi Games ultimately disabled both after further testing. Speaking to UploadVR, CEO and founder Yacine Salmi explained this decision.
“The game looks significantly better without foveated rendering, and the performance tradeoffs were not worth the visual artifacts introduced. Our rendering style (and post-processing stack) doesn’t seem to lend itself well to foveated rendering. We will explore further performance improvements post-release to see if we can push the resolution even higher while maintaining 90fps.”
Despite this exclusion, Sweet Surrender runs smoothly even in more intense moments. I’ve only played this so far on a PS5 Pro though, so I can’t speak for a base PS5, and Salmi Games states this runs at a higher resolution on the newer model. It looks great in action, and Sweet Surrender’s low-poly art style means it’s never been the most demanding game anyway.
As someone who hasn’t played since my previous interview with Salmi Games, I enjoyed this chance to return. If roguelikes have never been for you, this isn’t likely to change your mind and while it’s not a complete clean sweep, Sweet Surrender is still a welcome addition to the PlayStation VR2 library. I’ll be jumping back in soon.
Sweet Surrender is out now for Quest, Steam, and PlayStation VR2.
