Sony’s immersive The Final of Us expertise at CES 2025 dropped me right into a subway stuffed with zombies

As Engadget’s chief The Final of Us correspondent, I used to be fairly pumped to seek out out throughout Sony’s CES 2025 press convention that season two of the HBO present would come out in April. However Naughty Canine head Neil Druckmann additionally teased an “location-based expertise exhibit” that may transport individuals into the tunnels of Seattle stuffed with Contaminated. That is an space straight out of The Final of Us Half II, and immediately I bought an opportunity to attempt the proof-of-concept expertise. It was brief, minimal, and somewhat tough, however it was additionally one other good instance of how Sony is attempting to take its tentpole franchises from PlayStation and put them in totally totally different experiences.

Sadly, Sony had a strict “no cameras or movies” coverage for this expertise, so you may must depend on my phrases and somewhat video the corporate confirmed in regards to the tech behind it.

I entered the expertise with three different individuals after a fast run-down of the gear we would use: two of us bought shotguns, and two bought flashlights (sadly I used to be caught with a flashlight). Each have a bunch of small sensors connected to the entrance in order that they may work together with the setting we entered; the flashlight felt like an actual flashlight with some sensors on the tip, however the weapons have been crude tubes with a deal with and set off; the set off felt fairly good from my fast take a look at of it earlier than we bought began. There are additionally sensors on the barrel of the gun that detect a “pump” movement to reload it.

As soon as we have been outfitted, an actor taking part in a member of an unnamed militia briefed us on the mission: a few of our fellow mercenaries disappeared within the Seattle subways — maybe kidnapped by the WLF, maybe taken down by Contaminated. Our job was to seek out him… what might go unsuitable?

Our information directed me and the opposite flashlight-holder to begin lighting up the subway station — which was created by three large screens surrounding us. The partitions of the room have been made from LED panels, and the sensors on the flashlights interacted with them to trace my second. I wanted to be fairly near the screens for it to acknowledge my flashlight, however it was fairly cool to be lighting up a digital setting in actual time.

Then, after all, a clicker scream places the group on excessive alert — and on condition that it got here from a selected location all of us swing our flashlights in that course to establish the risk. Simply as within the sport, although, the disgusting contaminated creature shambled nearer to us, let loose one other scream and got here charging ahead, at which level the shotgunners blasted away with abandon. That noise introduced extra Contaminated charging into the house; I’d mild them up with the flashlight and my associate shot them down.

Issues calmed down, momentarily — then a large subway automobile began sliding out of its precarious place, which trigged one of many demo’s coolest results. The ground was rigged for haptic suggestions, and whereas we had felt it rumble at varied disturbances, this was by far the largest influence. The combo of the visuals, audio and haptics all made it really feel, nicely, immersive. I actually did not neglect I used to be in a demo, however it was cool nonetheless. Past the ground haptics, Sony says that there are even scents pumped into the room to additional the environment, however I wasn’t capable of detect something myself.

Then we bought the compulsory cameo from The Final of Us Half II co-protagonist Ellie and her companion Dina, as they scrambled away from Contaminated who begin chasing them down. One knocked Ellie down and began ripping at her throat till Dina caught up and pulled it off her, at which level they sprinted away. Sadly, the disturbance introduced a large swarm of monsters coming at us, which introduced on the large battle of the expertise. I began illuminating the hordes and my companion blasted them down, however then dozens began overwhelming the screens and the screams bought increasingly more intense till the whole lot reduce to black as our crew was overrun. That is that!

I am not judging the expertise too harshly, as a result of Sony was clear each in its press convention and earlier than we tried it that this can be a very early proof of idea. The principle factor that pulled me out of it was that the house we have been in is static — there is no solution to run away or transfer past the boundaries of what we have been offered with. After which, as I discussed, you wanted to be comparatively near the “partitions” for them to acknowledge the flashlight or gun, which meant that for those who backed up to soak up the scope of the house you gear may not work.

The opposite factor is that I feel the barrier to it being really scary or extra immersive is that I could not ignore the truth that the risk was on a display screen moderately than within the room with me. There isn’t any doubt that having full management in an setting like this is able to be a wild solution to play a sport like this, however it was all just a bit too on the rails and faraway from the house I used to be in.

I am attempting to trace down anybody from Sony who can inform me extra in regards to the genesis for this concept in addition to the place they see it going sooner or later. However Sony and Naughty Canine have already introduced The Final of Us to quite a lot of different media, and this seems like a extra high-tech imaginative and prescient of what Sony did along with Common Studios when it introduced the franchise to the Halloween Horror Nights that occurs on the theme parks. Whether or not this can be a one-off curiosity or one thing we see down the road in a extra full vogue, although, stays to be seen.