Here's How DIG VR On Steam & PlayStation VR2 Compares To Quest

With DIG VR launching on Steam and PlayStation VR2 soon, we’ve been given an early look at how it compares with the Quest version.

It’s been five months since we visited the Diglington on Quest, and we enjoyed the arcade-like light simulator back in November. Awarding it 3.5/5 stars, our DIG VR review believed it delivered an “enjoyable premise” with great humor with some drawbacks. Now, it’s found new land ready for excavation as Just Add Water and Wired Productions bring it to new platforms.

Going hands-on before next week’s launch, we’ve spent roughly an hour on both Steam and PlayStation VR2 to see how these ports hold up. For comparison purposes, you can find direct gameplay footage below and each video takes place in the first post-tutorial mission, Fishy Business on the Old Diglington Estate.

By Quest 3 standards, DIG VR visually still holds up well and our feelings remain unchanged from the original review. What’s here remains vibrant, colorful and polished on standalone VR hardware, and it’s not particularly different when using a Quest 2.

Next up is the PC VR release on Steam, which features four different visual presets, going from ‘Low’ to ‘Ultra’. As someone with a higher end PC VR setup, I found a welcome, albeit minor upgrade. You can tell it was initially designed for lower-spec hardware and the textures aren’t more detailed than on Quest, which is disappointing if you were hoping for a more sizable upgrade.

That said, there are other improvements with the increased render scale making textures and resolution look considerably sharper in the headset. Though I never had any framerate issues on Quest, it certainly feels smoother on PC VR by comparison. Your performance will naturally vary depending on your PC specs, but here’s how it runs on ‘Ultra’ settings.

The PlayStation VR2 version feels largely on par with the PC VR release, but there are some extras worth considering. Wired Productions confirmed DIG VR is running on Sony’s console at 90fps with eye-tracking support and controller haptic feedback.

Directly capturing footage through the PS5 when the Lo-Fi channel plays is blocked, forcing me to settle for other tunes. You can see that in action below.

I’m also pleased that task icon sizes have been decreased unless you directly look at them, reducing potential screen clutter. More VR games would benefit from less UI where possible; it’s challenging to feel immersed when all you can see is flatscreen-derivative HUD displays. DIG VR achieves this in a way that doesn’t feel detrimental to the actual gameplay.

Not much else has really changed since launch beyond December’s Winter Update, which added new customization content, new radio stations, and the pleasing addition of a time trial mode. It’s an entertaining light sim that feels incredibly silly in a good way, though it can still feel tedious in longer stints. That’s backed up with a strong British sense of humor.

For DIG VR, I prefer the wireless gameplay trade-off that Quest 3 provides, though the upgrades are just enough that I’d consider sticking with Steam via Virtual Desktop. Even then, the PlayStation VR2 version holds up well with its headset-specific enhancements and improved performance. Ultimately, there’s not that much in it and I wish they’d taken advantage of these higher-spec platforms more, so you aren’t missing out by choosing one platform over the other.

DIG VR is available on Quest now, and it’s coming to PlayStation VR2 and SteamVR on April 29.

DIG VR Review: This Humorous Light Sim Has Its Charms

DIG VR delivers an entertaining light sim with a great sense of humor, and it’s out this week on Quest. Our full review.

UploadVRHenry Stockdale