Golem (video game)

Golem (video game)
Information
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Developer	Highwire Games
Publisher	Highwire Games, Perp Games (physical editions)
Platform	PlayStation VR
Device	PlayStation VR
Operating System	PlayStation 4
Type	Game
Genre	Action, Adventure
Input Device	PlayStation Move, DualShock 4, PlayStation Navigation Controller
Play Area	Seated
Release Date	November 15, 2019
Price	US$39.99
App Store	PlayStation Store

See also: PSVR Games

Golem is a virtual reality action-adventure game developed by Highwire Games, an independent studio whose team included former Bungie developers Jaime Griesemer and Marty O'Donnell, and released exclusively for PlayStation VR on 15 November 2019. The player controls Twine, a child confined to bed after an accident, who creates and controls large stone golems, sees through their eyes and sends them to explore an abandoned city. The game is played mainly with a single PlayStation Move controller, and its default "Incline" movement scheme moves the golem when the player leans.

Highwire announced Golem at PlayStation Experience in December 2015, before the PlayStation VR headset launched. The game was set for March 2018, was delayed indefinitely a week before launch, and did not ship until November 2019. The music is by O'Donnell, known for the Halo and Destiny soundtracks. Reviewers praised its visuals, music and one-on-one melee combat; several, including UploadVR, PlayStation LifeStyle and GamingTrend, criticized its movement and turning, its comfort, or unreliable Move tracking. The game has a Metascore of 59 ("mixed or average") on Metacritic and a Top Critic Average of 59 on OpenCritic.

Reviewed 13 October 2026. Developer, team, publishers, announcement, 2017 to 2019 release dates and delays, launch price, controls and comfort options, patch 1.02, musical prequel album, Metacritic and OpenCritic scores and all named review scores and quotes, checked against each cited source. About review dates.

Gameplay

The player does not play as a golem but as a person who can control golems, seeing through their eyes and directing their movements. In the game's official description, Twine is an adventurous child seriously injured in an accident who, unable to leave bed during recovery, discovers the ability to create and control stone creatures called golems. The golems explore an abandoned city, collecting treasure and artifacts and uncovering the city's connection to Twine's family. The voice of Twine's late mother, heard in audio-log style recordings, teaches the player how to play and fills in her own backstory.

The playable avatars range in scale; Road to VR described them as running "from dolls to giants". A Highwire spokesperson said the game is "closest to [something like] Dark Souls in terms of structure", with one large interconnected environment rather than open terrain. According to Griesemer, the player builds a golem from weapons and artifacts, and these are lost if the golem is destroyed or abandoned. The game has no difficulty setting. UploadVR's reviewer noted that the city has no map.

Combat

Combat is one-on-one melee against other golems, with feinting, blocking and counter-attacks. The player holds the weapon with a single Move controller. Griesemer wrote that the combat "starts at a manageable speed" and that enemies become harder later in the game. In a 2016 preview, UploadVR described sword battles in which the player had to block, position the blade and attack when an opponent tired.

Movement and comfort

Golem's default locomotion scheme, which Highwire calls Incline Controls, moves the golem when the player leans slightly, "as if you were about to take a step and start walking". Griesemer wrote that the system is very sensitive and is meant to be played seated. For players who experience discomfort, a Comfort Mode, selectable at the start of the game (or option by option in the Options menu), adds instant quick turns, a stationary scene in peripheral vision and slower movement. Direct movement with the left analog stick of the DualShock 4 is always on and available as well. Destructoid described the default scheme as leaning the head while holding the Move controller's trigger, and wrote that the alternative DualShock 4 control scheme "isn't ideal". In 2016 Highwire told UploadVR that the Incline approach "helps a lot" with simulator sickness.

Development

Highwire Games described Golem as its first game as an independent studio. Road to VR described the developer as an indie studio founded by Bungie veterans, and reported that the team wanted to avoid the kind of crunch it had experienced while making Halo 2. Development began in 2015. Griesemer was Highwire's creative director, and O'Donnell, who composed the music for the Halo and Destiny series, wrote the score.

Level streaming was a technical challenge. In 2018 a Highwire spokesperson told Road to VR that the game's single large environment made seamless loading difficult, and Road to VR noted that VR's performance requirements made this harder. Griesemer later wrote that "Streaming is difficult in VR and the technical investment was daunting", and that the work allowed the city to be explored without loading interruptions.

Musical prequel

Before the game was finished, O'Donnell released a 12-track album, Echoes of the First Dreamer: The Musical Prequel to Golem. It came out digitally in late July 2017, with the CD on 28 July 2017 and a vinyl edition later. Buyers of the game's physical Special Edition received a copy of the album.

Release

Highwire Games announced Golem as a PlayStation VR exclusive at PlayStation Experience 2015 in December 2015. At PlayStation Experience 2017 in December 2017 the studio gave the game a release date of 13 March 2018. After a short delay, Highwire announced in early March 2018, about a week before launch, that the game was delayed indefinitely. The studio said that "There's no single reason for the delay" and that it wanted to "release a polished VR experience that we are proud of". UploadVR reported that the studio's post cited unfinished tuning and optimization and a wish to avoid another crunch period. In December 2018, Highwire said the game would not come out in 2018, and stated that it was "not going to talk release timing until we are absolutely sure about it this time".

In March 2019 Sony announced that Golem would be one of seven PlayStation VR games it was bringing to PAX East in Boston. In August 2019 Highwire announced a fall 2019 launch. On 3 October 2019 the studio and publisher Perp Games announced a digital release for 12 November and European physical editions from 8 November. On 1 November 2019 Highwire moved the launch to 15 November, with the digital release on 19 November, and on 14 November it brought the digital release forward again. In the final schedule, the digital version launched worldwide on the PlayStation Store and the physical version launched in Europe on 15 November 2019, followed by the North American physical release on 22 November 2019. Perp Games published the physical edition in both regions.

Platform	Format and region	Release date	Notes
PlayStation VR	Digital, worldwide (PlayStation Store)	15 November 2019
PlayStation VR	Physical, Europe	15 November 2019	Published by Perp Games
PlayStation VR	Physical, North America	22 November 2019	Published by Perp Games

Destructoid listed the launch price (MSRP) as US$39.99.

Patch 1.02

Shortly after launch, Highwire released version 1.02 in response to player feedback. It let players turn off adaptive turning (turning by slight twists of the head, which made some players feel sick), added more quick-turn angles, removed the slowdown applied when the player looked at the golem's feet, added support for the PlayStation Navigation Controller as an alternative to the DualShock 4 for stick-based movement, and added a left-handed mode. UploadVR reported that Highwire was also considering smooth turning and a Hard Mode for later updates.

Reception

The PlayStation 4 version has a Metascore of 59, "mixed or average", on Metacritic. On OpenCritic it has a Top Critic Average of 59, with 21% of critics recommending it.

Publication	Score
Metacritic (aggregate)	59/100
OpenCritic (Top Critic Average)	59
PlayStation Universe	8/10
Destructoid	7.5/10
COGconnected	73/100
PlayStation LifeStyle	6/10
GamingTrend	60/100
UploadVR	3/5 ("Just Okay")
Push Square	4/10
Metro GameCentral	4/10
Twinfinite	1.5/5

Jordan Devore of Destructoid called the combat "thrilling" and described the game as having "some of the best PlayStation VR combat I've played", while noting that the Move hand tracking worked well "at least most of the time" and that players would need to tolerate backtracking. He put the length of the campaign at six to seven hours. Jamie Feltham of UploadVR called the game "absolutely gorgeous" and wrote that "When it works, Golem's combat can be some of the most rewarding VR", but found the turns made by twisting the head "very uncomfortable" and travel across the map "a chore". He also reported blocks and attacks that sometimes went unregistered and enemy spears thrown through walls.

Blake Grundman of PlayStation LifeStyle praised the visuals, framerate and soundtrack, but wrote that frequent Move tracking failures turned combat into "a jittery, stuttering mess of weapon glitching", and that traversal could cause neck pain. Ron Burke of GamingTrend wrote that neither of the two people testing the game could play "for more than 30 minutes at a time" before feeling queasy. Lou Sytsma of COGconnected found the default lean-based movement "an odd choice and not a comfortable one" and reported that the control options added by the patch did not work as well, but concluded that the slow, atmospheric game was worth learning. He also praised O'Donnell's score and the game's 3D positional audio.

See also

• PSVR Games
• PlayStation VR
• PlayStation Move