Ultrawings Review – Rift/Vive/PSVR

How did I never hear about this game?!   Ultrawings is hands down one of the best VR games of 2017 and it totally flew under my radar for six months until it got ported to the PSVR. Words can hardly describe my love and enjoyment of this game. I lost 4+ hours of my life in my first marathon session on the PSVR before eye-fatigue and a bit of queasiness set in.   I suspected the PC version would run a bit smoother and look a bit sharper and it does, so here is my flight report on all versions of the game.

Both the Vive and the Rift offer up a quality flight-sim experience that perfectly balances arcade and simulation with a seemingly endless array of challenges that will keep you playing for countless hours. I found the Oculus with the Touch controllers delivered the most immersive and comfortable experience; at least from a control standpoint where you can either using your hand to actually grip a virtual stick to fly your aircraft, or just use the analog sticks on the Touch. Gripping the virtual stick offers up a more realistic experience within the game at the expense of the strain and soreness of having your hand extended for long periods of time holding onto nothing.   There is also an option for a gamepad on PC and DualShock 4 on PSVR, but this offers the least impressive experience; especially in later levels when you are trying to take photos and shoot balloons. Vive controllers and the PS Move wands offer the same virtual hands as the Touch but the triggers become painful to squeeze for long periods of play and the orientation in which you hold them don’t feel natural. Additionally, the rudder controls on both PSVR and Vive are overly sensitive due to apparent lack of true analog input.

Ultrawings eases you into the experience with friendly and educational licensing tests for each new plane you acquire. At first, I was impressed with the level of realism, having you turn on fuel and flip the magneto switch, push the starter button, and push the throttle lever just to get moving down the runway. I’ll admit it does get a bit old and repetitive a few hours in, and I can make those flip and push motions in my sleep now.

Once in the air there is so much to experience and accomplish based on the job you’ve selected from the computer terminal in airport offices located on several lush tropical islands. As you complete jobs, you’ll earn money to purchase new aircraft and buy new airports on other islands, all of which keeps adding to the job listings and your piggy bank. Jobs come in several categories. There are the typical target ring courses that reward you for speed and accuracy, as well as a fun photo mode where you have to find specific landmarks and take a photo with your tablet device. There is a balloon pop mode where you fly with one hand and aim a pistol with the other to shoot colorful balloons scattered around the islands within a time limit, and perhaps the most challenging mode; precision landing where you have to stall and land your plane with almost zero airspeed to drop onto a ringed target. Or you can just lose yourself in countless hours of exploration and free flight…at least until you run out of fuel.

Ultrawings is totally immersive right down to the menus in the game that have you make key option choices by moving a sticky note around the office bulletin board. If you want to switch offices or islands you’re going to have to get into a plane and fly there. New jobs are waiting at each new airstrip and with every new plane you purchase. Jobs are graded bronze, silver, and gold, giving you that quest for perfection to keep you playing, and perfection is required for gold and maximum cash earnings.

Perhaps the best thing about Ultrawings is the comfort level; especially on the PC version, which I played for six hours straight with no issues other than a sweaty forehead. You can kick back in a recliner and play this game forever. The framerate is fluid, and the draw distance is impressive with only some minor pixel stair-stepping on distant lines.   The PSVR version runs at a slightly lower resolution and framerate but is still great quality and shouldn’t prove uncomfortable unless you play for more than 3-4 hours in a single session. Both versions of the game offer variable comfort settings via various levels of obstructing your view to the sides and rear of the plane, like blinders on a horse. By not rendering those sections, the game can improve the performance of what you see looking forward. This is more beneficial on the PSVR than the PC.

The draw distance is surprisingly the same between the PSVR and PC, and there are nice touches of environmental detail such as other aircraft, boats, and even some cars. The N64-esque landscape itself is intentionally simple, which keeps the game both charming and fun as well as maximizing the framerate on both PC and PSVR. The most complex model in the game is your plane and its functional instrument panel. One of the more impressive details on the PC were these flocks of birds that would swarm around the various island bluffs in realistic patterns, but the most impressive detail on the PC for me was the real-time shadows of the plane’s wing and canopy frame that would slowly drift across my cockpit and controls as my course changed in relation to the sun. I could even lean forward and see smudges and scratches on the Plexiglas panels of my cockpit.

I loved the ability to pick up the tablet from its mount and move it around to snap photos, or even take stationary overhead photos from my jet-powered glider like a spy plane. The jet glider was an awesome plane and hitting that red booster button created a virtual sensation that instinctively made me lean back in my chair. The game doesn’t teach you much about using the flaps, and these are crucial to some of the spot-landing missions.

Ultrawings is an amazing VR flight game that will delight the entire family. They even have these charming crash visuals of you either floating through stars or underwater bubbles depending on how you crash, followed by an obituary on your office computer when you restart. Motion sickness is of limited concern unless you play for extended hours, which is easy to do because of the progressive and addictive challenges that continually fuel your desire to keep playing and see what’s next.   I would have enjoyed more islands and planes or maybe even a hang glider mode that uses thermal updrafts around those island spires and bluffs, but that is only because I love this game so much.  For $25, you get plenty of gameplay and entertainment value.

I don’t like to combine two reviews into one, let alone three, but Ultrawings is vastly diverse between all three VR systems I played it on to the point of having three unique scores. To sum it up, Oculus Rift is a near-perfect experience in presentation, controls, and gameplay as long as you are using the Touch. The Vive is a close second with only the awkward motion control wands creating some painful issues during extended play. The PSVR comes in third with similar control issues as well as limited performance and quality issues, even on my PS4 Pro. Admittedly, I did go for unrestricted canopy view, which did impact my performance, but if PSVR gamers never see this game on PC they would never know what they are missing.   No matter which VR system you own, Ultrawings is a must-play game that totally delivers the thrill and sensation of flight in a way only VR can do.

  • Oculus Rift w/ Touch: 5/5
  • HTC Vive: 4.5/5
  • PlayStation VR: 4/5

Screenshot Gallery




Author: Mark Smith
I've been an avid gamer since I stumbled upon ZORK running in my local Radio Shack in 1980. Ten years later I was working for Sierra Online. Since then I've owned nearly every game system and most of the games to go with them. Not sure if 40+ years of gaming qualifies me to write reviews, but I do it anyway.

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