“Blood Ties” ‘screenshots’ (you don’t see Lara like that) courtesy of Square Enix
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You play "Blood Ties" on a conventional screen using standard first person controls, but for VR there's a so-called Comfort Mode, which is the only one I'm allowed to use. It employs the same teleportation-for-movement system seen in many other first-person VR titles, like The Assembly, Arkham VR and Wilson's Heart for example, and you turn 90 degrees using the shoulder buttons. It's an easy mechanic in theory, but in practice the aiming of Lara's "ghost" – the position where you want to stand next – can be fiddly as furniture gets in the way. I'm told that free movement around the Manor, in VR, is a little much for most. But when I get the chance to play this again, that's how I'm going to do it, for that full Gone Home (in a creepy, old, broken-down English mansion) vibe.And if I throw up, well, that'll be some excitement at least. "Blood Ties" is a cool extra for super-fans wanting to rummage around in Lara's past, but for most it'll be only the briefest distraction from what remains, a year on, a terrific main game, right up there with Uncharted 4 for its genre. If you're a strictly Sony-only kind of player, I can't recommend Rise enough when it finally transfers to PS4 in October. I'm not totally sure it needed all these extra bells and whistles, though, as competently put together as they are.Rise of the Tomb Raider is released for PlayStation 4 on October the 11th, and is out now for Xbox One and PC.@MikeDiverRead more articles on gaming on VICE here, follow VICE Gaming on Twitter at @VICEGaming, and give us a like on Facebook, if you like. Thanks.New, on Motherboard: A Chat with Douglas Rushkoff