In a first for VR games, Highwire Games's upcoming PlayStation VR adventure Golem will alternate back and forth between VR gameplay and traditional TV-based gameplay.

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“We knew that people’s tolerance for VR was something that they had to develop over time and that the first time someone was in VR that you had to get them out of it fairly quickly," explained Golem lead designer and longtime Halo designer Jaime Griesemer. "[We'd have to get people out in] even a minute or two in some cases, and then stop and assess how they’re doing. It’s kind of like strength training."Highwire Games's solution is to have "enforced breaks" – sections of gameplay that take place out of the PSVR helmet and back on a regular TV. “The idea with this hybrid system is, anytime you’re doing anything in the UI or in the non-exploration or combat parts of the game, you’re doing it on a 2D screen," said Griesemer. “We wanted to come up with a way you could keep playing Golem but at the same time get out of the headset," adding that they worry that “if you spend too much time in VR, you can lose track of yourself and your surroundings."“Let’s say you’re playing Diablo," Griesemer cited as an example. "Anytime you’re in the dungeon [you'd be in] in VR. But anytime you go back to town [you'd be in] 2D. That’s sort of the pattern we’re going for.” He added that “we had several concepts, all of which had that hybrid cycle."Griesemer emphasized that the meat of the game is in PlayStation VR: "We’re trying to do the things that fit in VR in VR and the things that fit on a 2D screen on a 2D screen," he said, and made reference to the fact that Golem is a full-length traditionally structured game when he added that "most [VR] games don’t last long enough to need something like this."Griesemer co-founded Highwire Games about two years ago with fellow Bungie alum Marty O'Donnell and Airtight Games co-founder Jared Noftle. O'Donnell will be our guest on IGN Unfiltered later this month, and he is also Kickstarting a "musical prequel album" for Golem. We're diving deep into it all month long as part of IGN First.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan , catch him on Podcast Unlocked , and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.