The end of a year is a good point to take a look back and see what worthy contenders have emerged from the world of virtual reality (VR) to impress the world, which is what VRFocus have been doing with its features on Best PlayStation VR titles as well as the Best Games you’ve Never Played series. With 2018 just begun, though, it’s time to look forward and see what exciting properties are due to appear.
The Oculus Rift was arguably the device that kicked off the entire modern era of VR, and as such has its own dedicated fans as well as some new owners who might have picked one up over the holidays. So here are some upcoming experiences that Oculus Rift users can look forward to.
Megaton Rainfall – Pentadimensional Games
Previously released on PlayStation VR, Megaton Rainfall lets the player take the role of a superhero trying to save the city from an alien invasion. As any comic reader knows, however, with great power comes great responsibility, and you need to ensure you don’t inadvertently destroy the city you are trying to save.
Megaton Rainfall is already on Steam, with Oculus Rift support expected to arrive sometime in 2018.
Brass Tactics – Hidden Path Entertainment
Using a range of inspiration including classic table-top wargames and the clockwork opening credits to Game of Thrones, Brass Tactics wears its love of the clockpunk and steampunk aesthetic on its sleeve as it allows players to control toy soldiers, multi-legged tanks and clockwork wasps in fast-paces RTS gameplay
Brass Tactics is due to launch as an Oculus Rift exclusive on February 28th, 2018.
ARK Park – Snail Games
ARK Park is a VR spin-off of the successful ARK: Survival Evolved. The title puts the player on a lost island full of dinosaurs. Players will need to create a home base, gather resources and learn how to tame the dinosaurs and co-operate with them in order to survive. The experience is designed to combine education about dinosaurs with the action-based gameplay.
ARK Park will be heading to Oculus Rift along with HTC Vive and Playstation VR in Spring 2018.
Stifled – Gattai Games
Stifled offers a truly unique gameplay experience. Trapped in the dark with dangerous creatures all around you, the only way to find your way is trough sound. Utilising a microphone, Stifled picks up the sounds you make and uses an ‘echolocation’ effect to show your surroundings – but beware, for enough sound can also draw the enemies towards you.
Stifled will be available on Oculus Rift sometime 2018.
Pixel Ripped 1989 – Pixel Ripped Inc.
This title has a troubled history, failing a Kickstarter back in 2015 before re-surfacing with a new publisher in ARVORE Immersive. 80’s nostalgia and its distinctive retro stylings make it compelling, as players are cast in the role of a vidoegame-obsessed girl who must try and complete a game on her handheld without getting caught.
A firm release date for Pixel Ripped 1989 has not been set, but it is expected sometime in 2018.
Beat Saber – Hyperbolic Magnestism
While there are a few rhythm-based titles in VR, there are few that really stand out. The developer behind Beat Saber is trying to change that, by offering a style of gameplay that has been described as ‘Fruit Ninja meets Guitar Hero‘. Users need to slash the music beats, represented by cubes, in time to the music, whilst simultaneously dodging obstacles.
Beat Saber is expected to launch on Oculus Rift in Q1 of 2018.
Transference – Ubisoft
Transference aims to explore the depths of the human experience in a dark psychological thriller that lets the player look into the minds of the members of a broken family. Players can wander around a dream-like representation of the family home to collect secrets, and see if it is possible to repair the damage that separates them.
Transference will be heading to Oculus Rift in Spring 2018.
Marvel Powers United VR – Sanzaru Games
The successful Marvel cinematic universe has meant a big boom in interest in superheroes, and Marvel are keen to take advantage of it by offering players the chance to step into the shoes of Marvel heroes like Rocket Racoon, Thor and The Hulk. Several characters from the Marvel comics stable heave been revealed, including lesser-known figures such as Black Bolt and Crystal, with more yet to come.
Czech indie game studio Hyperbolic Magnetism got to work on Beat Saber when they realised there was no great rhythm based game in virtual reality (VR). They started developing the game back in 2016 and showcased it at Unite Amsterdam, where it quickly drew an audience with attendees trying to beat each other’s high score. The game was shown on a HTC Vive and with the help of a green screen and tv screen, friends were able to see players slash at various cubes with light sabers in-game.
Vladimír Hrinčár tells VRFocus that Beat Saber has three songs available to play right now and upon release, it would have five. They hope to add more, but looking to add a level editor, to allow creative people to edit and make their own songs and levels. Beat Saber will be available for the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift and perhaps on PlayStation VR in the near future.
Made by Hyperbolic Magnetism, an indie game studio based in the Czech Republic. Beat Saber was showcased at Unite Europe in Amsterdam. It’s a combination of Guitar Hero and Fruit Ninja in virtual reality (VR) videogame with light sabers. There are several VR videogames that already exist that touch on the realm of Star Wars. FromStar Wars: Trials on Tatooine where you have to repair the iconic Millennium Falcon and defend R2-D2 from storm troopers with a light saber to the fan made mod of VR game Robo Recall. However, this is one that’s based on your talent in music and rhythm.
There were several VR videogames that were showcased at Unite, but thanks to Hyperbolic Magnetism’s mixed reality set up (and perhaps standing at the entrance of one of the domes) there was a huge crowd people trying to beat one another to get the high score. Always a good sign for potential VR games that would do well at arcades, parties or something to play socially with friends. The game is in alpha stage and will be available for early access in September for the HTC Vive, Oculus and perhaps the PlayStation VR. In the future, they’re looking to find a way to add an editor so players can be jedi dancers to their own songs.
Now that the HTC Vive has been out for a while, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of content flow onto Valve’s flagship VR headset. Hundreds of games live on Steam with HTC Vive support, although it’s worth clarifying that the majority of them offer very little in the way of engaging content beyond a simple gameplay mechanic that’s fun for 30 minutes.
As a result, we feel the need to provide a definitive source with an up-to-date list regarding the very best Vive games that you can play right now. We’ll keep an eye on the VR gaming landscape and update this list over time, as appropriate, to better represent what’s available.
Obviously, it goes without saying that the first three Vive games you should play are the original three that came bundled with the Vive’s very first preorders: Tilt Brush, Job Simulator, and Fantastic Contraption. While these titles may not be bundled any longer, they’re still awesome demonstrations of what VR can accomplish by focusing on very specific concepts. Additionally, The Gallery: Episode 1 – Call of the Starseed, and Zombie Training Simulator were included with Vive bundles for a long time and also deserve recognition as being excellent games in their own right. Plus Google Earth VR, The Lab, and Rec Room are three of the best apps period, but since they’re totally free we opted to leave them off this list for now.
But this list is focused on games you don’t have access to out of the box. If you just got a Vive or are cruising for something to play, you already tried the bundle games. You want something more. And that’s where this list comes in.
None of these games come bundled with the device, prices will likely change depending on which week or month you’re reading this list, and chances are they’ll all receive updates and patches making them even better than they are today. But the fact remains that at the time of writing, these are the 9 must-play Vive games available right now, in no particular order.
What else can be said about this game that hasn’t been said already? It’s amazing. If you for some reason don’t know about this game, it goes like this: you’ve got a red and blue lightsaber, one i neach hand, and you’re tasked with slicing blocks that come cascading towards you to the rhythm of the music. It’s like DDR with lightsabers, basically.
Beat Saber is easily one of the most addictive VR games to date and it’s dead simple to pick up and play by anyone regardless of VR experience. And in the PC VR version you can download amazing custom songs!
As the winner of our 2017 Vive Game of the Year Award, it was only appropriate that we commemorate the occasion by adding the title to our Best Vive Games list as well!
In LA Noire VR you take on the role of Cole Phelps as you explore 1940s-era Los Angeles solving crimes, inspecting crime scenes, and interrogating people. The massive, sprawling city is one of the largest sandboxes in VR to date and it sports some of the best, most immersive visuals we’ve seen.
It’s not a perfect game, but it’s a strong indicator of the direction VR is headed if AAA game studios like Rockstar are getting involved with adapting their IPs to the VR format.
For a game that wasn’t originally designed for VR at all, Skyrim VR is nothing short of impressive. This really is the Skyrim that you know and love, but now you can enjoy it like never before with the immersive presence of a VR headset. With a large variety of control schemes to choose from and hundreds of hours of content, this is a game that all RPG fans should play as long as you can look past the wonky controls, downgraded visuals, and frustrating UI. Not to mention all of the mods for the PC version!
There is just something special about the sensation of walking down the dirt road to Riverwood in VR for the first time, or staring down the throat of a fire-breathing dragon, or even gazing out upon Tamriel from the top of the Throat of the World. Whether you’re a Skyrim-veteran or one of the lucky few that get to see this world for the first time, Skyrim VR is enrapturing.
The Exorcist: Legion VR is without a doubt one of the best VR horror experiences available. The slow-building tension is expertly paced, each and every scare feels visceral and dangerous, and the sheer sense of terror you feel while methodically exploring the richly detailed environments is staggering. It honestly felt like I could hear the voices inside my own head and I could feel the heat from my crucifix as I stared down the faces of demon and eradicated the evil within.
The Exorcist: Legion VR will turn even the most hardened horror fans into whimpering piles of fear.
This is the hardcore VR shooter for hardcore VR gamers. If you grew up playing games like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, SOCOM, and other similar tactical military shooters, then you’ll feel right at home in Onward. It has much more in common with the grueling teamwork of those games than the run-and-gun hip firing found in modern shooters like Call of Duty, and it was all created by one guy.
From holding your rifle with both hands and using your walkie talkie on your shoulder, to pulling out your knife to sneak up on an opponent, Onward is the visceral, realistic VR game many people have been waiting for. It uses full roomscale tracking with motion controllers and artificial locomotion attached to the trackpad — no teleporting here. The community is healthy and fun, making this one of the clear standout titles for the HTC Vive so far.
SUPERHOT VR is a pure, distilled, injection of unadulterated adrenaline that will get your blood pumping just as quickly as time stops in the game itself. With every movement you make, time creeps forward ever so slightly, and everything from the level design to the way it feels to dodge a series of bullets in slow-motion is orchestrated to reinforce the core ideals of the experience. From start to finish it plays out like a fantasy ripped from the screen of every action movie; an indulgent cacophony of visual and gameplay excitement.
This is easily one of the best titles available for Rift with Touch and the recent Forever update makes it even better with expanded game modes, more challenges, and an improved sense of replayability.
This is a VR game that really came out of nowhere and surprised us this year. Ninja Theory went from being hush-hush about projects to announcing and releasing Hellblade in VR within a manner of just a couple of weeks. And oh boy are we glad that they did!
Hellblade may not have been made originally for VR, but it adapts so perfectly. The game tells the story of Senua on her journey to save the soul of a loved on as she slowly descends deeper and deeper into both the bowels of celtic hell and the depths of her own mind. Voices constantly talk to you and pull you in various directions and it all sounds incredible with the 3D spatial audio that VR affords.
Undoubtedly Hellblade VR is an experience like no other.
You may have heard of most other games on this list at some point, but I’d be willing to bet you’re not familiar with Transpose at all. Allow me to introduce you to one of the most mind-bendingly cool puzzles games you’ll see this side of Portal. In Transpose you create “echos” of yourself and your past actions to solve a variety of puzzles.
An excerpt from our review:
“Transpose is a stunning VR puzzle game that elevates the genre and delivers an out-of-body-like experience about manipulating gravity and bending time. There isn’t much of a story to follow and not all of the puzzles are as satisfying as the rest, but fans of the genre would be doing themselves a disservice to not play this excellent adventure from Secret Location.”
These two go hand in hand and should be experienced in sequential order. The Gallery is building towards becoming one of the best, most intimate narratives experienced in VR thus far and does an excellent job of showing how the “adventure” genre has evolved over the years to allow for something beautiful and emotional.
You can get through each episode in just a handful of hours but you’ll be left with your jaw on the floor after it’s all over. We can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
11/22/18 Update: This is a big, long overdue update. We’ve removed Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Arizona Sunshine, Island 359, Project Cars 2, and Raw Data from this list to make room for Skyrim VR, Beat Saber, Hellblade VR, The Exorcist: Legion VR, and In Death.
12/27/17 Update: Vanishing Realms has been removed from this list and replaced with LA Noire VR.
11/23/17 Update: Redout, AirMech, The Brookhaven Experiment, and Chair in a Room: Greenwater have been retired from this list and replaced with SuperhotVR, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, The Gallery Episodes 1 & 2, and Project Cars 2.
4/5/2017 Update: The Lab and Rec Room have been retired from the formal list and added to the intro section of free titles. They were replaced by Arizona Sunshine and AirMech Command.
8/30/16 Update:The Gallery was moved into the ‘bundle’ paragraph at the start of the article, while Unseen Diplomacy, Space Pirate Trainer, and #SelfieTennis have been retired. The list has also been expanded from 7 games to 9, opening up 2 new spots. In the 5 total vacant slots, we’ve added Raw Data, A Chair in a Room: Greenwater, Island: 359, Battle Dome, and Rec Room.
This article was originally published on 4/13/16.
Editor’s Note: Another version of this list, specifically focused on multiplayer games, has been retired and will no longer be updated. This list is our definitive collection of the overall best Vive games we’ve identified as of the last time the list was updated.
