VR games are all about letting the gamers know that the money they invested in that headset is worth it. So worth it that they could get motion sickness. That’s how real the world should feel like in the games that they play.
The games have to have a balance between linear gameplay and letting the player do what they want to do. That’s what a true open-world game should be like. It should make the player feel like the world around them is alive. They could do anything in the game. They should feel liberated in some way.
Now, whether that game manages to achieve this by letting the player fly around the map in an Iron Man suit and destroy an alien army, or if it requires you to understand the meaning of true steal while playing Half-Life: Alyx.
It should give you an experience that is different than what flatscreen games have been offering for decades. In this list, you’ll find the best games that will give you that new experience you are looking for. But before you dive into it, there are some things you need to know about how this list is divided.
I’ve split the list into different genres. Some games on this list already exist as a flatscreen version but they are translated into a VR game. Games like Doom VFR, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, etc. are those games. If you are someone who has never played a VR game before, these repurposed titles should be a good start for you.
Then there are games that are specifically built for VR. I’m talking about games like Beat Saber, Iron Man VR, etc. These are perfect games if you have been playing VR games for a while and you know your way around the block. Then there’s the section that has a combination of both. That’s where games like Half-Life: Alyx fall under.
Now that you know how I’ve split this article, let’s jump into it.
Best VR Games You Should Immerse Yourself Into
- OrbusVR
OrbusVR is a popular multiplayer online role-playing game. It falls under the MMORPG genre which means there are very few NPCs or bots. Most of the players that you are playing with are real players that are online at the same time as you.
These types of games have existed all the time for flatscreen but this is one of the most popular VR MMORPG games available right now.
The main reason why there aren’t many VR games like this is that it costs too much to develop VR games in the first place. And then there is a high server cost to host all these gaming sessions simultaneously while making sure that every player gets a decent ping to avoid lags and glitches.
In this game, your purpose is to level up your character by completing missions, tasks, and solving puzzles. You can interact with other players and coordinate with them to go on quests, battles, raids, etc.
The game has over 100 hours of gameplay which is mind-blowing.
So, if you are someone who wants to know all the tips and tricks before you even start playing this game, check out this article from ARVRTips.com. They have an in-depth guide on the best way to get started with it. Not just that, the article also has some great tips about how you can level up your character quickly without wasting too much time on actions that don’t yield good results.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC)
No one was surprised by this.
If you’re a sucker for beautiful views from the sky, realistic airplane mechanics, etc. this is the game for you. Add VR into the mix, and it feels like a dream come true.
Not only that, during the lockdown, when nobody can fly anywhere, this is the game that would give them a sense of freedom to go to places they always wanted to and get a real world view of how that place looks like.
You get a first-person view throughout your journey.
Here’s the best part – you can customize how much of your plane’s controls are automatic and how much is manually controlled. If you are like me who likes to sit back, relax, and take in the view, then you’ll try to automate as many controls as possible.
You just want to enjoy the view of different countries.
But if you want to feel like an actual pilot, making sure that everything works perfectly and also making sure that there is enough fuel in the aircraft to reach your destination (I ran out of fuel at one point lol), then you should try to make as many controls manual as possible. Tinker to your heart’s content and see how far you can go.
- Iron Man VR (PSVR)
We all are fans of Tony Stark. And we all love him 3000.
This is probably the best way to feel like you are in that Iron Man suit. Put on your headset and controllers because you are going to save the world.
You get the familiar HUD as you saw in the movies which makes it doubly fun. You’ll be going through obstacles, throwing punches and firing energy blasts at your enemies, and taking them down.
You get to feel like an Avenger and there is no better feeling than that.
And when you are done fighting, you can come back to the base and customize your suit to your needs. This shows the other side of Tony Stark that wasn’t captured in the movies.
If you thought that’s it, you are wrong. There’s a storyline too.
It is a single-player campaign in which you are playing as Tony Stark against Ghost who is a hacker super-villain. Other characters from the Avengers team turn up too to give you an immersive experience of the MCU in general.
- Half-Life: Alyx
You knew this was coming.
You pick things up after 13 years of silence in the world of Half-Life. The world you live in right now is barely recognizable. You are Alyx Vance and you’ll be fighting your way through City 17. This is before the unlucky physicist arrives.
This is the best expression of what kind of experience you can have with VR. Sure, it took Valve so long to release this installment of the game that fans almost gave up on it. Most of them started thinking that they will never see another installment.
But the way this game turned out to be, you can forgive Valve for taking their time with it.
In City 17, you are solving puzzles, engaging in shootouts with Combine soldiers and other alien enemies. You have to use your VR control to solve all these problems.
