Let’s be honest, life’s a little weird right now in the first half of 2020. Currently most of the world is staying indoors amid the Coronavirus pandemic. That being said, if you’re stuck at home and you probably are, might as well make the best of it?
If you’re anxious, worried, stressed…Some of these VR titles below can help you chill, smile and be entertained, while hopefully helping to relieve some tension, anger, sadness, and time amidst the current world climate.
1. Half-Life: Alyx is a glimpse into the future of Virtual Reality. Valve raised the bar with the original Half-Life back in the day, blowing away the player with an epic story, engrossing FPS gameplay and scary alien creatures. Half-Life also paved the way for mods like Counter-Strike and Team Fortress Classic to name a few.
Prediction…Half-Life: Alyx will pave the way for a new standard in VR titles based on this game alone. This is one of the best VR games to date and worth playing over any other VR title for the sheer detail, physics and story alone.
Overall story is between 15-20 hours, but the nerds out there looking for those 100% achievements can spend 25 hours + if not more.
Half-Life: Alyx 15-20 hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s. [Play Area: Sitting, Standing, Room-Scale] (Retail $59.99) (Steam Exclusive)
2. SUPERHOT VR is one of those gems that only comes around a decade or so, a game on the surface that looks incredibly simple, graphics basic, yet it’s one of the most unique VR gaming experiences we’ve personally had. A masterpiece and a must have for any VR collection. The use of bullet-time and progression can get very creative as each level gets increasingly more difficult. Make sure you have enough space to punch and shoot for dear life.
Overall gameplay is between 5-10 hours, but the replay-ability of this game is very high. Yes, you will sweat, and potentially punch a light or a wall at some point, was it worth it…yes.
SUPERHOT: 5-10 Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Standing] (Retail $24.99) (Steam/Oculus/PS4)
3. Beat Saber, one of the most successful VR titles to come out in the space is something to put on most everyone’s list for a fun and musical orientated VR experience. In each hand/controller you have a light saber and must chop blocks when going to the beat of specific songs, with more detailed swipes going from left to right or up, down and the works. The leader-boards in this game are insane, we suggest starting in easy mode and godspeed if you even attempt any harder. Without a doubt one of the best ways to get a good exercise in Virtual Reality and enjoy it!
Beat Saber: Open-ended Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Seated, Standing, Room-Scale] (Retail $29.99) (Steam/Oculus/PS4)
4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is quite literally one of the best RPG’s made in the last decade (personal opinion of course) and in 2018 they ported the game with many wonderful tweaks to VR. To say the least, it’s a top tier VR experience and one that will give you 100’s of hours of gameplay depending on how you play. Exploring environments from the open mountains, towns, to underground caves and other secret areas breaths new life into the game for VR, not to mention swinging your controller as a Sword/Axe or using your controllers as a long bow while pulling back the arrow gives a vibration before shooting…The little details in Skyrim VR make it an exceptional experience and the port to VR is highly worth playing even if you played Skyrim previously. Worth every penny.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR: 100-200+ Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Seated, Standing / Room Scale] (Retail $59.99) (Steam/Oculus/PS4)
5. Moss brings a beautiful world, story and epic soundtrack to life from the eyes of a mouse in this third person, top down puzzle adventure fantasy game. A breath of fresh air from scary zombies, Moss is on a Zen scale of 9/10, ie. It will chill you out and make you smile. Gameplay is around 2-4 hours, not as long as the others but worth every minute. Replay-ability is medium to high.
Moss: 2-4 Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Seated, Standing] (Retail $29.99) (Steam/Oculus/PS4)
6. Boneworks Is an experimental Physics VR Shooter / Adventure. Players will be able to use found physics weapons, tools, and objects to fight across dangerous playscapes and mysterious architecture. This is an exceptional use of physics in VR and has shown that future games will need to adopt what Boneworks has brought to the table to be competitive moving forward. Similar to Half-Life: Alyx
Boneworks: 10-15 Hours of Gamelpay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Seated, Standing, Room-Scale] (Retail $29.99) (Steam/Oculus)
7. Asgard’s Wrath is an Oculus/Rift Exclusive, an action/adventure RPG based on Norse mythology. The bar has also been raised here, play as a god or go into mortal bodies, a bloody, beautiful RPG with a long enough story to play through for a while. There’s 6 total Saga’s to play in Asgard’s Wrath which gives the player a ton of content not to mention side content to explore. There’s a detailed combat system as well as puzzle system, definitely a game where players can sink a good amount of time into.
Asgard’s Wrath: 20-30 Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Rift, Rift S [Play Area: Sitting, Standing, Room-Scale] (Retail $39.99) (Oculus Exclusive)
8. Stormland is an Oculus Exclusive Openworld Shooter / Adventure RPG with the ability to upgrade weapons, harvest plants, discover blueprints and items in the world. Stormland allows you to climb, glide and really move around the gameworld, a jungle-gym of sorts. Co-Op is also available so you can play with a friend, which makes it very appealing. The game overall is really fun but longterm replay-ability is low to medium once you’ve finished the main storyline.
StormLand: 5-10 Hours of Gameplay Compatible with Rift, Rift S [Play Area: Seated, Standing] (Retail $39.99) (Oculus Exclusive)
9. Blade and Sorcery is a violently fun medieval sword and combat game featuring superb physics and brutal/bloody combat. If you get shot with an arrow, it sticks inside you and you’ll have to physically pull that arrow out, and either throw it on the ground or use it against your enemy. This game was made by 1 dev so very impressive to say the least.
A fun physics and combat experience, similar to Gorn but more realistic overall. Remember to have enough play space around you so you don’t punch a wall or desktop monitor.
Blade & Sorcery: 5-10 Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Standing, Room-Scale] (Retail: $19.99) (Steam/Oculus/Viveport)
10. GORN is a brutal, bloody and fun VR gladiator arena experience, where you fight, fight, and fight more. It’s more a physics engine then a full fledged game, less story, more bloody fighting with a variety of weapons. A great use of exercise for your arms and overall a fun experience granted it’s not for everyone. Make sure you have enough room or you’re going to punch something IRL.
GORN: 5-10 Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Seated, Standing] (Retail: $19.99) (Steam/Oculus/PSVR/Viveport)
11. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is a theme-park type zombie experience where the player has to scavenge for items and supplies while fighting off, well, zombies. The game overall has had good and bad reviews, at the end of the day it’s a fun VR experience but there’s been complaints for lack of detail in the gameworld to bugs with saves, graphics settings etc. That being said, if your into scary and intense zombie games, it’s worth checking out and does offer some good entertainment.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners 15-20 Hours of Gameplay – Compatible with Vive, Oculus, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality HMD’s [Play Area: Seated, Standing] (Retail $39.99) (Steam/Oculus/PS4 Spring 2020)
We hope you enjoy the list and please send us feedback via Twitter if you have any comments or suggestions! @vrdotorg
