While the rest of 2020 has been swirling down the crapper VR games are finally finding their stride. At the top end of VR headsets, you have the Valve Index, with the HTC Cosmos Elite coming in as a slightly cheaper second option. If consoles are more your cup of tea then PlayStation VR is your sole option, though there are plenty of PSVR 2 rumors flying around. Right now, though, all the big VR buzz is about the Oculus Quest 2 release that’s happening next week. Regardless of which headset you have, VR is finally worth the price of admission, leaving behind the gimmicky, underperforming games of yesteryear and gaining a foothold in modern, top tier games. This week’s top 10 list highlights the best of what VR has to offer, from VR mods for some of our favorite games to full-on VR only experiences.
10 – Surgeon Simulator 2
- Release Date: August 27, 2020
- Developer: Bossa Studios
Sometimes knowing your weaknesses and embracing them is all it takes to overcome them. VR tracking isn’t quite perfected yet, making movement and the handling of objects a little clumsy. With Surgeon Simulator 2, it feels like Bossa Studios acknowledged that and ran with it. And what better place to have all the wonky maneuvering then at the operating table. If you thought playing Operation when you were a kid was fun, just wait until you get your hands on Surgeon Simulator 2.
9 – Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
- Release Date: July 16, 2015
- Developer: Steel Crate Games
A party game that only requires two people to play, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes only get better as the group gets larger. Only one person plays at the computer – the Defuser – while everyone else – the ‘Experts’ – have the manual to defuse the bomb. Originally requiring a VR headset for the defuser, Keep Talking loses something in translation when played on a standard screen. Not to mention half the fun is watching the Defuser fumble around in VR as they try to manipulate the bomb.
8 – Superhot VR
- Release Date: December 5, 2016
- Developer: SUPERHOT Team
The low count polygon graphics of Superhot VR fit perfectly with the intense VR action this first-person shooter has to offer. Superhot VR’s fast-paced action is as close as any of us will ever come to being John Wick, minus the sad doggy death.
7 – Star Trek Bridge Crew
- Release Date: May 30, 2017
- Developer: Ubisoft
This could be included in with the other space sims further down on this list, but Star Trek Bridge Crew offers a totally different experience. Another title that can be played normally or in VR, in Star Trek Bridge Crew you and three of your friends will man the bridge of the U.S.S. Aegis. Whoever plays as the captain must be a master of communication while everyone else will have their own challenges to overcome as they take up their station at the helm, engineering, and tactical.
6 – Phasmophobia
- Release Date: September 18, 2020
- Developer: Kinetic Games
Horror games can be scary as hell these days. Phasmophobia proves that putting on a VR headset can make them even more immersive. In Phasmophobia, you and three of your friends – with or without VR – do your best ghost hunter impression. These aren’t the fake YouTube video type of ghosts either; they’re the real deal. There are several types of entities, all of them evil, and you must figure out which one you are up against before it takes your group down.
5 – The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim VR
- Release Date: November 17, 2017
- Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda is known for porting The Elder Scrolls V to anything with a video screen so it’s no surprise there is a VR version of the aging game. I don’t know what else to say about Skyrim that any RPG lover wouldn’t already know, so I’ll just say that if you own a VR headset you are required to play this epic RPG.
4 – Tetris Effect
- Release Date: November 9, 2018
- Developer: Resonair
We’re 36 years removed from its debut, yet Tetris continues to find a way to adapt and survive. The amazingly simple to learn but impossible to master puzzle game has gone VR with Tetris Effect. As if regular Tetris wasn’t hard enough, the glowing, pulsing blocks, techno beats, and psychedelic backgrounds of Tetris Effect surround you in a fully 3D tetromino world.
3 – Space, Flight, And Driving Simulators
It’s impossible to pick a single-vehicle simulator to put on this list since the whole genre benefits from VR so our number three spot is a list within a list.
Since Star Wars: Squadrons just released with VR support we’ll start off with space sims. Along with Squadrons, many of the top space games – Elite Dangerous, Eve Valkyrie, and No Man’s Sky to name just a few – ratchet up the immersion when you don a headset, especially when you pair the free-look camera with a HOTAS. It gives you the feeling that you are Luke Skywalker taking on the Empire unless you fly like me, in which case you last about as long as Porkins.
If you aren’t into the space fighter scene, there are plenty of other flight sims to choose from. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 doesn’t have VR yet (the Beta is coming soon) but most of the older flight sims have VR. If you want some combat with your flying you could jump into DCS World or IL2-Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad. For a more peaceful flight, you could hit up X-Plane 11 or Aerofly FS2.
If you would rather stay grounded you could jump in a big rig and cruise the highways in American Truck Simulator. For a faster experience, iRacing is a big hit right now, though you’ll need to pay a monthly sub and purchase extra tracks and cars to get the full experience. A cheaper option would be to grab Project Cars 2 or Dirt Rally VR.
2 – Half-Life: Alyx
- Release Date: March 23, 2020
- Developer: Valve
One of the best games of 2020, Half-Life: Alyx is proof that a VR only game can hold its own against any other title out there. Built from the ground up with VR in mind, Half-Life: Alyx is set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, you play as Alyx Vance, humanity’s only hope for survival against the Combine, an alien race hell-bent on conquering Earth.
1 – Beat Saber
- Release Date: May 1, 2018
- Developer: Beat Games
Gameplay always trumps graphics and that is why Beat Saber takes the number one spot on this list. With its sick beats and neon glow overload, this rhythm game takes all the fun of Guitar Hero and Rock Band and throws it into VR. The simple songs you start with are quickly replaced with levels that will have you flailing your arms all over the place. Just make sure everyone stays back far enough to not get hit.
