With the Oculus Rift launching in spring 2016, everyone is amped about VR.
Rightfully so, 2016 is going to be an exciting year for Virtual Reality gaming.
Let's explore some great games you'll enjoy playing in virtual reality.
11. EVE: Valkyrie
Valkyrie started as a small project between a few devs from CCP Games - the studio behind EVE. They showed it off to fans in 2013 and dubbed it EVE VR.
Now, EVE: Valkyrie is being sold with every pre-order of the Oculus Rift. That's added a considerable amount of users to the game's emerging online community, which will receive their Rift sometime in Q2 or Q3 of 2016.
The galaxy has become a war-zone. Survive, die or thrive.
I really love the simple complexity of this game. You are in a spaceship and constantly have to battle opponents from every angle. In space, ship-vs-ship battles are epic because there is usually no set boundaries. No ground, no ceiling, no walls.
Massive explosions cause rippling effects felt by all.
It's no surprise Oculus chose this game as one of their first big titles. The developers have mastered EVE Online and understand virtual reality. They've beautifully created a game that is worthy of being called the first official monumental VR release.
10. Alien: Isolation
Spaceships are cool. Not so much when you're stranded on one with these creatures though.
Alien Isolation is a tale of terror. You play the daughter of a character that appeared in a previous Alien game, Ellen Ripley, and you must investigate the ship to find out what happened to your mother.
You carry a small tracking device that will alert you when enemies are nearby. This is incredibly useful, as enemies can hide in the ventilation and other hard to reach areas of the ship.
Use your radar, but don't rely on it too much. You're never as safe as you think.
You know that feeling you get when someone asks you to go on a crazy roller coaster? You respond with a Hell yeah! but really you're scared out of your mind. That's kind of what Alien: Isolation is like with VR.
Unfortunately the final version was stripped of VR support last minute. But there's hope! Considerable hope actually. A group of dedicated players banded together and have made Alien: Isolation compatible with the Oculus Rift.
This is my nightmare.
Plus, since the game was originally developed for the Rift, the tech is already embedded in the game, so you can play it smoothly in VR. Even the menu is designed for a headset and is in 3D style rather than the typical start-menu layout.
9. Robinson: The Journey
I wish I could time travel back to a 12-year old me and strap a VR headset to myself with Robinson: The Journey on.
I mean, it's everything I wanted as a kid and more. This game will hit Playstation VR in late 2016 and is one of its most anticipated releases yet. We don't know much about the game yet, but from the trailer it looks like a Portal with time travel, dinosaurs and, well... no portals. Yet, anyway.
Ancient lands with new tech. The Journey merges old and new.
Executive producer Elijah Freeman has stated that he wants this game to be the summary of authentic.
""That means not just making something visually stunning, but also telling a story that is emotionally engaging and which resonates with players beyond the game world," says Freeman on the Playstation Blog.
With a seemingly committed exec on board and plenty of hype for the trailer, Robinson: The Journey will make a splash in Q3 or Q4 of 2016.
8. Outlast 2
I don't know of any incidents where VR gaming caused heart attacks, but with Outlast 2 on the Rift that may change...
I remember the first time I played Outlast. My roommate had been raving about it for months on end and I joined him to watch. He always got very immersed into horror games so he was in our gaming room with the lights off and window completely sealed off.
Outlast scares you the same way darkness scares a child. Outlast 2 with the Rift? You might want to rethink trying this one out if you're easily afraid.
The sound was loud. Way too loud. I started eerily walking around the abandoned mental facility with my flashlight and eventually starting hearing screams. I followed them into, I forget, some room with surgical equipment.
Then, like a child watching that scary maze video, I yelped. Some maniac jumped at me and that was the end of it. My roommate never let me live that down.
Outlast 2 follows a similar and intertwined story. Your task is merely to escape and survive, but you also have a camera with you used to gather evidence against the organization that have been performing truly screwed up experiments on patients of an abandoned mental facility.
Blood, gore and experiments gone wrong. Outlast 2 has it all.
Be warned, it's scary as hell without a VR headset on.
7. Dying Light
Dying Light is among the very few AAA games that support virtual reality.
This title puts you in the shoes of an apocalypse survivor that has to shoot and slice his way through zombie masses. Dying Light is another game that is going to be absolutely terrifying in VR.
Explore the vibrant city landscape in (almost) real life with an Oculus Rift.
Imagine yourself walking down a dimly lit street in a bad area of a major city. There is no one around; not a sound, or so it seems. All of a sudden crowds of people begin to swarm at you from every direction.
There's nowhere to go. You bash a few with your fists but they pile over you like a football team. Your last words are probably something along the lines of "AAAAAHHHH! NOOOO, AAAAH!" as zombies devour your intestines and your vision fades into blackness
Stay alive by any means necessary. There are no rules when it comes to survival.
Yeah, that's how intense Dying Light is going to be in VR. Thankfully you'll be able to take the headset off.
6. Doom 4
Doom 4 is coming.
The much anticipated installment to the legendary series has been kept quiet mostly, but software tycoon John Carmack has revealed that it will have the same VR support that Doom 3 had.
The top-of-the-line Doom universe is a sight to see in itself and will only be enhanced with 360 degree vision. There isn't much to be said about Doom 4 because there.. well.. hasn't been very much told to us.
Slaughter enemies classic Doom style: by utter annihilation.
Developers are consistently refusing to set a deadline to the release. This is a very, very good sign as it means they are not rushing the project. There's nothing I hate more than rush-releases with bugs, little content and failed expectations. I'm looking at you, DayZ.
When we finally do get to explore Doom 4 through the Rift, it should be one hell of a time.
5. Chivalry Medieval Warfare
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare wants to crown itself King of medieval combat.
It's not too far off either. The first-person fantasy war game has excellent free form maneuvering of classic weapons we're all accustomed to: swords, bows, axes, daggers and more.
Among swords and bows you'll find massive establishment-destroying weapons like catapults.
Virtual reality will augment the already awesome immersion and hopefully make you feel like a true knight. It seems surreal to be honest - moving your head in order to aim in the game - but that's as realistic as it gets, until we develop the technology for full immersion...
Return to the ways of your ancestors and fight hand-to-hand with iron and steel.
I already flinch when an arrow hits me in the head in Chivalry. I imagine that will be a lot worse once I try it with virtual reality.
4. Assetto Corsa
Is it time for racing simulators to ditch third person view?
With the technological wave of virtual reality coming in hot, Assetto Corsa seeks to capitalize on the use of VR. The game will seek to provide a realistic sense of what it's like to drive top-tier race cars through tracks designed for extremely high speeds.
Driving gets trickier when you have to move your head and hands in real-time.
Although everyone and their grandmother is interested in VR lately (and rightfully so), the official release date of the Oculus Rift was only announced in early 2016. That means that developers working in 2013-2016 had to take on the technology half-blindsided.
Devoting massive amounts of time and money to the research of VR is not in the budget of every dev team out there. It might be for that reason that Assetto Corsa saw a rough start during tests using the Rift. Many people found it way too difficult and annoying to maneuver the vehicles.
Thankfully the devs were quick to fix the issues and the game is now on a stable path to VR perfection. Look out for Assetto Corsa in 2016.
3. Battlefield 4
This is war simulated like you've never, ever experienced it before.
Battlefield 4 online is intense. With massive maps, insane building destruction and weapons that will blow your mind it's one of the most interactive and tactical online FPS games out today.
Virtual reality magnifies the beauty of Battlefield 4 online, and paired with the other VR gear like the Cyberith Virtualized - a treadmill-ish tool that lets you move realistically - it's going to be an awe-inspiring experience.
Battlefield lives up to its name by providing tons of massive open-world maps with interactive buildings you can blow up.
I foresee a future where the COD gamer stereotype is no longer a fat basement dweller but instead a marathon athlete. Maybe I'm overthinking it though. We'll have to wait and see.
2. GTA 5
The mother of all open-world crime games, GTA 5 in virtual reality is almost literally The Matrix.
Rockstar Games has epitomized the advanced programming technology of our era in the masterpiece that is GTA 5. Everything from the game's graphics to its modding and map creation community is top-tier, and with the recent release of first-person mode it's only getting better.
Think you're good at driving in GTA? Try it with the Rift. You'd be surprised at how difficult it can be.
With the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive being released in spring of 2016 everyone is curious as to whether VR will function properly with the game. Rockstar has not said much on the subject, but you can catch glimpses of people who have managed to get the DK2 working with GTA.
If that's possible, it's safe to assume the consumer version should be an eventual reality.
1. Technolust
Technolust, the cyber-punk adventure title is exclusive to the Oculus Rift.
The game's visuals remind me of The Matrix, which is quite ironic. There is a beta preview available that lets you play through the first few minutes of the game. You wander the streets and eventually go to the subway which brings you to your new apartment.
What stands out in Technolust is the rich environment. The developers have put careful thought into every petite detail, from environmental sounds you'd hear in real life to realistic lighting and shadows.
The game's dark artistic style is prevalent throughout the demo and gives us an idea of what to expect.
I also love the darkness. Every dark corner is as unknown as it would be in real life, and rooms with minimal lighting aren't magically bright like your standard adventure game. Every aspect of the landscape has been carefully chosen to recreate reality.
I believe Technolust will be one of the most immersive VR games to come in 2016.
Looking for more awesome PC games? Check out:
6 Reasons VR Headsets Will Change Gaming
10 Awesome Games like League of Legends
10 Free PC Games That are Totally Awesome
