18 of the best PlayStation VR games

18 of the best PlayStation VR games

Strap on Sony’s virtual reality helmet and lose yourself in one of these 18 top games.

Superhot VR

VR was made for games like Superhot and this version of Superhot was made specifically for VR. Its short, sharp bursts of balletic gunplay are more like self-contained scenarios than a traditional shoot ‘em up campaign but VR makes the whole ‘time only moves when you do’ conceit so visceral and thrilling. It’s only enhanced by the addition of the Move controllers, which translate your actual actions into the game.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is a seven-year-old game now and there’s only so much extra that VR can add to what was already a pretty immersive experience. Sticking your head inside that world is always thrilling, though, even if it’s not necessarily the best way to play through the game. So while first-timers should stick to exploring Skyrim through a TV set, returning visitors might enjoy the change of perspective.

GT Sport

Driveclub had a go at VR racing but Gran Turismo will always be the real king of the track. It’s limited to one-on-one races, so better suited to the odd blast than a full Grand Prix weekend, and if you’re committed to shaving tenths off your lap times VR might not be the best mode for you. But, unsurprisingly for a GT game, the attention to detail is incredible, so try your best to keep your eyes on the road, eh?

Farpoint

With its own dedicated Aim Controller helping to amp up the immersion, this first-person shooter sees you blasting through packs of aliens on a Mars-like planet. While the campaign is brief and a little one-dimensional at times (not to mention derivative), the VR experience is ace: the game looks fantastic, and the ability to look freely in all directions really elevates play. If you’ve ever wanted to be an extra in Starship Troopers, this is the game for you.

Resident Evil 7

Keep your oldest teddy to hand because gaming’s original scare-fest is suitably terrifying in VR. A tight field of view, plodding movement speed and a world packed full of incidental (and gross) detail leave you constantly on edge, wondering where the next enemy’s going to come from. The Baker plantation might not be as sprawling as in the original game’s Spencer mansion, but it feels plenty big enough when its crazed residents are pursuing you.

Dirt Rally

Dirt Rally was already excellent on flat screens, and unlocking VR is as simple as paying £10 for a DLC pack. It takes a graphical hit in VR but the added immersion can be pretty spellbinding, even if zipping around turns can put a pit in your stomach at time. If you have a buddy handy, he or she can take the role of co-driver and give you the right instructions by pressing buttons and swiping the DualShock 4’s touchpad.

Batman: Arkham VR

Batman: Arkham VR puts you into the mask, gloves and sculpted chest piece of the Caped Crusader. The game focuses on Batman’s detective skills – rather than his left-right jabs – but you do get to throw batarangs while attempting to solve the brutal murder of Nightwing. It’s amazingly intense and cinematic, and while it’s only around two hours long and works best with Move controllers, you’ll be seriously blown away.

RIGS: Mechanised Combat League

RIGS is a first-person mixture of deathmatch and fast-paced sci-fi-sport, with 6-8 players splitting into two teams, before strapping into a mech. The aim is to score ‘goals’ by leaping through a ring at the top of the arena, but first you must collect the tokens dropped by opposition mechs when you shoot them. RIGS uses a neat look-to-aim mechanic, while the brilliantly vertigo-inducing ejections from doomed mechs never get old.

Eve: Valkyrie – Warzone

A first-person, dogfighting spin-off from the huge (and hugely complicated) Eve Online MMO, Valkyrie is essentially all of your Battlestar Galactica fantasy made real. Rather than the boring blackness of space, Valkyrie’s battles take place just above the atmosphere of beautiful planets, or right in the middle of huge fleets of ships. It’s super fast, fluid and heaps of fun, plus you can play against Oculus Rift owners too.

Thumper

Thumper promises “rhythm violence,” and that’s exactly what you get. Guide your high-speed space beetle along the track, bouncing off hard turns to maintain momentum and tapping to activate icons as you pass over them, while sending massive energy shots off ahead to destroy the giant, floating head in the sky. Intense doesn’t do it justice. We didn’t know rhythm violence was a thing before playing Thumper but now we’re definitely into it.

VR Worlds

This collection of mini-games isn’t going to keep you entertained for long but it’s a great introduction to VR. The London Heist, which sees you half-inching a diamond as a cockney jewel thief, has some exceptional gunplay, while The Deep is a terrifically terrifying experience that you’ll want to show your friends, family, neighbours and dog. Sci-fi shooter Scavenger’s Odyssey, downhill racer VR Luge and Pong-like Danger Ball are a little less compelling, but VR Worlds is well worth your time.

Rez Infinite

If you’ve only ever played the original, playing the sharper, brighter, remastered Rez Infinite will feel like one of those movie scenes where the grainy, sepia filter swipes away to reveal sweet, saturated 4K. At its heart, Rez remains simple, addictive fun. Moving on rails through wire-frame worlds of surreal, technicolour infinity, every one of your actions creates glorious cascades of sound and light, as you aim and shoot at floating beasts and objects using only your head.

Statik

This puzzler makes incredibly clever use of the first-person perspective, yet works within the limitations of the hardware. In short, your virtual hands are locked inside a crazy-looking puzzle box, which you can rotate freely by moving the DualShock 4. You’ll have to use the gamepad’s buttons to figure out the solutions that ultimately unlock the box, but then you pass out in this surreal institute and wake up with yet another box atop your mitts.

Battlezone

Battlezone’s Tron-like aesthetic is perfect for VR, with the arenas providing ample opportunity to turn enemy tanks and drones into gloriously bright explosions. By combining procedurally generated environments with online co-up, Rebellion’s smooth but weighty VR reimagining is a lot of fun, and certainly does the 38-year-old arcade original justice.

Job Simulator

The year is 2050 and robots now do all of the blue collar work. To learn what it was like to have a job, humans enter a simulator and are given an interactive history lesson by JobBot. There are four jobs to try, each as silly and hilarious as the last, but it’s just as fun to simply mess about with the objects around you. Want to show off VR to someone who doesn’t play games? Show them Job Simulator.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

VR might shut you off from the outside world, but it doesn’t have to be a completely solitary experience. With the headset on, your job is to describe the wires and buttons on a randomly generated bomb that you see in front of you, while your friends use a manual – either printed out or on another screen – to walk you through the disarming process. Who knew one VR headset could power such an awesomely social party game?

Polybius

This technicolour explosion of psychedelic weirdness feels a lot like hurtling through the code of a classic arcade game in 3D. It’s a real chaotic thrill with strange images of pixel animals zipping past as you blast through enemies and thrust yourself through the games. If any VR game is going to trigger a seizure, it’s probably this one, which might be why the pre-game strobe warnings require a bit of fuss to get through.

Eagle Flight

As the title suggests, Eagle Flight puts you in the wings of a majestic bird of prey, flying around an abandoned Paris some 50 years after humans have died off. It’s somehow both calming and exhilarating, and while there’s not much to the gameplay, you can explore freely either solo or with online pals, complete story missions by following flight paths, or engage in 3v3 capture-the-flag style online battles. Squawk!