Sony’s Playstation VR is one of the most accessible virtual reality systems on the market.
That would be great in and of itself, but the company has also made sure that there’s a good line-up of games to keep early adopters interested.
There’s a little bit of everything here, ranging from first-person shooters to weird virtual reality mini-games that are almost impossible to classify.
There’s more here than anyone could sort through quickly, especially if they are looking for a good first game.
Fortunately, we’ve done all the heavy lifting when it comes to figuring out the best PS VR games for you.
We’ve gone through the library and found a few hits that are sure to make gamers happy.
Below are the games that you need to buy if you’re looking to get the most out of the Playstation VR system.
Eve: Valkyrie
EVE is usually thought of as a game of spreadsheets in space, something that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to VR.
The universe surrounding the game, however, has always felt like it was designed for closer exploration.
If you’ve ever wanted a closer look at the world of the game, CCP has made a product just for you – EVE: Valkyrie, a VR experience that puts you in the cockpit of a space fighter.
This must-have PSVR game allows you a unique chance to take flight in a beautifully-rendered universe.
You’ll track your enemies just like a real fighter pilot, both through sight and instruments.
All the while, you’ll buzz through a universe that’s made for VR.
If you love flight simulators or space, you need this game.
Sparc
It shouldn’t be that surprising that there are at least a few VR games trying to get into the eSports world.
Sparc is one of the better attempts, a game that feels kind of like Tron’s disc game.
You throw the ball at a goal, ricocheting it off of shields and behind your opponent’s defense.
It’s an intense game that feels real even when you know you’re just playing a game.
Sparc represents the idea of an eSport as a real sport. It will be very interesting to see how it is adopted.
For now, though, it just makes for a fantastic competitive experience.
Give Sparc a try if you want to work up a sweat in VR.
The Brookhaven Experiment
Horror in VR has been a hit or miss affair.
Mostly consisting of jump-scares, it’s a real hit-or-miss affair.
The Brookhaven Experiment seeks to do something different by providing the kind of atmospheric horror that really gets the blood pumping.
A stationary shooter that features some fairly gross zombies, it relies more on sound design than anything else to make your scared.
You’ll really believe something is sneaking up on your, something made all the scarier by wearing the headset.
It’s a fantastic game that will scare you matter when you play it – just make sure you remember to tell yourself that’s it’s not as real as it feels.
Farpoint
Farpoint is something of the prototypical VR experience.
It’s the game you’ve probably imagined played, a first-person shooter that allows you to shoot a ton of enemies, all without making you sick to your stomach.
It’s an impressive bit of technology, one that’s sure to inform the games that will be made in its wake.
Another solid sci-fi game, you’ll find yourself searching for a pair of scientists on an alien planet, with a number of spider-like enemies in your way.
You’ll use a host of weapons to take them out while you follow a very solid story to its logical conclusion.
This game does include a multiplayer component, which makes it a blast to play with friends.
Job Simulator
Job Simulator is the kind of break from traditional gaming that you can only get in VR.
There’s no shooting, no jump scares, no world-devouring threats.
Instead, there’s a collection of simple jobs for you to perform in a vague sci-fi setting.
It’s the perfect break from the high-stakes games that make up most of the PSVR’s library. This game is the kind of thing that only works in VR.
It’s just a series of mundane tasks made hilarious by the technology.
Bring over a couple of friends and enjoy this party game.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew
Star Trek Bridge Crew is the Star Trek game that Trekkies have wanted to play since the 1960s.
Leveraging the power of VR to put players on the bridge of a starship, it’s as close as most people will ever get to stepping on the bridge of the Enterprise.
It should come as no surprise that this is a game meant for a very specific subset of gamers, but it is nonetheless a fantastic experience that all gamers will enjoy.
This is an entirely cooperative game, one in which you’ll take one of four roles on the USS Aegis.
While you can play it alone with bots, it’s much more fun to play it with others as you attempt to boldly go where no one has gone before.
You’ll go through some classic scenarios, including exploring new star systems and even fighting the Klingons.
Best of all, you’ll even take on the ultimate No-Win Scenario – the famous Kobayashi Maru.
This game is one of the best examples of what can be done with VR.
Starblood Arena
Arena combat games are great in VR.
They’re fast, they’re brutal, and they can involve plenty of friends.
Starblood is a throwback, in which you take command of a vehicle and take on all comers in virtually any direction.
It’s very much in the vein of Descent, a game that brings back a sense of pleasant nostalgia for older games.
This is exactly the kind of thing that would probably be overlooked on a console but that can stand out in VR.
Why does it stand out? Largely because it’s beautiful.
You’ll spend a lot of time getting to know the twists and turns of the map, so the game’s design rewards you with some aesthetically pleasing images.
Don’t get too distracted by the sights, though, because there are often enemies just around the corner.
Statik
Statik is a truly weird puzzle game.
It pushes the boundaries of what puzzle games traditionally do, with great new puzzles that challenge without being too obtuse.
It’s the kind of puzzle game that makes you feel smart rather than stupid, the kind of game that feels a lot like it wants to be Portal without totally aping that game’s aesthetic.
If nothing else, Statik feels like it really was designed for VR.
The game is polished and stands up very well.
It is a puzzle-solving experience like no other and one that you absolutely must try on the PSVR.
Arizona Sunshine
At this point, there’s no monster more overdone in gaming than zombies.
Fortunately, VR’s relatively new and the undead haven’t been done to death.
Arizona Sunshine is the kind of shooter that feels made for VR, with great controls that allow you to fight off the zombie hordes.
This is also a rare game that’s meant to be played as a campaign.
While it’s chopped up into smaller parts, it’s still a fairly lengthy game.
With limited resources at your disposal, this really feels like a fight for survival.
Arizona Sunshine is also a very pretty game.
Taking place in the southwestern US, it’s got some of the best landscapes in the VR space.
You’ll hunt for survivors and zombies at once – but remember, you’ll need to be careful because it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the zombie horde.
Resident Evil 7 VR
Resident Evil 7 was largely an attempt to make Resident Evil scary again.
While it worked well on a screen, it works even better in VR.
This is the game of the year for those who really like to be scared, one that takes a beloved franchise and really puts it through its paces.
Resident Evil 7 is a first-person experience, one that is all about trying to evade the enemies who will bring your life to a grisly end.
You’ll spend more time moving than anything else, hoping to solve puzzles that put you a little farther away from certain doom.
While the game itself is a ton of fun to play, it’s often even more fun to watch other players.
They’ll laugh as you flail about, trying to evade monsters that they can’t see.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
VR is a little weird when it comes to party games.
Sure, everyone can take turns – but there just aren’t a lot of games that make it fun for those standing around.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is one of the rare great VR party games, one that makes everyone in the room a part of the game.
All you have to do is disarm a bomb – simple, right?
The catch to this one is the only the person wearing the headset can actually see the bomb.
Everyone else is given an instruction sheet, one that the defuser cannot see.
They all have to work together in order to solve a number of puzzles. If they succeed, the bomb is defused.
If they do not, the bomb goes off.
Every mistake brings the bomb closer to exploding and the game is on a time limit.
The game is incredibly tense and more fun than it should be.
It’s a good way to involve everyone at a party even if they can’t wear the headset.
In fact, it’s even a great way to play video games with people who generally avoid gaming.
Give this one a shot next time you have friends over.
Skyrim
By this point, Skyrim has been ported to everything except toasters.
The massively popular RPG is a natural fit for VR with its first-person view and you won’t find many VR games with more to do.
You’ll jump into the familiar shoes of the Dragonborn and go on the classic quest, taking out dragons and learning more about the beautifully rendered world.
One of the major concerns about games like this is motion sickness, and Bethesda’s done a lot to address that with a new locomotion system.
That, coupled with dual spells, makes the game feel a little different than the core experience.
The game is, of course, showing its age by this point but you’ll feel like it’s a new experience when you jump into VR.
If you haven’t experienced Skyrim yet, this is absolutely the best way to start.
Rez Infinite
Rez is a bizarre game.
A true marriage of sound and movement, it was as beloved for being a trippy experience as it was a good game.
Now, that same fantastic experience has been ported to VR, now in a form that will push you even farther out of your comfort zone.
This version of Rez puts you in charge of repairing a crime-fighting program, one that requires you to shoot your way through cyberspace.
It’s all about rhythm and music at its core, an immersive experience that absolutely will change the way you look at games.
This is one of the most immersive VR experiences on the market.
Rec Room
Rec Room leaves behind the video gaming world for something a little more traditional.
This game takes place in an old-school rec center, the kind people used to hang out in before arcades and home consoles.
It’s a place where you can hang out, play a few games, and jump into one of the fantastic mini-games that make up the core of the experience.
If you are looking for a way to play with friends in VR, you really won’t find anything more relaxing.
Whether you want to play soccer or charades, there’s something here for you.
Grab a group and have some old-school fun, or just try a few games out for yourself.
What are Your Best PS VR Games?
PSVR’s got a great library – and we didn’t even scratch the surface of what’s out there.
What are your favorite experiences on this VR platform?
Did we miss any great games that certainly deserve to be played? Let us know by leaving us a comment below!
What is Playstation VR?
The virtual reality community is currently split into two different camps.
On one hand, there’s the low-end VR set – headsets that attach to phones and give a rough approximation of the VR experience, but that doesn’t cost much.
On the other end are the high-end headsets, products that give a total VR experience but that require some fairly impressive hardware just to run.
There’s not really a middle ground yet, but Sony’s done a lot of work to bring the high-end experience into more homes with its Playstation VR.
Playstation VR is a traditional VR experience that leverages the power of Sony’s Playstation VR to bring high-powered VR into the home.
The headset is very similar to those that are used in other consumer VR models, but all the real work is done by the Playstation and its peripherals.
The game world is interacted with through the use of the Dualshock controller or the PS Move controllers, while most of the sensor work is done by the Playstation’s camera.
Of course, the experience of the PSVR isn’t quite on the level one would experience from something like the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive.
The PS4 won’t ever compete with thousand dollar computer hardware, but that’s not the point.
The PS4 can create a really fantastic VR experience that doesn’t require a ton of technical knowledge to get working.
In fact, the closed Sony ecosystem often works better than the more open systems of the other platforms simply because it is designed with less customization in mind.
In terms of gaming, the PSVR actually presents a very robust library.
Not only does it have most of the same top titles as the big VR headsets, but it also has a few console-exclusive titles.
The system also tends to shine when using the PS Move controllers, which are much more functional as VR controllers than they ever were as motion control devices.
Sony’s got a lot of hardware tied up in the PSVR experience and most of it works very well in concern to make sure every game runs at its best.
The Playstation VR system is a great way to get into VR without having to buy thousands of dollars of computer equipment.
There might be a few things that can’t be done with the system, but overall it is competitive with the major players in the game.
In a VR world that is already divided, it’s nice to see an entry point that can satisfy those who just want to something fun with which they can play.
The PSVR is perfect for anyone who just wants a system that works and that will give them access to the hottest virtual reality games on the market.
