Dead Effect 2 VR
Dead Effect 2 VR is a first-person zombie hunting game that follows the events of 2014’s Dead Effect sci-fi shooter. You find yourself trapped on a colonist spaceship filled with infected zombies, and you’re going to have to fight for survival.
Dead Effect 2 VR is an FPS game first, but it also incorporates RPG elements. As you progress through the game, your character will level up and gain better attributes. The title also features myriad items to uncover, including over 30 upgradeable weapons, more than 100 gear items to unlock, and dozens of gear sets to put together. You will also gain access to at least 10 special abilities that your hero can learn.
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Action, Shooter
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: BadFly Interactive, a.s.
- Developer: Badfly Interactive, a.s.
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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ObserVRtarium
ObserVRtarium is a room-scale virtual museum experience. In its current form, ObserVRtarium teaches you about the spacecraft that humans created over the course of the last century. The experience includes miniature and life-size recreations of the Soyuz, the ISS, a Saturn V rocket, the Apollo LEM, and the Apollo LRV.
You can pick up the miniature models and get a close look at them from any angle, or you can experience what it’s like to stand next to these historical craft.
ObserVRtarium is available for free, and NSC Creative allows public showcases of the virtual museum by physical museums and other attractions. The developer is also looking for partners who wish to digitize their collections to expand the scope of ObserVRtarium’s showcase.
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Casual, Simulation
- Input: Tracked Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: NSC Creative
- Developer: NSC Creative
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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Ski Jump VR
Strap on a pair of skis, get yourself ready at the top of the hill, push off with the motion controllers, and let gravity take over.
Ski Jump VR is, as the name suggests, a virtual reality ski jumping game. Pixel Perfect Dude is the developer behind the mobile game Ski Jump, and the company is bringing the idea to room-scale VR. The game
Ski Jump VR includes two hills and three jumping modes for the early access release. Pixel Perfect Dude said the game would eventually include “at least 10 hills” to master.
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Sports
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: Pixel Perfect Dude
- Developer: Pixel Perfect Dude
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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Virush
It’s hard to describe what kind of game Virush is. It’s a fast-paced arcade-style title that puts you in control of a “technophilic packet-snatching snake-like” construct that kills viruses.
Using the motion controller, navigate your snake-like device to snatch up as many incoming data packets that you can to prevent infection from intruding viruses.
- Platforms: HTC Vive
- Genre: Action
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: Arcturus
- Developer: DMG Entertainment
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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VR Slugger: The Toy Field
VR Slugger: The Toy Field puts a goofy spin on the concept of a batting experience. Step up to the plate and prepare to knock the ball out of the park... with a fish?
When you step up to the plate in VR Slugger, expect to smack that ball with something ridiculous. You definitely won’t have a baseball bat. The game allows you to knock on out of the park with anything from a flip-flop sandal to a guitar. Baseball bat purists need not apply.
- Platforms: HTC Vive
- Genre: Sports
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: Poly Poly Games
- Developer: Poly Poly Games
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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VR Theme Park Rides
VR Theme Park Rides is a collection of common theme park attractions. You can take a relaxing ride on the Trumble Bug, bash your way through the Bumper Cars ring, check out the sights from up high on the Ferris Wheel, or get your adrenaline pumping from a thrilling ride on the Roller Coaster. All told, VR Theme Park Rides features 12 different attractions for you to enjoy.
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Simulation
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: EnsenaSoft
- Developer: EnsenaSoft
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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Jack Spriggan
Have you ever imagined being Jack from the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story and climbing the towering plant to reach the giant's lair? Now you don’t have to imagine. Vertexherder brings it to life in Jack Spriggan. Climb the giant beanstalk to the clouds and explore the world of the giant in first-person VR.
Jack Spriggan features a locomotion system that we’ve not yet encountered. The developers figured out a way to track real-world jumps and use the gesture to trigger an in-game jump. Each time you jump in the real world, your virtual likeness will take an “enormous magical leap.”
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Action, Adventure
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: Vertexherder
- Developer: Vertexherder
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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Katana X
Katana X is a virtual reality sword simulation game. The developer said it took inspiration from the mobile fruit slicing game, Fruit Ninja. In fact, Katana X features a fruit slicing mode, but the game offers more than a clone of the mobile game. The idea was to create a sword game with realistic physics and cutting simulation, so Katana X also includes tatami mat-cutting challenges to help you hone your sword-wielding skills.
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Simulation
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 8, 2017
- Publisher: Aargle, LLC.
- Developer: Aargle, LLC.
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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Radioactive
Radioactive is a first-person survival horror game for virtual reality. An unknown infection ravaged the world, and few survivors remain. You must learn to survive in the post-apocalyptic wasteland while avoiding the infected indigenous population.
Radioactive is an unforgiving game. You won’t find a tutorial or in-game tips, and the developer didn’t load the map with waypoints to make it easier for you to find your way around the 25 sq.km open-world environment. You get one life in Radioactive, so every decision counts. One wrong move, and it could be your last, and when you die you lose everything and have to start all over again.
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Survival Horror, Shooter
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 9, 2017
- Publisher: Dissident Interactive
- Developer: Dissident Interactive
MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights
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Reaping Rewards
Do you have the emotional fortitude to be a grim reaper? Reaping Rewards will help you answer that question.
Reaping Rewards is an interactive VR short story in which you are an apprentice grim reaper on your first day on the job. You have to make difficult emotional decisions “that challenge who you are and who you will become.”
Reaping Rewards features support for the HTC Vive and Oculus Touch motion controllers, and the developer said that using your hands to make difficult decisions evokes a “visceral connection to your actions.”
- Platforms: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Genre: Adventure
- Input: Motion Controllers
- Release Date: June 9, 2017
- Publisher: Limitless, Ltd.
- Developer: Limitless, Ltd.
