VR Games With Some Meat On Their Bones

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Wilson’s Heart

Wilson’s Heart puts you in the heart of what feels like a 1940s thriller movie. You awake in a terrifying medical facility hasrecently undergone a traumatic surgery. You’re not quite sure why you’re there, but you’re pretty sure there’s something off about the medical staff. As you explore the halls of the facility, it quickly becomes apparent that something bad is happening here.

Twisted Pixel Studios received funding from Oculus Studios, and the developer put that money to good use. Wilson’s Heart features incredibly high detailed character models that help sell the emotion of their stories. And the primary characters have been voiced by professional actors.

Wilson’s Heart may not have the longest campaign, but it has every other element that you would expect in an AAA experience: High quality audio and visuals, well acted characters, and a rich story.

  • Hours of Gameplay: 5+ Hours campaign
  • Platforms: Oculus Rift
  • Input: Motion Controllers
  • Publisher: Oculus Studios
  • Developer: Twisted Pixel Games
  • Multiplayer?: No
  • Store Page: Oculus Store


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Star Trek Bridge Crew

In Star Trek Bridge Crew, you and three team mates are responsible for manning an intergalactic space craft. The captain, engineer, helmsman, and the tactical office must work together to ensure the safety of the crew on the U.S.S. Aegis.

Star Trek Bridge Crew is a four-player, team-based game, in which communication and coordination are key. Each player has a critical role, and your success relies on the competence of your crew mates.

The main campaign in Star Trek Bridge Crew is fairly short. It consists of a prologue and five missions that you can complete in roughly four hours, but the fun doesn’t end when the campaign is over. Bridge Crew features procedurally generated side missions that you can your teammates can take on together. In the main story, you man the U.S.S. Aegis, a new spacecraft in the Star Trek universe. In the side missions, you can continue with the Aegis, or you can pilot the famous U.S.S. Enterprise from the "Star Trek" TV series.

  • Hours of Gameplay: 4+ hour campaign, unlimited procedurally generated missions
  • Platforms: Oculus Rift, Steam VR, PlayStation VR
  • Input: Motion Controllers, Gamepad
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Developer: Red Storm Entertainment
  • Multiplayer?: 4-player Co-Op
  • Store Page: Oculus Store, Steam, PlayStation Store


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From Other Suns

From Other Suns is a first-person, multiplayer co-op, roguelike game set it deep space.  You and your crew are in deep space, and you’re on a mission to save the earth from an alien threat.

Your space craft is equipped with an FTL (faster than light) drive, which lets you hop from star system to star system in no time at all. At each stop, you’ll encounter friendly outposts where you can purchase supplies and pick up recruits, or you may land in hostile territory and have to fight for your life.

From Other Suns is a Roguelike game, which means that once you die, you lose, and the items that you find won’t carry over to the next round. As an incentive to keep playing the game over an over again, the star map is procedurally generated to provide a new adventure every time. The game also includes a list of achievements that unlock better weapons that stay with you forever.

  • Hours of Gameplay: Procedurally generated campaign (3+ hours to complete), unlimited replays
  • Platforms: Oculus Rift
  • Input: Motion Controllers, Gamepad
  • Publisher: Gunfire Games
  • Developer: Gunfire Games LLC.
  • Multiplayer?: Yes, co-operative
  • Store Page: Oculus Store


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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • demasiaduh.pt
    You guys forgot "Lone Echo". Best single-player story driven VR game IMO.
    Reply
  • Realist9
    Hey guys. Good info, and thanks for collecting the list. However...

    8/24 games are 5 hours long. 6/24 are 12 hrs long. I don't consider that "meat on it's bones", although that is better than a 30 min tech demo I guess.

    Of the remaining 10 games, 6 are not a racing sim. Those 6 games are split as platform specific, meaning I can only play them on one of the VR headsets.

    There's 2 for the Vive, 1 for the Rift, and 1 for the PSVR. Only 2 games can be played with your choice of headset.

    So I can pick a racing sim and 1 or 2 other games, unless I'm buying a Vive, Rift, AND PSVR.

    Do you see the problem now? I think, based in part on the above, the argument that there are VERY few games available for VR is still quite valid.
    Reply
  • gergguy
    I agree with Demasiaduh.pt. Lone Echo should have been on the list. It probably should have won VR/AR game of the year. Although Resident Evil 7 VR (the winner) is a fantastic game.

    You may have noticed many of the games on this list are regular games converted to VR. Until prices come down on the headsets and there is more adoption of the hardware, not many game companies are going to spend money making larger titles for VR because they will never realize a return on their investment.
    Reply
  • therealduckofdeath
    20465077 said:
    Hey guys. Good info, and thanks for collecting the list. However...

    8/24 games are 5 hours long. 6/24 are 12 hrs long. I don't consider that "meat on it's bones", although that is better than a 30 min tech demo I guess.

    Of the remaining 10 games, 6 are not a racing sim. Those 6 games are split as platform specific, meaning I can only play them on one of the VR headsets.

    There's 2 for the Vive, 1 for the Rift, and 1 for the PSVR. Only 2 games can be played with your choice of headset.

    So I can pick a racing sim and 1 or 2 other games, unless I'm buying a Vive, Rift, AND PSVR.

    Do you see the problem now? I think, based in part on the above, the argument that there are VERY few games available for VR is still quite valid.

    5 hrs is typical AAA game single player campaign time. Why should it be different for a VR title?
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    20465077 said:
    There's 2 for the Vive, 1 for the Rift, and 1 for the PSVR. Only 2 games can be played with your choice of headset.

    There are no Vive exclusives. Those games can be played on a Rift.
    Reply
  • Bluemax
    Nice article, I would have liked to see Windows Mixed Reality Headset included in the analysis. I own one and it has steam integration. Regardless, nice to have a list to check for availability.
    Reply
  • ubercake
    Don't get me wrong... the technology is pretty cool, but I don't see many people wanting to wear anything on their heads for too long; only a select few. This is the same reason 3D-TV never took off. I'd consider myself more than a casual gamer and this hardly appeals to me. The mixed reality seems appealing from a learning/training standpoint, but I wouldn't want anything on my noggin for too long at any sitting.
    Reply
  • Jeff Fx
    20471574 said:
    Don't get me wrong... the technology is pretty cool, but I don't see many people wanting to wear anything on their heads for too long; only a select few. This is the same reason 3D-TV never took off. I'd consider myself more than a casual gamer and this hardly appeals to me. The mixed reality seems appealing from a learning/training standpoint, but I wouldn't want anything on my noggin for too long at any sitting.

    I usually play for about an hour, then take a break from 10-30 minutes. That's more because I'm worn out from running around my VR room than headset irritation. Room-scale VR is pretty good exercise.
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    20468200 said:
    Nice article, I would have liked to see Windows Mixed Reality Headset included in the analysis. I own one and it has steam integration. Regardless, nice to have a list to check for availability.

    I would love to add Windows MR support to the list. However, few games have officially embraced WinMR through steam yet, and almost none had done so when I put this list together.

    Look for a Windows MR game list coming soon. A list of Steam games that work on Win MR is a good idea for a list. I'll keep that in mind.

    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    20465018 said:
    You guys forgot "Lone Echo". Best single-player story driven VR game IMO.

    That's a good point.
    Complete oversight on my part.
    It's harder than it might seem to compile a comprehensive list without some things slipping through the cracks.
    Reply