The First 30 Oculus Rift Launch Titles

News
By Michael Justin Allen Sexton
published

Dreadhalls

White Door Games created Dreadhalls as a horror dungeon crawler. The game attempts to take advantage of the immersive VR experience to create a more frightening experience for gamers. The game also incorporates puzzles and a dark story line to keep users off balance as they slowly move from the deep dark tunnels.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Intense

Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous starts you off with a small starship, one of many in an immense galaxy. The goal of the game is simple, to increase your standing in the universe by acquiring new skills, wealth and more powerful ships. The game is not exclusively available for VR, but it was a goal of the design team throughout development to add support for virtual reality and to make the game as immersive as possible. Using the Rift while playing the game not only gives you new in game controls but also lets you experience the world the way the developers wanted you to.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Intense

Esper 2

Esper 2 is a sequel to Esper, which was a launch title on the Samsung Gear VR and will also be released on the Oculus Rift. You play as an agent of ESPR and travel the world to find people with telekinetic powers. You also possess powerful telekinetic abilities, which you use to solve a wide number of puzzles and progress through the game.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Comfortable

EVE Valkyrie Founder's Pack

The new EVE: Valkyrie Founder's Pack enables you to be one of the first players to experience the EVE: Valkyrie game world. In addition to early access to the game, the Founder's Pack includes an exclusive Squadron 33 Wraith Fighter and a war chest containing 2,500 gold. The game is available for free to anyone that pre-ordered the Oculus Rift.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Intense

EVE Gunjack

EVE: Valkyrie isn't the only VR title Crowd Control Productions (CCP) has been working on. The company will also release EVE: Gunjack, an immersive arcade shooter based on the EVE world and exclusively available on VR devices. Your goal in the game is to battle against endless waves of enemies in defense of a mining platform.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Moderate

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Fly To Kuma

Fly To Kuma is a puzzle game with over 100 stages. Your goal is to help a group of bears safely navigate through each level by using various objects. Sometimes it will be as simple as getting over a gap, while in other levels you will need to block the bears' path to prevent them from wondering into dangerous traps.

  • Game Play: Third-Person
  • Comfort Level: Comfortable

Herobound Spirit Champion

In this action adventure you take control of a goblin to solve puzzles and fight swarms of enemies. You will travel through four main areas each with a different elemental theme and with monsters that take advantage of that elemental power to defeat you. Herobound Spirit Champion is available on Gear VR and will be released for the Oculus Rift.

  • Game Play: Third-Person
  • Comfort Level: Comfortable

Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes

Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes is a game designed for multiple people to play together. One player is locked in a room with a ticking time bomb, and if they don't stop it, the building blows up and everyone dies. Lucky this player, his friends (the other players) are bomb experts, that work to decipher information about the bomb and teach the first player how to disarm it. The game supports VR, but it will work on a PC with a traditional display as well.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Comfortable

Lucky's Tale

Lucky's Tale is a third person platformer adventure game that takes place in a bright, colorful world. The game is similar to classic entries to the genre, such as Banjo Kazooie and Crash Bandicoot. You'll fight off creatures and solve puzzles in this VR adventure game designed exclusively for the Oculus Rift. The game will come bundled with every Rift sold, so in a way, Lucky is to Oculus what Crash was to Sony in the early days.

  • Game Play: Third-Person
  • Comfort Level: Moderate

Omega Agent

Do you have what it takes to be the Omega Agent? Strap into a jet pack and fly around the Omega Islands to solve puzzles and complete missions. The game has a total of 40 missions to complete and the islands are full of secrets for you to explore as the island trains you to be the world's ultimate spy.

  • Game Play: First-Person
  • Comfort Level: Intense
Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Michael Justin Allen Sexton is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers hardware component news, specializing in CPUs and motherboards.
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Obraxis
    "Lucky's Tale is essentially Minecraft for VR."
    Did you even do research? :D
    Reply
  • DotNetMaster777
    Blazerush looks funny !!! this is a game without health and brakes !!!


    Gunjac has an amazing graphic : ) ) try it !!
    Reply
  • Shaun o
    Oh I cannot wait, all of these great VR titles to play on the Rift.
    I will make a fortune selling my Rift VR puke buckets !

    The comfortable version will of course come in a smaller from factor than the Intense puke bucket !
    The intense version of course, guys n girls will hold more content in it lol.

    But seriously though, what do the ratings mean other than interaction and game play content?
    How quick you will get nauseous playing the titles ?

    With labels like comfortable, and Intense experiences.
    It`s almost like there not telling you something based on the amount of time you can physically play each title with that wording.
    Before you start to feel sick or nauseous.
    There are going to be people where that situation arises.
    That we will no doubt see reports on after, a few months of rifts hardware release to the public.
    I`m in no doubt it will become evident.



    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    Seem okay...
    Reply
  • coolronz
    looks very unexciting to me, will not be spending $1000 for only those titles.... its kind of the 3D thing all over again, just not enough content to justify buying anything...
    Reply
  • Keithian
    looks very unexciting to me, will not be spending $1000 for only those titles.... its kind of the 3D thing all over again, just not enough content to justify buying anything...

    You're research, interaction with what's coming, and your foresight are obviously very limited. The applications for this far exceed what 3D offered.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    I just want to understand why there are so many third person games for this. I understand say a RTS, make it like a board style game but anything else seems odd. The whole idea for VR is that you are in that space as you, not seeing it from the outside.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    17732169 said:
    I just want to understand why there are so many third person games for this. I understand say a RTS, make it like a board style game but anything else seems odd. The whole idea for VR is that you are in that space as you, not seeing it from the outside.

    That's what I thought, but the Tomshardware VR expert (forget his username, he writes articles) says that third person is more enjoyable as of now, and that first person causes a lot of motion sickness. I initially thought it does seem odd, but I haven't tried VR so I'm sure if I did my eyes would be opened.

    Being a Crash Bandicoot fan since the PS1 games, I'd be excited to play Lucky's Tale.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    17732437 said:
    17732169 said:
    I just want to understand why there are so many third person games for this. I understand say a RTS, make it like a board style game but anything else seems odd. The whole idea for VR is that you are in that space as you, not seeing it from the outside.

    That's what I thought, but the Tomshardware VR expert (forget his username, he writes articles) says that third person is more enjoyable as of now, and that first person causes a lot of motion sickness. I initially thought it does seem odd, but I haven't tried VR so I'm sure if I did my eyes would be opened.

    Being a Crash Bandicoot fan since the PS1 games, I'd be excited to play Lucky's Tale.

    I will let you know. I do have a Samsung GearVR coming at some point in time (got it free with my S7).
    Reply