SteamVR: the games of HTC Vive

Virtual Reality is finally here, and the best experience you can have with it is right now is currently the Valve-backed HTC Vive headset. It might not be cheap, but it has the potential to deliver some incredible and ground-breaking experiences (you can read our review of the headset here). Below we've detailed a few of the games that have caught our attention for whatever reason whilst playing around with the Vive. Looking ahead we'll continue to update it as and when we have an experience we feel worth telling you about, so stay tuned for more adventures in VR.

#SelfieTennis

There aren't any games on this list quite as trippy as SelfieTennis. If you were to take mushrooms and play tennis, it'd be something like this (we assume, naturally). Basically it's a single-player endeavour that has you hitting the ball, before teleporting to the far side of the court so you can play a return shot. It can be a bit disorientating shifting between locations as you build up a rally. The alternative to playing this gut-wrenching version of tennis is to take aim at the weird looking figures standing at the side of the court, who fall over hilariously if they get hit with the ball. That might even be more fun than playing properly.

Elite Dangerous

Frontier's expansive space sim is a great example of an existing game that fits VR brilliantly. While it's not for the faint of stomach, the sense of place inside the cockpit of your spacecraft is incredible, with the Lighthouse sensors tracking your head movements and bringing up the relevant in-craft menus when you face a certain direction. The Vive really makes it feel like you're sitting in your seat as you pilot the craft (naturally you can see the cabin behind you if you turn around far enough), and as this is a game that prides itself on offering players a genuine-feeling space simulation, VR is a natural fit.

The Lab

It might just be a collection of short experiences, but The Lab stands as the best VR experience you can currently have with the Vive. Slingshot is an Angry Birds-type game themed around Portal, and Robot Repair has a similar Portal-ish tone. Longbow is a hugely entertaining game where you take out growing numbers of enemies as they try to knock down the gate to your castle. You can step into Dota's Secret Shop, walk around in Solar System, even check out Human Medical Scan. We've saved the best for last though: in Xortex you're controlling a ship with your hand and avoiding incoming projectiles in an addictive arcade game that evokes classics like Space Invaders and Defender.

Project CARS

Slighty Mad Studios has just added VR support for Vive into their excellent racing sim. The code has improved quite a bit, the draw distance is a lot better, and you actually do always see which direction you need to drive in. The cockpit view puts you right into the driver's seat and leaves quite an impression. It's a lot of fun being able to navigate a track and follow through with your head movements, but dizziness and nausea will affect some people. You do get used to it it should be said. We most enjoyed playing it from the perspective that lets you see the whole car, which is surprisingly addictive in VR (and didn't turn our stomachs). However, as an experience it's not quite there yet, and the lower resolution kills it a bit.

Final Approach

This is the de facto VR version of the fantastic iOS app Flight Control. You basically walk around (and right through) a large tabletop airport. You then have to use the controllers to swipe where you want your planes to land. Sometimes you have to go down to ground level to help extinguish burning planes or chasing off seagulls that rest on the runways. It gets quite hectic rather quickly, but the overall experience is well made and very entertaining.

TheBlu

If there's a better demo for VR we've not seen it. It might be short, but it offers a great experience that perfectly shows off the power of virtual reality. You get into your diving suit and are able to experience a reef with all kinds of lifeforms swimming about the place. You can see a large whale passing you by, or go down into the midnight zone and gaze at glowing fish. It might be rather short, but it's also very impressive. Not a game mind, but still a fantastic app.

Fantastic Contraption

As the name implies, this is a sort of weird machine creation game. The basic idea is to use an array of materials to build something that is able to reach a goal somewhere else in the level. The problem is, reaching the goal gets more complicated and so you have to "invent" new ways of getting there. It's a very well made experience, slow and colorful, but it has the potential to keep you going for quite a long time if you get the hang of it.

Realities

This is another experience, but a perfect example of what VR can do. It let's us walk through various real environments to experience them. This could mean walking through Berlin's super creepy sanatorium/hospital "Beelizter Heilstätten" that was used both by the Nazis and the Soviets (and where a model was murdered during a photo shoot in 2008), or go see a cathedral or a french grotto that has been used by people for way over 10,000 years. Again, not a game, but we agree with Mark Rein, Co-founder of Epic Games: "This is f*cking awesome!"

Radial G: Racing

If you're after a Wipeout-esque racer to play in VR then look no further than this. The pace is frantic, but the action is smooth, and whilst it can leave you feeling a little on the funny side after a lengthy run, for the most part it didn't twist our stomaches in knots too much. Players race in craft that cling to the sides of almost spherical race tracks, sliding over speed boosts and dodging obstacles that will slow you down if you get sloppy. It's not the most nuanced racer we've ever played, but it's worth a spin if you're after some high-octane racing in VR.

Universe Sandbox 2

You might be able to explore our solar system in a mini-game in The Lab, but that's nothing compared to what you can do in Universe Sandbox. Like some of the other titles listed here, this isn't a game in the traditional sense, but for fans of space and exploration, it's dazzling stuff. It's also a great VR option for someone who isn't a traditional gamer. Now, leave us alone, we've got planets to fling into other planets.

Cloudlands: VR Minigolf

We're not sure you'd want to play local multiplayer and swap the headset between friends, but even as a solo endeavour this little game works great and it's not long before the courses get suitably challenging, and you're knocking the ball around corners, between levels, and through obstacle courses.