2016 Holiday Season: The Virtual Reality Gift Guide

(VR Games Cont)

HTC Vive

Fallout 4 – Release TBA

If we're going to talk Vive, why not start out strong with Fallout 4? The biggest piece of E3 news of 2016 was Bethesda's in-house focus on VR. The Bethesda games are always either third-or-first person, but usually, best played in first-person due to the tightness of controls. The possibilities with the Vive with its ability to register walking and their precise controllers, the possibilities with Fallout 4 are huge.

There are no further details about whether there will be a specific VR version of the game, or if it will be a patch for the original, but we do know it will be here somewhere in 2017.

Job Simulator – $39.99​

Good news! Job Simulator actually comes with the HTC Vive if you buy it new! As such, it's the perfect testing grounds for the Vive's motion controls.

The game is set in the future where humans are no longer in control… but their robot overlords are. Humans (you) are stuck doing menial labor such as making lunch, cashiering at a grocery store, and mundane office work. Sound boring? It isn't! Job Simulator somehow makes these tasks fun while the robots constantly poking fun at your meat flesh.

Fantastic Contraption – $39.99​

Rub Goldberg machine, the game. Need more of a description than that? Alright, in Fantastic Contraption, players must use ingenuity and experimentation to achieve specific objectives. Usually, this means reaching a specific spot on a map or moving an object to a certain goal.

The coolest part about Fantastic Contraption is that they took disabilities into considering while designing the game. They made sure the game was playable for those who may not have full degrees of motion.

Vanishing Realms – $19.99​

Vanishing Realms is a first-person RPG for the HTC Vive. Instead of your typical dungeon crawl filled with mashing the attack button and occasional magic button, Vanishing Realms has the player using motion controls to swing swords, block hits and crouching under danger.

This game is in early access but works in an easily consumable way. Releasing in chapters, each chapter adds more features (and story, of course) as it goes. So the development cycle feels similar to the natural progress of a game.

That's all we've got! But this should be more than enough to help those who are deciding on what virtual reality headset to get. For future VR news, be sure to stick with GameZone!

(VR Games Cont.)

Playstation VR

RIGS Mechanized Combat League – $49.99, playstation.com | Amazon

RIGS seems to be part Titanfall, part Rocket League all encased in a VR headset. There's drivable combat robots, major league sports elements,and first-person multiplayer shooting.  You see everything from inside the mech, which plays really nicely with VR, and turn your head to aim. There are 24 RIG (mechs) to choose from and so far, two modes to play in: Deathmatch and Football mode.

We wouldn't be surprised to see this up there with the same crowd that loves Rocket League once VR takes off.

Batman Arkham VR – $19.99 playstation.com | Amazon​​

The Arkham series has been mostly stellar. The Arkham series ran on the idea of being Batman. But looking back, you just controlled the Bat. With Arkham VR, you literally get to be the Bat. This game, at least its premise, is what VR is for. At the very least, taking existing IPs and creating a VR experience with them from the ground up is an excellent way to bring people into virtual reality.

While the Arkham games focused on combat with some small (but awesome) detective features, Batman Arkham VR focuses on the detective aspects of Batman. There are some combat aspects, but it's like the switched the focus from the main series, which works out well with virtual reality. Unlike Arkham proper, this game plays itself like a murder mystery and is slow paced and moody, which is perfect for a new VR player. This is our unofficial must-have for PlayStation VR.

Thumper – $19.99, thumperthegame.com​

Another heavy hitter. Remember how we stated PlayStation VR has a small number of great, polished games? Thumper is no exception. The game resembles something straight out of a slowly building nightmare, but one of those cool nightmares where you can control it and be really awesome. Dubbed a "Rhythm violence" game, Thumper is and intense rhythm game where you must match the drum beat similar to Rock Band, but there are fewer notes and every mistake is critical.

You control a bug… car… thing down a track towards a monster than only a troubled mind could imagine. Dodging obstacles places at a certain rhythm in the road and attacking the monster with other beats wins the game. It's relatively hard but so tense (thanks to the action-movie-trailer style music) that losing feel less disappointing.

Resident Evil VII Biohazard – Release TBA​

Remember how Resident Evil 6 was met with mixed reviews, including the complaints about it not being "horror" enough? Resident Evil 7 Biohazard seems to say message received. It really looks like it took a note from the teaser from Konami PT for the now defunct sequel to the Silent Hill series. That gap needed to be filled and it looks like Capcom is ready to fill it.

It can currently be played without a PlayStation VR headset, but the full experience can be achieved with one and those who are fans of horror games shouldn't miss out. The best part, while this game isn't out in time for Christmas, it does launch on January 24, very soon after.

VR Games​

This is a list of VR games categorized by platform. Some are currently out, and some are coming soon, but all of them will be notated as such.

Oculus Rift​

Lone Echo – Release TBA, Readyatdawn.com​

Ready At Dawn brings Lone Echo to life for the Oculus. It uses full advantage of the Touch controllers on this space-faring adventure. It actually feels like you're in space, but without the terrible VR sickness many games used to be plagued with in Oculus's beta stages.

Robo Recall – Release TBA, Epicgames.com​

This one actually looks really fun and funny. Robo Recall from Epic Games (Gears of War) has you stuck in the middle of a recall-gone-wrong for a new top-of-the-line robot model. They have this pesky issue where they try to murder you! Good thing you can shoot at them, tear their robot appendages off and even use them as shields. This game definitely uses the Touch controller to its potential.

Minecraft – Free Beta, minecraft.net | Oculus Store​

You know if Minecraft is available on a system, it's automatically going to be worth playing! You get the same game you're used to, but then you add virtual reality capabilities to it! Is there really much else to say here? Oculus + Minecraft fan = No Brainer.

Chronos – $39.99, gunfiregames.com | Oculus Store​​

Some have probably said they don't want VR because they think it's a gimmick; that "real" games won't use VR. Chronos aims to disprove that. As a dungeon crawling RPG, Chronos aims to be that first Oculus RPG that sets the standard for others. Its other unique mechanic plays with time. Every time you die in the dungeon you age a year and your skills and abilities also change, making every new attempt at the dungeon different.

We recently learned that the PlayStation VR was selling substantially lower than Sony had previously expected. But the reason for this isn't because VR is lacking, but rather the PlayStation is lacking in VR titles. Virtual  Reality is actually pretty great, but the good titles need to be found through the piles. If a VR headset is on you or a loved one's wish list, let this guide help you make a decision!

VR Headsets

Oculus Rift – $599 oculus.com | Amazon

The Oculus Rift was the first headset to start this new wave of VR craze. Developed by Palmer Luckey and Kickstarted via Kickstarer.com, the Oculus Rift plugs into a computer's DVI and USB ports and tracks head movements to show a 3D image on stereo screens.

It projects an image with 2160 x 1200 resolution and works at 233 million pixels per second. Its refresh rate is 90Hz. It matches the HTC Vive (covered later) in terms of refresh rate, but neither has the refresh rate as the Playstation VR (also covered later). However, since the Oculus Rift is a PC exclusive, for the time being, it's power is only held back by the latest PC specs. Thus it potentially has more power than the PlayStation VR headset.

The Oculus Rift will very soon have the Oculus Touch controller. Originally, the Rift could be coupled with an Xbox One controller, but it will soon come with its own dedicated controller better to sync with the headset's capabilities.

Sony PlayStation VR – $399 sony.com | Amazon

As mentioned before, the PlayStation VR's sales have been substantially lower than Sony had predicted, and it's because of their lack of substantial games. The Vive and the Oculus Rift have the advantage of being on PC where indie developers can develop and launch games on markets like Steam. PlayStation developers have a few more hoops to jump through before being able to launch a game on the platform.

The hope is that the PlayStation VR being backed exclusively by Sony themselves will lend itself to quality Triple-A VR titles, but being that it's new and huge endeavors like Uncharted take a long time and money, this hasn't happened in the numbers it has for the other two headsets. The PlayStation VR would be more of a future investment. The fact that it's the cheapest on the market right now also helps, coming at only $399.

HTC Vive – $799 htcvive.com | Amazon​

The HTC Vive was created in collaboration with Valve, the people behind Steam.  As such, it is a PC exclusive and officially the Mercedes of VR headsets. It plugs into a PC and works in conjunction with Steam.

The price is the only negative part about the HTC Vive because the specs are actually quite amazing. It comes packed with 70 sensors to offer a 360-degree head tracking as well as a 90Hz refresh rate. It has multiple indie developers working on games for it, as well as some bigger names, so it's not short on titles, though many are experimental unlike the PlayStation VR's polished, though technically inferior experience. Make no mistake, the HTC Vive is built for those who like to experiment and tinker and less for those looking to simply pick up and play.

The HTC Vive also sets itself apart by having the ability to not only move your head, but move your body around the room as well with the help of the Lighthouse room tracking system. This does require mounting sensors in a room with no obstructions to trip over while gaming. Again, the Vive is arguably the most advanced headset out there, but the requirements needed will make it a debate on which headset one should get.

(Continue for VR game titles!)