Christopher Atwood
Syren is an interesting survival horror game that lacks the polish to come together as a quality title.
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot is too light on content to make it worth the price, and what it does well is overshadowed by clunky locomotion and a lack of attention to detail in both level design and VR implementation. Ultimately, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot feels like a tech demo more than a full length VR experience.
Killing Floor: Incursion is a VR game that's so close to being good that it's upsetting how bad it actually is.
Galak-Z: Variant S is an interesting mobile 2D action space adventure that feels right at home on the Switch as a casual title for playing on the way to work or on the train. Unfortunately, although the art style and gameplay are well put together and fun to play, the microtransactions severely hinder the experience.
As it stands right now Psychonauts In The Rhombus of Ruin is a fun little VR game that offers a few hours of entertainment but doesn't nearly live up to its potential. If you're a fan of the franchise and already own a good VR headset it's more than worth the $20, but for anyone looking for more will probably be disappointed.
Budget Cuts is a fun VR game that creates an interesting, engaging world that's worth exploring, but only if Neat Corporations can iron out the bugs that mar an otherwise fun experience.
Crazy Machines 3 delivers on the machines and delivers on the crazy, and although it isn't for everyone there's a select group that'll love and cherish it despite its quirks. Unfortunately, it’s missing a hook, and has just enough quirks in the core gameplay that makes it frustrating for anyone outside that group. And a lot of cool ideas are held back by a few frustrating gameplay mechanics that need to be ironed out before Crazy Machines 4.
Although Transference is an interesting narrative horror game, it struggles to carve out a space as a VR game and a traditional title. The story is undeniably something worth experiencing, but the gameplay is lackluster enough that more often than not it serves as a barrier to experiencing what Transference does best.
Aeon is a VR shooter that will appeal to gamers who enjoy a serious challenge. It's much less casual-friendly than similar VR titles and will cause frustration for some, but for the right kind of player they'll find hours of enjoyement to be had.
Despite a tendency to force the player to work through a number of repetitive activities Dragon's Dogma delivers innovative, action-packed boss fights and the occasional twist in the story to keep things interesting. Graphically Dragon's Dogma isn't doing anything special, but for a game originally developed on the previous generation of consoles it delivers a satisfying gameplay experience on the PC.
State of Decay 2 feels like it's trying too hard to force the player to do too much. There's no way for the player to really control the way they absorb the experience and more than a few of the mechanics break the careful relationship the rest of the game tries to foster. Overall, it's the kind of game that you want to love, but that needs a lot of work.
Fallout 76 might have a bright future ahead of it, but ultimately, Fallout 76 is a multiplayer survival game set in the Fallout universe, not a Fallout game where you get to play with your friends.
A Way Out is a fun ride that shows off a great cooperative experience, an interesting story, and some of the coolest camera work to ever grace a video game. It's an extremely smooth experience with very few rough edges. That said, it lacks some of the content we've come to expect from interactive stories, which makes it a fun ride, but not something that you'll likely return to again and again.
DOOM VFR delivers a fun VR experience that gives you a tiny taste of an excellent meal, a meal that's full of stunning visuals, demon stomping, and a satisfying blend of upgrades and the weapons we know and love from the DOOM universe. Unfortunately, a few bugs and some questionable design choices mar an otherwise fantastic VR game.
Seeking Dawn is a somewhat flawed but overall incredibly enjoyable VR title. Graphically it's one of the best sci-fi VR games we've ever dived into, and overall the shooting and exploration prove that Seeking Dawn is much more than a pretty face. With around 14 hours of gameplay packed into a $40 package it's one of the longer VR experiences on the market and worth playing through solo or with friends.
Jurassic World Evolution is imagination candy for anyone that loves the movies, and despite its flaws it's worth playing if you're looking for a relaxing experience building a theme park full of dinosaurs. It's the perfect combination of engaging objectives and micromanagement to kick back and lose yourself in.
All in all Automatron is a good bite of DLC, not a huge sandwich like we're used to seeing from Bethesda and not out of the norm for the current DLC market. But like a lot of good bites, it leaves us wanting more.
Blood and Truth is a shining example of what happens when a talented team of developers carve out their own niche in the VR genre. It's a hectic walk through a wild world of guns, mercenaries, and car chases that's more than worth your time.
Far Cry: New Dawn is a well-put-together Far Cry title that does a great job of bringing the story of Hope Count to a satisfying conclusion. It's fun for all the reasons Far Cry is fun with some addictive survival and base-building elements that shake up the formula just enough to make New Dawn stand well on its own.
All in all, The Exorcist: Legion VR is an incredibly enjoyable, but short VR experience that shows off just how much fun VR horror can be with proper sound design and attention to detail. You may not want to play this game over and over again, but for a short, five chapter horror story it's undeniably engaging, and more importantly, scary as hell.