With its colorful comic book throwbacks, First Impact clearly has the heart of a hero and even the foundation for a good game, but Red Meat Games needed much more time to realize its vision. The game world is buggy, the controls are stiff, and many of the powers feel like they aren’t worth using. Sadly, this is one game that made me feel anything but super.

Scraper: First Strike is a game that initially promises so much, yet never makes good on any of its promises. It offers the most basic mechanical trappings of what could later become a linear action RPG, yet never uses any of its design foundation for means greater than rote tasks and wave shooter combat. And while it continuously implies its intentions to segue into a larger narrative, it never comes close to giving you a reason to care.

There are fun and novel ideas at the center of Siegecraft Commander — such as the unique base building and inventive use of slingshot-style mechanics — but it doesn’t translate well to VR. After playing my neck hurt and I found the controls less than precise. If a bit more polish had been given to the VR integration it could have helped elevate things, but at the end of the day it felt more monotonous than strategically rewarding.

It's hard not to feel disappointed by SOUL COVENANT. Thirdverse has created a somewhat intriguing premise here that's completely squandered by unsatisfactory combat, repetitive gameplay and a lacking narrative that screams of wasted potential. If you're after an anime-inspired fantasy action game, you'd be better off looking at Ruinsmagus; SOUL COVENANT is not worth it.

Good Goliath does what it sets out to do; it’s a simple VR game with an arcade flavour and easy to learn controls. It’s accessible, and that’s good, but it’s also very basic, and that’s bad. The moment to moment gameplay can often feel frustrating as you simply duck and dodge incoming objects and throw them back, but in the boss fights it gives you a glimpse of the technical skill and excellent design that the team is capable of. If Good Goliath had been a boss rush only game it would be far easier to recommend, but it’s sadly just a little too limited to be worth your time if you’ve played much else in VR.

If you are an action junkie just here to wreck enemies, there are better roguelites available in VR with more engaging combat than Street Gods. Even as a power fantasy, the lack of weapon variety, uninspired enemies, repetitive locations, and power-ups make Street Gods a struggle to hold your attention for long.

Flow Weaver is a sometimes entertaining, sometimes frustrating, and wholly forgettable break from reality which, by the end of its short but needlessly stretched-out hour of gameplay, left me ready to escape to some other game. If you love sorcery and you’re jonesing for a chance to cast a few spells in VR, there are certainly better alternatives like Waltz of the Wizard. However, the puzzles offered in Flow Weaver are still worth checking out if you absolutely love the escape room genre. If so, you’ll be rewarded with some genuinely nice looking environments that are easy on the senses.

Drone Striker is a thrill-free, middle of the road on-rails shooter with absolutely nothing to offer anyone on PSVR. It could have served a mediocre filler content for a platform launch, but two years into the ecosystem there’s nothing to see here. Pass.

Despite being one of the first fully “finished” and paid Oculus Quest games with content beyond an alpha testing stage including leaderboards available to purchase on SideQuest, Rest in Pieces is mostly stuck in the past. There is some satisfying progression with a ton of weapons to pick from and upgrade, but getting through the first levels to dig into its depth can test your patience and the frequent performance issues make it hard to recommend in general.

Blind is so keen to out-think the player that it too often leaves you, for lack of a better term, completely in the dark. It’s got some fascinating ideas on how to present blindness in VR that give you just the slightest bit of understanding of what life can be like for people that have no sight. But the infuriating puzzles that often carry solutions far too specific to be truly enjoyed keep it from reaching any deeper meaning.

Front Defense feels like a game that was made without an audience in mind. The dedicated VR users that have enough space (it needs approximately three square meters of room) will have played plenty of VR shooters by now, many that are just better than this. The core gamers a WWII shooter is supposed to appeal to will get bored far too quickly with the lack of depth. And the small sliver of people left in the middle that are hungry enough to buy just another wave shooter will leave disappointed that this isn’t a more complete experience from Vive Studios.

Twilight Path’s gorgeous visuals and massive world aren’t enough to hide the lackluster puzzle solving and brief journey through the spirit world. Since the adventure is over far too soon at barely more than an hour of gameplay, there really isn’t enough here to entice even the most hardcore puzzle gaming fans. Form was an excellent debut VR puzzle adventure for Charm Games, but Twilight Path feels like a step back. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of Twilight Path’s spirit world aren’t the only things about this game that are lifeless.

The lack of proper feedback, the strange glitches (including the ability to shoot through scenery sometimes) and the graphical fidelity simply aren’t good enough to make this game worth your time despite the handful of bright spots. The game is, at the very least, true to its name, it certainly feels like the longest road, despite the incredible short playtime.

In the end, I came away disappointed. A diehard fan of Riven may find appreciation in its meticulous reproduction of a world from their memories, yet even then, it has issues that hold it back, some of which are exacerbated by its otherwise successful shift in perspective. If you’re a newcomer to this world, the choice is obvious: as majestic as its world may be, it’s difficult to recommend.

My heart bleeds for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall. It’s a game of genuinely admirable aspiration that, in many ways, is painfully close to achieving its goals. But every time I started to settle into its gorgeous world and brilliantly over-the-top-lore one of its many issues would make itself known. The combat is a mess in need of a significant overhaul, the UI is fussy and unhelpful, and a string of bugs and puzzle roadblocks kill any sense of momentum. With more time under the hood, a lot of these issues could have been refined and Tempestfall would have been a highlight in a meager year for PC VR releases. As it stands, this offering might be only worthy of Sigmar’s wrath.

Sadly, The Phoenix Gene reads better as a concept than it plays as a game. While the idea of controlling a dragon-like creature through a chaotic multidimensional rail shooter sounds fun, the reality is that the game's let down by confusing controls, outdated visuals and poor design choices that leave it feeling clumsy and sluggish. Unlike Yuki, which delivers similar mechanics in a fast, responsive manner that celebrates the nostalgia of play, The Phoenix Gene somehow makes a chore out of using a toy-like avatar to blast robots into smithereens.

Doom 3: VR Edition is a serviceable port of a decent shooter that was never intended to be played in VR. While there’s undeniable novelty to seeing id’s spookier take on the series realised in full 3D and some combat sequences do work better inside the headset, the game’s unable to separate itself from its flatscreen foundations and never plays to the platform’s real strengths. It’s a bit of VR junk food, then; easy to digest and enjoyable while it lasts but, in the grand scheme of VR gaming, you can do a lot better. Maybe it’s time we accepted Doom’s demonic antics are best left on our PCs and consoles.

While the game may not have felt so frustrating and outdated to players in 2018, it certainly does now. Perhaps even worse, the whole experience feels kind of gimmicky, as if it’s just a fun placeholder to fill time with when you’ve got nothing else to play. The sad news for Fail Factory! is that Quest and Rift owners have much more to play these days and, frankly, they would be better off playing anything besides this.

The novelty of Metal: Hellsinger VR showcases how the original's premise remains strong after two years. Despite having a decent list of visual and accessibility options to improve the experience, the Quest 3 version is heavily compromised by technical shortcomings. The stellar soundtrack is still a good incentive to push through despite everything. But given the current state of this version, you're better off playing Metal: Hellsinger in a non-VR fashion.

I’m struggling to think of a scenario in which I’d recommend The Walking Dead: Onslaught. Functionally, it works, and there are some bright spots here since you get to step foot inside the world of the show and interact with iconic characters — but the compliments mostly stop there. Campaign missions are extremely linear and uninspired, Scavenge runs utilize a ludicrous red fog to represent “The Horde” while you collect random scrap parts, and combat fails to ever give you much of a reason to graduate beyond the basic combat knife. I hate to say it, but The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is just a much better example of how to create an immersive VR world, much better use of the source material, and much better game in general.

Garage Collective delivers another novel throwback with Stones of Harlath, but the retro revival aesthetic is easily the game’s main draw. Combat has some interesting ideas but is largely very basic and there’s very little content here. Garage Collective has something special with its signature art style, but it feels like it’s still searching for the perfect game to match it with.

Despite its good intentions Eden Tomorrow rarely breaks free of its many issues. An intensely disagreeable sidekick, dull pacing and by-the-numbers plotting will put you on autopilot for 90% of the game. There are moments of magic here but, for the most part, Eden Tomorrow is simply a slog.

It’s pretty easy to see through Codename: Phantom’s disguise; what initially looks like a fun skill-based shooter turns out to be repetitive, uninspired and short-lived. If you want to feel like Bond in VR, there’s a better game I expect you to buy.

Despite some encouraging art direction and a well-crafted, evolving soundtrack, The Foglands is otherwise difficult to recommend. Offering a gameplay loop that feels listless and repetitive from the very beginning, The Foglands disappears under the pantheon of other roguelike titles without innovating or excelling on any level.

As gorgeous and well-intentioned as it may be, it’s tough to recommend Rhythm of the Universe: Ionia in its current form. There are moments of splendor in this opening act, but they’re far too fleeting and around a third of the incredibly short 45-minute runtime is spent watching its world instead of interacting with it. ROTU will have its work cut out for it in future episodes if this series is to bounce back from this underwhelming first installment but, for what it’s worth, we’re rooting for it.

One of the most beloved aspects of the Civilization series is how it makes 4X strategy accessible and unusually nice to look at, at least compared to its many bureaucratic peers in the genre. This port sacrifices both of those defining facets without any meaningful consolation. Civilization VII VR is a good enough proof of concept that is desperately in need of its own flavour. Sure, it works, but at what cost?

In 2018 I said A-Tech Cybernetic: “is a sci-fi zombie shooter that, simply put, feels great to play and has an actual campaign. That’s not something you can say all that often in VR.” Well, you can say that pretty often now, and that’s one wave of enemies A-Tech Cybernetic can’t fend off.

Justice League VR just isn’t designed for the home headset space; its collection of short minigames are uninspired and often frustrating to play. It makes becoming your favorite heroes feel limp and wanting. Don’t spend money on this shoddy marketing tool and, if you’re going to IMAX’s VR centers anytime soon, pick something else to play.

Separation is a game with something to say, it just spends too long trying to say it. While I wanted to fall for its wistful mountain climbs and poignant canyon descents, I became too frustrated with its tedious core treasure hunt to stop and pay its wider implications much mind. I suspect that some will make those connections, lost in the game’s alluring fog, but many more will be done with this pilgrimage long before it’s over.

Space Channel 5 VR should have been a glorious return to form, but this cult hit series can’t keep up with the beat set by its competitors. The surprisingly brief campaign coasts on by without ever pushing your skills and, once it’s over, there’s very little else to do. Ulala and co are long overdue a return to the main stage, but this isn’t it.

A painfully dull test of endurance, Time Carnage is as lifeless as VR wave shooters come. Even for an over-saturated genre, this is surprisingly devoid of invention; stand in place, shoot hordes of incoming attackers, unlock a new gun, do it all again. There is at least enough functional content to save the game from reaching Pixel Gear levels of travesty, but there are many, many other wave shooters you should play instead of this.

To succeed in the multiplayer VR market in 2020, you need to be red hot. Frostpoint, however, arrives frozen stiff.

Gungrave U.N. is a leaner version of an already short game with utterly vapid side-scrolling sections and the same dated design as its predecessor. Don’t do it to yourself.

Gungrave was a poorly received shooter in 2002. 16 years on, Gungrave VR copies and pastes its mechanics, tacks on pointless VR support and builds about 50 minutes worth of new content into the game. That’s not exactly a recipe for a runaway hit, is it?

All you'd need is some gore, darker lighting, a little harrowing music, and this could be a reverse horror game. In fact, a lot of these design decisions would make more sense if it was. Instead, it's a repetitious, contradictory, confused letdown. Little Thief's premise should make for a great game, but it fumbles its execution, much like its virtual cop fumbles at keeping his trousers on.

Part of me would like to give Tarzan VR a higher score than this because, in all honestly, the game provided plenty of entertainment as I tried to decipher the many missteps its creators took, leaving the laws of the jungle to crumble around me and let anarchy ensue. But, while this madness might be enough to save the game from boredom, it is ultimately a paper-thin and unacceptably short experience that hopes to hide its lack of depth with its surreal take on the Tarzan lore. You’ll definitely remember the name of Tarzan VR, but not for the reasons you’d expect.