Arizona Sunshine combines the narrative power of a fully-featured 4+ hour campaign mode, with the intensity of a wave-based horde mode, and then adds multiplayer to both experiences. The protagonist’s witty humor make it worth recommending on his charming personality alone, with enough depth and variety to keep people coming back for several hours. By doing so many things so well, Arizona Sunshine quickly rose to the top of the pack as the best overall zombie shooter we’ve seen yet in VR.

The solution to Ancient Amuletor’s problem is simple; it just needs a lot more content. It’s like Ti Games established the game’s basic mechanics and then decided that would be enough for a full product. With just a few hours of content on offer it’s hard to recommend this otherwise promising game.

Its atmosphere is dense and engaging and its puzzles capture a strong sense of discovery, resulting in a brilliant blend of gameplay and experience. The flood of VR puzzle games could learn a lot from the foundations that Charm Games has laid here. [Tested with HTC Vive]

The Mage’s Tale is one of the best examples of how to take a tried-and-true existing gaming genre and adapt it for the new VR medium. While it retains plenty of design decisions that make it clear where its roots lie, The Mage’s Tale iterates on principles that truly move the first-person dungeon crawler RPG subgenre forward in big ways. This is easily one of the longest and most involved adventures to grace the VR market thus far and is a must-play for RPG fans.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew is a triumphant recreation of what it means to be on the bridge of an Enterprise-caliber ship from the classic sci-fi universe. If you play with friends then you’re bound to have an amazing time full of laughs, stress, and action. Playing alone is tough, but doable The bulk of your time will likely be spent with the randomized Ongoing Voyages mode since the campaign is brief and shallow. If you’re searching for a game that captures the esoteric and cerebral nature of Star Trek, though, then you’ll be a bit disappointed.

Despite the lack of multiplayer and the horror of ham-fisted progression gates, To The Top is still one of the most singularly fun experiences I’ve ever had inside my VR headset. It’s gameplay is simple, but addictive, and rewards skillful play while never demanding you become an expert all at once. The progression gates are annoying but mostly because they held me back from tearing into more of this truly amazing experience.

Farpoint’s best moments are some of the best slices of entertainment I’ve seen in VR to date. When the action is pumping and the tracking is cooperating, I forget I’m even holding a plastic peripheral at all and truly feel immersed in the world itself. Shooting feels great and the atmosphere is convincing. But then the levels start to feel repetitive, the campaign is a bit brief, and the design limitations rear their ugly head. For better and for worse, based on current capabilities, Farpoint is the game that PSVR deserves -- an exhilarating, but flawed, AAA-quality VR shooter.

Overall Conductor is a good example of the simple thrills that come from VR escape room games. If you find yourself easily frustrated by puzzle games then this is a great example of how to set the right amount of challenge without feeling too easy, and it builds an intriguing world in the process.

GNOG is the video game equivalent of synesthesia. The bright colors are incredible, the simple, but disgustingly clever, puzzles are perfectly designed, and the experience inside the headset is wonderfully presented. However, it’s just such a bizarre and simple game, without anything new to really help it stand out. That it isn’t for everyone. But if you love gorgeous, modern art-style puzzle experiences that challenge your mind, then GNOG could be just your kind of weird.

Despite the occasionally repetitive moment of combat, Wilson’s Heart is a must-play game that elevates narrative, visuals, sound, and gameplay for VR experiences to an entirely new level. Your time as Robert may have been a nightmare, but it’s a nightmare you’ll be eager to revisit again, and again, and again.

Batman: Arkham VR isn’t a terrible VR experience — it even manages to deliver a satisfying twist ending to the short narrative — but it’s a far cry from the type of game fans want or expect. What was shipped here is little more than a tech demo, or a museum of objects and features that are never fully realized. Just as each scene from the game starts to feel like its picking up some steam, it’s over and you’re onto the next vignette of content. Die hard Batman fans will find enough fan service to warrant a purchase, but if you’re looking for an actual game featuring the Dark Knight in VR, then you’re better off waiting a while longer.

The HeroCade bundle on PSVR does a great job of collecting a large amount (nine total!) of games into a single package. They’re all tied together with a loose “narrative” of sorts but about half of them are hardly worth even playing. Dreadhalls and Sisters are easily the best of the lot, but the sheer breadth of games on display is commendable. Worth a grab if you haven’t tried Dreadhalls yet, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the other eight games on their own.

Statik’s sheer invention and fascinating premise are somewhat betrayed by its short length. No two puzzles are the same, and they’re all well-balanced and thought-out trials, but they left me begging for more. Still, that speaks to just how enjoyable an experience this is while it lasts. The game casts a web of intrigue that will pull you in and I suspect have some people picking it apart for even longer than the initial run time. This isn’t quite PSVR’s Portal, but it wouldn’t take much for Tarsier hit that high with a sequel.

Honestly, I don’t know if the world is ready for a game like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard in VR and that’s exactly what makes it so exhilarating.

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.

A fun on-rails shooter that brings back a classic gameplay mechanic tasking you with targeting enemies as you pass them by to rack up points. There are only a handful of levels and it takes just around 30 minutes to play the entire game, so despite the fun, it’s short-lived. Fans of the genre should check this one out, but it’s far from being a must play in the Steam VR library.

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.

VR Ping Pong is a likable take on the popular sport that’s held back by its lack of multiplayer. There’s only so much fun you can have with the AI matches and minigames and, once you’ve had it, there’s little reason to stick around.

John Wick Chronicles feels like it’s exactly what the teams at Starbreeze and Lionsgate intended to create. You feel like a badass while playing it, the overtones of the universe are there, and the action is fun enough to keep you pushing through to the end. In terms of gameplay mechanics, it was fun. But just as you get into it and feel the intensity reaching a point of true adrenaline, it’s all over. There is little reason to come back and the floor is left littered with dead bodies and under-utilized potential. As a result, just like Keanu Reeves himself, it lacks depth.

Though brief, Syren proves itself to be a worthwhile taster of what VR can really do for horror games. While never fully capitalizing on that potential, there are some revelatory moments for the genre here, making you painfully aware of your own self as you hide behind crates and freeze on the spot. That alone helps overlook the short length and handful of bugs and blemishes, and makes Hammerhead VR itself a developer well worth watching.

While VR Golf Online is fun to play, looks pretty for the most part, and has strong core mechanics, it comes off as feeling a little empty. Multiplayer support and more courses are coming soon, however, and it’s certainly not a bad start. It doesn’t offer ultra-realistic simulation-style mechanics, but if you’re after a casual golfing fix in VR, this is certainly not a bad option.

As a VR game this is most often dated and only rarely the eye-opening adventure that a VR game about characters that can climb inside your psyche should be. I’m happy that the Psychonauts are alive and well, however anyone but the series’ most devoted fans should wait until next year for what will hopefully be the coming home party they so truly deserve.

Those frantic moments of shooting action are so thrilling that you are just swept up in it. But after several instances of such moments, the thrill dies and the barebones story and light humor doesn’t elevate the game enough in a meaningful way. You may not have the endurance to keep playing to beat your highscores, earn more stars, and upgrade your weapons — enabling you to beat your highscores and begin the process all over again. But even if you aren’t in the game for the long haul, the initial trip of ~3 hours is quite a ride worth taking.

Paulo’s Wing is a small miracle, a VR game that shows not just how intense and active these experiences can be, but also how you can create a world with the same technology and a simple set of tools. It’s frantic gameplay isn’t the most original, but it’s a strong reminder that wave based games can be fun when not entirely derivative. If you’re looking for some simple sword swinging fun, don’t miss out. [Tested with HTC Vive]

Dying: Reborn PSVR has some fun puzzles to solve, but it’s far too short on substance to recommend to anyone. By carving out sections of the non-VR game, Oasis Games has created something a little like the game’s disturbing fish-headed protagonist; a hollow Frankenstein’s monster, brought to life with left overs. PSVR players deserve better.

If you want your science fiction racing to be more hardcore and realistic, Vector 36 is definitely the game. It starts out slow, but past that initial hump, speeds up considerably and requires mastery of some of the most intensive physics around. Though not perfect and lacking multiplayer, there’s a solid amount of content here with hopefully more on the way.

Unearthing Mars is a difficult game to write about simply because it comes and goes without ever giving you much to go on. By the time the credits roll you’ll already find yourself forgetting what actually happened. Maybe there is life to find on Mars, but you won’t find any here.

There are enjoyable sights and sounds in these brief two chapters, and some thoughtful puzzles that I enjoyed solving. The series is off to a good start, but I’d definitely like to see more consideration given to Rift players if VR support is to continue, and I’d likely recommend waiting for those future episodes before diving in.

Drop Dead is certainly one of the best shooting games on the Gear VR and a capable inclusion in the Rift’s growing library. The solid, smooth performance and accurate targeting make it plenty of fun and the new missions and brand new multiplayer mode add plenty of replay value. More than that though, it’s an excellent homage to the classic light gun games of old.

Rock Band VR is the biggest evolution the franchise has ever seen. The inclusion of the keyboard in Rock Band 3 was interesting and bringing a full compliment of plastic instruments to living rooms around the world with the original was revolutionary for a generation, but now this latest entry truly makes you feel like the star of your very own group. The Classic Mode is merely a shell of its former self, but the new VR features establish a more immersive way of playing the game than ever before. It’s lacking in a few areas, but the core of it all is too fun to ignore.

Fated: The Silent Oath deserves to be experienced not for its lush environments or adventure gameplay, but because it’s one of the few VR games yet that effectively creates a connection between you and the characters around you in a way that’s unique to the medium. Something as simple as nodding your head can spark a powerful reaction both in the game world and, more importantly, inside you. There aren’t many VR experiences that pull that off quite so successful yet and, for that reason alone, Fated is worth your time — even if it is a bit brief.

Once you get past the annoyances of the slow locomotion and uninspired gameplay, it really does start to feel like you’re there, underwater, trudging around trying to find your way. It’s a rare feat in these early years of VR to find the shine of something special, but Narcosis does have the glimmer when you stumble across those perfect moments. If you’re okay with a 2-3 hour adventure that’s a few jump scares spread out between searching for oxygen tanks with an intriguing narrative to guide you through, then Narcosis has enough going for it to be worth a look for some, but not all. [Tested with Rift]

Left to your own devices, this is an enormously enjoyable toybox that succeeds perhaps more than any other VR game in doing one thing: making you smile. But Giant Cop is far from VR’s best game. It’s short campaign is filled with repetitive, tedious tasks that will tire and frustrate more than they ever do engage. There’s still an immense amount of fun to be had in Giant Cop, but it’s got very little to do with what’s been added in the past year. [Tested with Rift]

For both better and worse, Mortal Blitz is effectively Time Crisis in VR. In some ways, it’s the game you dreamed of playing since you first picked up a G-Con gun in 1995; physically taking cover and trading fire with the enemy can be intense and thrilling. At the same time, though, its design is overly simplistic, and lacks the twists and hooks we’ve come to expect as the VR shooter begins to move into its second year. There’s plenty fun to be had here, but it’s dated even by VR’s standards.

Dick Wilde is lucky that it’s a polished and enjoyable wave shooter, because it’s subject matter confuses animal cruelty with comedy resulting in a flat, bizarrely morbid tone. On a strictly mechanical level it’s an enjoyable but unspectacular shooter that I appreciated more for the workout it gave me than anything else. Bolverk Games continues to prove that it can make rock-solid VR experiences from a gameplay perspective, I just wish the team could wrap it in a more agreeable context. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

Korix delivers intense real-time action with an intuitive way to control the chaos. Multiplayer is a real blast as you can see each other’s floating avatar mask to really make it feel like you’re occupying the same space together. The new player experience could use some work, but there’s enough depth here to keep strategy fans busy for a while.

Starblood Arena isn’t a profound expression of the power of VR, but it’s hard not to appreciate a rock solid shooter that will provide hours of multiplayer battles for those willing to put the time in. Ultimately it’s a little too niche to become the definitive multiplayer PSVR game, and the struggles to get into matches aren’t going to please people that threw down $39.99 to play it. But if you’ve got the patience the game will regularly ask of you, you won’t come away disappointed.

Bandit Six: Combined Arms isn’t going be winning any awards for its ambitions, but it’s a harmlessly entertaining PSVR shooter all the same. As simple as it may look, don’t be surprised if you get pulled in by its upgrade systems and accessible gameplay.

A natural evolution of Owlchemy’s “simulated jobs” specialization. The Rick and Morty license enhances the humor that was prevalent throughout Job Simulator and there are some welcome evolutions of Owlchemy’s style, like the addition of a plot and NPC interaction, that you’ll wish were expanded upon a bit more. There’s never a moment that felt uncomfortable or unnatural, even as you step through portals into new spaces.