Operation Chromite 1950 has a fascinating premise that, like so many other VR shooters, is betrayed by underwhelming design. The handful of levels never amount to anything other than a disconnected, thrill-free shooting gallery and the game never really shows you why the conflict you’re aiding is so important. This could have been something to replace the history books, but it’s better left in the flood of Steam shovelware.

Subnautica is a very, very, very good game for fans of the survival genre. There is a near endless deluge of things to do and see and a vast, dangerous ocean to explore. It’s not uncommon to alternate between sheer dread and speechless wonder as you make your through this underwater wonderland. However, lackluster VR support and an overall density problem in terms of complexity and lack of direction at times hold Subnautica back from true greatness.

End Space isn’t the best VR space combat game I’ve played. It lacks the polish of similar games like House of the Dying Sun and doesn’t have multiplayer dogfights like EVE: Valkyrie, but what it lacks in professional touch it more than makes up for with ambition and a strong core design principle. Fans of space combat that are yearning for a single player affair on PSVR (or Gear VR) should definitely check this one out.

BlackShield: Uropa Story has a solid foundation beneath it, but it’s yet another VR shooter let down by the lack of content and overly simplistic design. The fact of the matter is that, were this a standard shooter, there’d be very little in the way of identity or innovation here, and adding VR support into the mix just isn’t enough of a differentiator to grant excitement.

The Inpatient has a great premise with excellent production values, but its hampered by poor controls and lackluster character development. As a prequel to Until Dawn, it does a great job of fleshing out the lore a bit more, but it’s a bit short to really stand on its own. That being said, the moments that are there and the scares that they produce are totally worth experiencing. Plus, more games should absolutely adopt the voice recognition dialog feature going forward.

Front Defense: Heroes is certainly much better than its poorly conceived wave shooter sibling, Front Defense, but it still feels a bit unfinished. It’s a shame it still doesn’t have smooth locomotion, but even in its current form it scratches a bit of an itch for VR shooter fans by delivering something a bit more casual and arcadey in design than its competitors.

I won’t say I didn’t have fun watching a watermelon explode after my grenade blew up around aisle 5, because I totally did, but after the first six or seven levels it all kind of starts to feel the same. If these sections and mechanics had been part of an otherwise much larger game or were “action” pieces of an experience that consisted of narrative and puzzle elements as well, it would feel like a more compelling package. But as it stands — a wave shooter mixed with simple humor and grocery store mechanics — Shooty Fruity just isn’t sweet enough.

LA Noire VR is a special kind of VR game that we’ve yet to see on any platform. With a massive, sprawling open world that’s laid out before players, waiting to be explored, the sense of scale is wonderful — even if the world itself is empty and lifeless. Interrogations, crime scenes, and action moments all feel great, but they’re too few and far between with only seven total cases. But given the scope and abbreviated implementation of one of gaming’s most unique properties, LA Noire VR is an absolutely riveting adventure.

All in all Fallout 4 VR is good, but not the amazing experience I was hoping it would be. It’s fun, expansive and ambitious, yet also flawed and wonky. And while it’s not a total bomb, it didn’t completely blow me away, either. Bethesda game are like a big, clumsy factotum friend who you can forgive for not being perfect because they do so many things so well. Fallout 4 VR has its share of problems, but I found myself wanting to jump right back in after a few hours away from the wasteland to see what I could uncover next. I know I’ll be playing this for weeks if not months to come, and hopefully some of the graphical and Touch control issues will be addressed in a future update.

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.

Left-Hand Path is just as ambitious as it is unpolished. It’s extremely rough around the edges across the board from visuals to sound design, but it packs enough creativity to be worth your while if you’re a sucker for dark-themed RPGs. The rune-based spell system is satisfying to master and the high difficulty level sets it apart from its contemporaries. It’s just a shame that the slightly janky execution holds it back from being even better.

Thanks to 360 degree tracking and a superior button layout (as well as improved visuals), Doom VFR on Vive is a noticeably better experience on PC than on PSVR. The lack of smooth locomotion with the Vive controllers definitely hurts, but the game sets its own unique pace with the teleportation-based combat that regularly succeeds in making you into a demon-murdering action star. That said, there’s still no getting around the fact this is a short game with recycled content that feels cut down and repackaged rather than fresh and innovative. There’s a fun afternoon of thrills here, but we want VR to take us even deeper into hell.

While Skyrim VR made a great case for the VR port, Doom VFR brings us back to the drawing board. On PSVR, the game has its moments, largely thanks to the foundations it was built upon with the 2016 original. In the end, though, the real fight is with its awkward control setups that eventually led me back to play with just a standard gamepad. Though the foundations of a hugely enjoyable shooter are intact, VFR’s struggle with the platform’s limitations makes it feel like the VR support is holding it back more than anything.

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.

For fans of the series that own a PSVR, Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is the perfect spin-off. There is enough fan service to keep you smiling and enough original content plus exciting gameplay to make it fun in its own right. Surprisingly, Square Enix was able to craft an addictive fishing game that lets us see brand new sides of beloved characters and really feel like part of the team.

For a game that wasn’t originally designed for VR at all and has been ported first to the least powerful of the big three VR platforms in the PSVR, Skyrim VR is nothing short of impressive. This really is the Skyrim that you know and love, but now you can enjoy it like never before with the immersive presence of a VR headset. With a large variety of control schemes to choose from and hundreds of hours of content, this is a game that all RPG fans should play as long as you can look past the sometimes glaring issues. And if you don’t own a PSVR yet, luckily there’s a new Skyrim VR bundle with your name on it.

From Other Suns is an ambitious VR title that gets a lot right. Fans of sci-fi are going to find a lot to love here and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing cooperative VR to date. There is an immense amount of content and enough variety to mostly prevent things from feeling too stale. The real test for replayibility in a game like From Other Suns though is going to be how well Gunfire can support it post launch and how much the community embraces it.

Stifled is a one-of-a-kind horror game that’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. The use of sound to allow you to see the world around you but also alert your enemies creates a terrifying and suspensful dynamic that left me quivering in my shorts. The pacing isn’t perfect and some other pieces felt lacking, but the core premise of Stifled is so very strong it’s impossible not to recommend it. This game should be experienced by anyone that wants to see how VR as a medium can transform the way we interact with video games.

I enjoyed much of the time I spent with Skyworld, but it has some big problems, and I probably won’t play again, at least not any time soon. Skyworld has some good ideas, but ultimately its full potential is unrealized. I applaud Vertigo for trying something new, but when it comes down to it, VR doesn’t really enhance a board game and simple strategy experience like this, and it often became more tedious and convoluted than fun.

Croteam has done yet another excellent job of bringing one of its past successes to VR; The Talos Principle feels right at home inside your headset. If you’ve never played the game and have a Rift and Vive then this is absolutely one of the best puzzle games to play in VR right now. If you’ve already wrapped you brain around it once, though, it’s tough to recommend revisiting the game in VR. While comprehensive, the game’s VR support is additive at best, enhancing the experience only in a superficial way. Still the same great game, then, but only worth the trip for some.

The Gallery’s second episode isn’t a great deal bigger than the first, but it’s a heck of a lot richer. You won’t visit many more locations or even spend dramatically longer with it, but the entire package feels grander and more considered. Though it’s still very much one installment in something much bigger, it’s evolved to meet our heightened expectations of the second year of VR content, and yet again left us begging for more. This is one adventure you won’t regret going on.

Megaton Rainfall may not be the most immersive VR experience out there, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play and often jaw-dropping to behold. It’s a new type of superhero game that comes up with an elegant solution to the problem of giving the player too much power and is always waiting to show you new ideas. In terms of sheer playability, it’s one of the best games to hit PSVR in a while.

Overall, Space Pirate Trainer is a lot of fun and addictive, and features great mechanics, but it’s also a bit vanilla and predictable. It’s done well, but with myriad VR wave shooters to choose from now, it doesn’t stand out as novel or overly exciting. What it is, though, is a solid, energetic VR wave shooter that continued to challenge me and made me come back to try and get my initials emblazoned on the various leaderboards. Just like my old arcade days, I found myself saying “Let me try just one more time to get my initials on the board.”

Million Arthur is a passable card battler that struggles to find purpose in VR. Though its combat system may be engaging on a basic level, the hefty amount of story told through virtual screens, lack of interactivity in its virtual worlds and the unwelcome sting of in-app purchases left me wondering why Square Enix didn’t choose a better-fitting game for its first VR JRPG port. A very niche audience might find something to love about Million Arthur, but it’s got very little to say about what VR can do for the JRPG. Stick to Dragon Front instead.

Arktika.1 is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, it’s an extremely polished shooter with a longer-than-average campaign (for VR) and a structure closer to more traditional entries into the genre rather than the many wave-based alternatives available on headsets. On the other, its repetitive missions, unbalanced weapons and upgrade system and limited locomotion eventually took their toll, resulting in initially exciting levels with diminishing returns. The search for VR’s shooter king continues.

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope combines frenetic action, testosterone-laden humor and beautiful graphics into a solid VR package that kept me coming back for more punishment. It has few minor blemishes and may not have lasting power for some gamers, but ultimately it’s one of the best VR wave shooters you can play. Now where did I put that rocket launcher?

The Invisible Hours is unlike anything else you’ll play or watch in VR this year; a genuinely enthralling murder mystery boldly told in an entirely new way. Its character-driven drama is near faultless not just in the dialogue and plotting but also in the superb staging and pacing that brings the world to life. It’s an experiment that pays off in spades and could well provide a template for VR storytelling to come.

Despite first releasing all the way back in July 2016, Raw Data stands above the many, many wave shooters that have succeeded it, with lavish production values, plentiful play options and the stylish blockbuster action that many of us envisioned when first putting on a VR headset. That said, the game never shatters the ominous glass ceiling of this restrictive genre; it’s an absolute masterclass in what makes wave-based combat tick, but just as much a case study for its limitations. Not quite the ultimate VR experience, then, but a pretty good starting point.