A Virtual Reality Awaits Vol. 6

Geoffrey Wright | March 24, 2023 | Feature | No Comments

The recent Spring sale on Steam left my pockets a little dry, but my VR library bursting at the seams with fresh games to play – even finally got around to picking up Half Life: Alyx, yet to start it tho. There’s still several games to get even if I did buy like 20 new ones, but those can be had on the next sale. Also finally got around to making some space for room scale or enjoying standing stuff with a bit more freedom, so the games should get more varied going forward too. Lets see what I have for you this week.

Until You Fall

With finally getting around to clearing some space for room scale stuff, thought it would be best to start easy with some games more attuned to standing. Already having the likes of W40K: Battle Sister showed having more space certainly helps, so I looked for something new. Originally intended to get GORN, but went with Until You Fall first.

Now I’ve started to play them I’m really starting to enjoy these melee focused VR games if this is anything go by. You pretty much start off in small areas with a few enemies to take down before moving, clearing the section grants a bonus alongside other bonuses for when you fall. The early foes aren’t much, just charge em down and hack away. Once armoured foes turn up and the numbers attacking you rise, things get interesting. Your swords are also your defence, as well as some abilities, so blocking enemy attacks where shown and then working your own counter attack becomes paramount. It can take its toll physically, a few stages of intense combat is enough to get the blood pumping like a mild workout. Luckily you can just take a quick break before moving onto the next section, also gives you a chance to appreciate the nice neon drenched visuals, or you can just take a knee and let the enemies finish you off.

With the roguelike being available for a couple years now its no surprise to see the price has dropped on key sites (usually around £10) but even then if you missed recent sales and get via steam (£19.49) you will be getting your monies worth. Not something you will play for long sessions, but 30 minutes to an hour here and there will keep you entertained for the long run.

Project Wingman

Cockpit based games are usually the easiest to get in to for VR given the relatively stationary experience, so you can find plenty of simulations for all manner of vehicles to play. There isn’t many air combat based games that take a less simulation focus aside from a few on VR though, Ace Combat stayed a PSVR exclusive unfortunately, so that’s where the likes of Project Wingman come in.

Playing like a distant cousin to Ace Combat, this game takes a little more of an accessible approach to its control/flight to make it easy to pick up & play. Pick your plane, choose a few weapons and then start to mission to get dropped in post take-off just as the mission begins. Missions will see you taking on land, sea, and air foes, so it can still . Best thing thou is the planes themselves. Each has its own stats for a different feel, but the unique cockpits give each its own personality too. The aircraft you start with has a nice open cockpit with plenty of view to ease you in, the MIG I bought afterwards was far more claustrophobic and you really had to make the most of its reduced field of view.

Given the recent PSVR2 announcement the game seems to be in & out of stock of late on key sites, but can usually be had for less than a tenner when in stock. I grabbed it last year during a Steam sale for around the same price and it can’t really be beat for that if you want a VR Ace Combat style fix.

Minotaur Arcade Volume 1

When I finished up Akka Arrh I decided to check out Llamasofts other games and there was a bundle up that had a few not in my library (including the awesome Tempest style offshoot Space Giraffe) Minotaur Arcade Volume 1 was one of the games too that drew my interest as it has VR support.

The funky name somewhat masks expectations of the two separate game experiences on offer, a platformer in Goatup and an old arcade shooter called Gridrunner. To be honest Goatup at first seems a little weak for VR, but once your rhythm gets synced and the usual psychedelic sprinklings start its easy to forget, also is at least a nice chill for when other games get too intense in the headset. It doesn’t really ask much of you as you’re simply guiding a goat up a never ending tower, but it can still catch you out if taken lightly or you get too confident and increase speed. Gridrunner is completely the other way as its a pretty intense kind of Centipede offshoot. The view in VR doesn’t really change much as you look down on the grid, but the flurry of effects do blast up at you and can make for quite the spectacle. The way the stages are slightly curved also make it look as if you’re playing on a vintage arcade machine and may take some finishing as the intensity ramps up after several stages.

Sure they’re both relatively simple games, but at around £5 on Steam its surely worth it for some Llamasoft VR goodness. Really you should do yourself a favour and just get the Everything bundle, 40% off at only £17 for several games – its a bargain considering it also has Moose Life and the ever awesome Polybius for VR.

Check back next week for a special edition of this VR feature