Top 5 VR Games of 2020
By: Nick Destrampe
Tags: Virtual Reality, Videogames, Gaming

Alright, so with the year winding down I’ve opted to go with mostly tech related discussions for the next few posts. This one being focused on one of my favorite purchases from 2020: My Valve Index. Having had it since early September, I’ve logged about 240 hours on a number of different games, and have definitely seen the light on why people have gone for more enthusiast grade VR setups. However, I’m primarily here to discuss the top games I’ve played this year so far (plus some honorable mentions).

5. Pavlov

Pavlov was one of the first Co-Op games that I purchased for my Index, Combining a whole new experience with something that is otherwise very familiar. I played CS:GO, TTT and a number of Garry's Mod variants with friends when I was younger, and Pavlov offers a few of those as a VR experience with some twists. You can play on maps from a number of non-valve related titles (Rust from MW2 being one of them) including some of the TTT maps from back in the day. If that’s not your cup of tea, there’s always deathmatch or classic bomb defusal in public or private lobbies. 1 v 1 is also something you have the option to do, and with a decent amount of weapons, maps, a shooting range, and mock run that’s perfect for speedrunning (think the run you do at the beginning of CoD 4) and honing your shooting. The game doesn’t come without flaws such as spawning without a weapon at times, or the double barrel ejecting your shells upon reload, but it provides a nostalgic experience with a fresh spin.

4. SUPERHOT

I played the original superhot on desktop, and heard the VR version was an infinitely better option. And you know . . . it’s true. In short, SUPERHOT VR is a game where you’re spawned into hostile situations, and it’s up to your quick thinking, and strangely enough, slower reactions to survive them. Playing in a large space allows greater immersion into a world where time only moves when you do, and it’s wildly entertaining. I’ve found myself practically on the floor trying to dodge bullets at times, and when you familiarize yourself with some of the levels, you can ratchet it up and get far more aggressive with your play style. Cutting a bullet in half with a knife, slashing the polygonal enemy before you, taking his weapon and then gunning down the rest of the room is pretty satisfying. The game offers an endless mode, which is seeing how long you can survive an onslaught of enemies while blinking around the room, to give you a better advantage. In a world where things move at the speed you do, it often feels not slow enough (firing your gun causes time to speed up for a brief moment) but that’s due to how often you find yourself actually making minute movements. It’s a game that should be experienced by everyone who gets to play VR, even if you don’t think you you’ll keep it in your library.

3. Beat Saber

To be honest it was really difficult putting Beat Saber here given that it’s incredibly addicting and the skill curve for those who play it is very impressive. I also haven't played it as much as my top two, but that doesn’t make it any less of a fantastic title (because it is). Waving around lightsabers in rhythm to cut blocks has never felt so fun, coupling it with mods and sites like Beat Sage can fill hours with fun and challenging new songs. Throw a leaderboard rank system on top of it and you’ve got a whole new way to get up and active. The campaign recycles harder versions of the same songs you play in the beginning with new challenges including: limited missed blocks, total distance you’ve waved controllers, and overall speed. It wasn’t long before I installed ModAssistant and began to put some of my favorite songs into the games custom maps. They’re not always note for note perfect (I’d say anywhere from 85–90% accuracy), but if you want the hardest version of a song, the user created versions give you that extra degree of difficulty to make you want to practice a song until you can 100% it. I think it’s safe to say that Lightsaber-Guitar Hero should be in every VR users library.

2. Blade & Sorcery

Blade & Sorcery was practically made to be used with NexusMods. You can mash up some of your favorite fantasy titles in wave/endless arena style combat. A game that takes advantage of the Index’s Knuckles controllers gives you an extra depth of immersion when picking up objects or harassing the NPC’s. The flow and weight of objects in game feel great from the faster daggers and short swords, to the claymores and axes (two handed weapons can behave oddly however, such as holding a staff as Darth Maul would). Even more fun is the downloadable maps and extras. You can wield Mjölnir and smite enemies with lightning, twirl it to fly (which can be disorienting) and turn the NPC’s into baseballs. It will always return to you, and as fun as it can be to pound your foes into a pulp, it’s still not the most fun you can have. That’s reserved for the Outer Rim mod. A mod dedicated to putting dozens of blasters, lightsabers, and other accessories from the Star Wars into your hands (albeit virtual ones). The fact you can force pull someone into your lightsaber, dismember, and customize the blades of the sabers for FREE is incredible to me that it didn’t require a small donation to download it. The multiplayer mods aren’t updated at the moment and I look forward to getting around to using them, but for now the single player is enough enjoyment, especially with the higher volume waves (given that your computer can handle the number of player models).

1. Half-Life: Alyx

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Half-Life: Alyx takes the number one slot. It’s the best AAA game offered in VR by a major studio, the story is incredibly well written, with a number of fun recurring characters whose dialogue doesn’t remotely inch on being annoying. The ending is wonderful and is surprising for those (and disappointing for those who don’t own VR for not being able to experience it) who have been waiting for nearly a thirteen years for another addition to the Half Life saga. The number of ways you can interact with the Combine, Xen beings, and the overall environment as a whole was riveting. You can block with objects around you, gain the upperhand by using your environment to your advantage such as peaking around doors and blind firing, and to a degree can customize your weapons. Throughout the game you find resin that can be used to upgrade aspects of your 3 guns:pistol, shotgun, and a combine smg, and if you don’t take time to search for it, will force you to ration which upgrades you deem more important, if you’re trying to save for the more expensive ones. The laser sight being the most impactful in my opinion next to the auto loader for the shotgun. This brings me to another aspect Half Life does well, given that the HL games are inherently thrillers: Horror. I can’t describe the number of times in a dark room with a flashlight that I accidently dropped a magazine while having to reload and had a small panic attack trying to pick it back up before I was almost killed. There’s a sneaking part of the game where you have to evade a mutated creature (which I will not spoil), that was genuinely one of the spookiest experiences I’ve ever had to go through in a game. It even gives you the option to put on hard hats that protect you from initial barnacle grabs, and cover your mouth if you can’t find a respirator to stop you from resulting effects such as coughing to alert enemies, or impairing your vision and senses. It’s probably my game of the year choice, and was the most fun I’ve had playing a game since Dark Souls. It’s a game everyone should take the time to experience, and it is the culmination of the best experiences that VR has to offer.