Top 5 Oculus Releases – May 26th-June 1st – Gravity Not Included

June 2, 2018Oculus Rift Newsbest Oculus games, Gear VR games, Oculus Go games, Oculus Rift gamesinfinitywaltz

Slip the surly bonds of earth in this week’s top Oculus games. Between multi-directional space dogfights, solving mysteries on a space station and hunting down zombies from a heavily armed chopper, gravity turns out to be less a “law” than a “suggestion.”

Overload

from Revival Productions

Created by member of the team behind Descent, this release brings the six-degrees-of-freedom shooter into the modern age with VR support. Overload is…well…overloaded with options for multiple preferred play styles, including a story-driven campaign, multi-player matches, tons of ship customization, and a soundtrack the composers who worked on the three original Descent games.

A warning, though: the original Descent series’ portrayal of zero-gravity space ship combat was dizzying, to say the least, so VR players with motion sensitivity might want to avoid this. But in all aspects, this is absolutely the spiritual sequel fans have been waiting for.

Oculus Rift | 8 GB | $29.99 from Steam

Downward Spiral: Horus Station

from 3rd Eye Studios

The full-length follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed Downward Spiral: Prologue, this game features both an exploration-driven adventure mode and a wave shooter-inspired mode for players more interested in combat.

Both styles of play incorporate an atmospheric and environmental-driven approach to storytelling that borrows from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien: Isolation and any number of terrifying Doctor Who episodes set on abandoned space stations.

Oculus Rift | 10 GB | $19.99 from Steam

Along Together

from Turbo Button

A puzzle platformer that focus more on charm than extreme challenge, Along Together is a heart-warming tale that puts the player in the role of a child’s imaginary friend as the two work together to rescue a missing dog. Family-friendly but wonderfully executed, this would make a great introduction to new VR users.

Oculus Rift | 850 MB | $19.99 from Oculus or from Steam

Zombie Gunship Raptor

from Limbic Software

Apart from the obvious zombie-related premise, Zombie Gunship Raptor is an unexpectedly realistic helicopter combat simulator, especially for a mobile VR game. It’s also tons of fun.

Oculus Go | 116 MB | $3.99 from Oculus
Gear VR | 116 MB | $3.99 from Oculus

Nothin’ but Net

from What Up Games

Less an NBA simulator than a neighborhood basketball game, Nothin’ but Net will have you reliving the days of pick-up games and playing H-O-R-S-E with your friends. Both multi-player and solo modes are available, in case your friends aren’t around but you still want to work on your free throws.

Oculus Rift | 325 MB | $9.99 from Steam

Top 5 Oculus Releases – May 12th-25th – Ideas in Flight

May 28, 2018Best Oculus GamesOculus Rift, Oculus Rift games, oculus rift newsinfinitywaltz

As we busy ourselves gearing up for this year’s VRTO, here’s a double-sized top five Oculus releases article, covering the past two weeks. Along with a couple of big releases – including an alternate history science fiction offering and a narrative-driven fantasy bow simulator – we’ve also got some lesser known offerings which all happen to revolve around flight to some degree:

Red Matter

by Vertical Robot

Set in a research base on one of the moons of Saturn, Red Matter is a puzzle-based adventure game that stands out for both its atmospheric pacing – no jump scares here, just a slowly building tension – and its setting.

Developers Vertical Robot conjure an alternate Cold War environment via Brutalist design and Socialist Realism art that wonderfully compliments the game’s quiet oppressiveness and brings a fresh spin on the “abandoned space station” trope.

Oculus Rift | 3.2 GB | $34.99 from Oculus

SACRALITH: The Archer’s Tale

by Odd Meter

SACRALITH - screenshot courtesy Steam — SACRALITH – screenshot courtesy Steam

Archery simulators are quickly becoming one of the more popular genres for VR, but SACRALITH: The Archer’s Tale is one of the best. Aside from gorgeous graphics and perfectly implemented bow mechanic, developers Odd Meter deliver an experience that can be described as “epic fantasy” without exaggeration.

Oculus Rift | 11 GB | $19.99 from Steam

TSA Frisky

by Out There Entertainment

Influenced by Job Simulator and originally created as a student project at the Savannah College of Art and Design, TSA Frisky is all but guaranteed to amuse anyone who enjoys the hectic pace of games like Cook! Serve! Delicious! or who has been ever been inconvenienced by air travel.

Oculus Rift | 5 GB | $14.99 from Steam

Drone Hero

from Neuston AB

The concept of Drone Hero is simple enough – flying an RC quadcopter drone in VR – but the pitch-perfect flight controls and numerous challenges, from crowded night clubs to heist movie laser security systems, that make this release so compelling.

Oculus Rift | 300 MB | $9.99 from Steam

Ace Phantom

from Vanguard Co.

A beautifully implemented transformer-style mecha flight combat game, Ace Phantom is the closest you can get to living out your Robotech and Macross fantasies in mobile VR.

Oculus Go | 465 MB | $4.99 from Oculus
Gear VR | 465 MB | $4.99 from Oculus

Top 5 Oculus Releases – May 5th-11th 2018 – Dig That Western Vibe

May 13, 2018Best Oculus Gamesbest Oculus games, Gear VR games, Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift gamesinfinitywaltz

For some reason, several of our top Oculus picks this week have a sort of alternate western flavor – but whether it’s gun-slinging or the comparatively peaceful pursuit of seeking your fortune down in the mines, we’ve got you covered:

Cave Digger

from Mekiwi

From pickaxes to nukes, select your tools, plunge into subterranean depths and try and get that big score. Cave Digger brings the addictive mining action from the likes of Minecraft, Terraria and Steamworld Dig into VR, and while the initial tools are primitive, the more veins you mine, the fancier gear you can obtain (and yes, we did say “nukes”).

Not sure if you’d really “dig” mining (pun intended)? Not to worry, as this offering from Mekiwi is totally free.

Oculus Rift | 400 MB | FREE from Steam

The ArcSlinger

from Big Red Button Entertainment

Another game with quasi-Western themes, The ArcSlinger eschews the recently trendy “Weird West” tropes of ghosts and gunslingers in favor of a more science fiction approach. A story-driven shooter featuring voice acting from Nolan North and Jessica DiCicco, this was originally released for Google Daydream before being upgraded for Oculus Rift and Gear VR.

Oculus Rift | 3 GB | $17.99 from Oculus or from Steam
Oculus Go | 78 MB | $7.99 from Oculus
Gear VR | 78 MB | $7.99 from Oculus

Wheelchair Simulator VR

from ViRa Games

Narrated by Dmytro Schebetyuk and based on his own experiences as a wheelchair user, Wheelchair Simulator VR is at once an entertaining game, an unexpected work-out and a wry and sarcastic exploration of disability. Plus, proceeds go toward the Dostupno UA initiative, which supports accessibility initiatives in Schebetyuk’s native Ukraine.

Oculus Rift | 2 GB | $9.99 from Oculus or from Steam

Escape First

from OnSkull Games

Building on the studio’s experience designing multi-player escape rooms for VR (OnSkull Games released the free Tales of Escape last year), Escape First features three new scenarios for up to six players. Tense and challenging, this one also has a “versus” mode for a more competitive experience, though we prefer the shared sense of panic that comes from the standard cooperative mode.

Oculus Rift | 4 GB | $5.99 from Steam

Reficul

from MadAboutGamesStudios

Gloriously over-the-top survival horror in the classic mode, Reficul pulls out all the stops while using several mechanical innovations – like a menu-free visual inventory system – to bring the flavor of the early Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark games into the VR space.

Oculus Rift | 13 GB | $14.99 from Steam