Steam VR Fest: The best PC VR games to try out
For the first time, Valve is dedicating a festival to virtual reality on the PC with discounts and demos. Which PC VR games should you try out?
Valve has launched the first Steam VR Fest, which celebrates PC VR games in the in-house download store until Monday, July 25, 2022. There were a lot of rumors in the run-up, for example about a possible announcement of Valve's new VR headset.
So far, there has been nothing like that. Instead, the event primarily celebrates the status quo of virtual reality. Potential highlights like Among Us VR, Bonelab, or Hellsweeper did not get demos, but Hubris or VR Giants had them available beforehand.
A visit is still worthwhile, for example, to try out some well-known gems or to catch up on already released titles at a bargain price. Half-Life: Alyx ($30, -50%), The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners ($22, -45%) and the even younger online role-playing game Zenith: The Last City ($21, -30%) also have reduced prices.
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Ziggy’s Cosmic Adventures
The equally cuddly and macabre Ziggy's Cosmic Adventures has received a demo for Steam VR Fest. The humorous mix of cockpit simulation and space adventure is still coming in 2022 for PC VR and Meta Quest 2. Resource management here unfortunately also means squeezing the poor cuddly Ziggys in the juicer, as the latest video from developer Stardust Collective explains.
Ziggy's Cosmic Adventures will be released in 2022 for PC VR headsets and the Meta Quest 2.
Ruinsmagus
At first glance, the Japanese anime graphics of Ruinsmagus remind you of a classic role-playing game. However, it is actually an action-heavy dungeon crawler. Character Bank and Mastiff have tailored the 26 chapters of their action JPRG completely to virtual reality. As a young mage, you protect the destroyed city of Grand Amnis from a mysterious threat with a variety of spells.
Ruinsmagus has been available for SteamVR since June. It will also be released for Meta Quest 2 this winter.
Hubris
The Dutch studio Cyborn likes to present its shooter Hubris (for preview) as a kind of Crysis counterpart for virtual reality. Indeed, the rugged planetary backdrops really get the graphics card going. However, there is still a lot of fine-tuning to do in terms of gameplay, as we discovered on our first excursion into the alien world. The first episode of Hubris will be released for PC VR headsets in 2022.
Hitman 3
You can also take a look at the hitman action Hitman 3 (review) from IO Interactive. You can get an idea of the graphically elaborate settings, such as a Berlin club, and the numerous control and resolution quirks of the VR version. In the VR mode, all parts of the trilogy can be played with PC VR headsets.
Hitman 3 in VR is available on Steam and Xbox Game Pass. A PSVR version is also available.
Compound
Despite its nostalgic design, Bevan McKechnie's Compound already felt like the future of VR shooters in 2018. On Wednesday, the wildly retro single-player shooter finally exits Early Access, including three alternate endings. A conversion for Meta Quest 2 is also in the works.
Drums Rock
After Ragnarock and Unplugged, the VR music game Drums Rock by Garage51 also revolves around a gritty guitar soundtrack. The song list still lacks big names, but that doesn't seem to detract from the fun of drumming. So far, 73 users have rated the Early Access title as very positive.
Drums Rock will be released as a full version for Steam in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Click here for the full list of free demos at Steam VR Fest as well as upcoming VR games.
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