16 PlayStation VR games that left their mark on E3 2016

At E3 2016, the crowds of gamers looked a little different this year. PlayStation VR headsets bobbed, swayed and dodged all across the PlayStation booths, while the wearers let out shrieks, gasps and screams from underneath them. We got amongst the action to try the wealth of games out for ourselves – here are some of our favourites…

1. Farpoint

There’s something unnerving about Farpoint. It’s not a horror game – nor is it trying to be: creepy corridors, axe murderers – you’re just not going to find them here. What puts you on edge is something much more subtle: the sweeping barren vistas, the distinctly alien environment, the lonely echoes of your own footsteps. It all works inside the PSVR headset to give you the sense of being a very long way from home. It’s unnerving and we absolutely love it.

• Click here to learn more about Farpoint on PlayStation.com

2. Eve Valkyrie

In many ways, weightlessness is the perfect environment for VR – a chance to climb outside your earthly, gravity-bound body and let your imagination do its thing. EVE Valkyrie doesn’t want you to worry about mundane concepts like ‘up’ and ‘down’, it just wants to put you and your super-powered spaceship where the action is.

• Click here to learn more about EVE Valkyrie on PlayStation.com

3. Battlezone

Like all great technological leaps, virtual reality is a celebration of innovation – of bold ideas and brave new concepts. Back in 1980, Atari’s Battlezone set forth on gaming’s maiden voyage into the world of virtual reality. Today, developers at Rebellion are keeping that spirit alive with their own take on the arcade classic. What’s more, it plays like a dream.

• Click here to learn more about Battlezone on PlayStation.com

4. Robinson: The Journey

It’s no secret that delivering a great VR experience takes a whole lot more computing power than a standard video game. For some, that could spell compromise, but not for the technical wizards at Crytek. Robinson: The Journey’s sumptuous alien world is as visually arresting as it is immersive, and we can’t wait to get well and truly lost there.

• Click here to learn more about Robinson: The Journey on PlayStation.com

5. Here They Lie

While virtual reality long seemed like a pipe-dream for home console gamers, the reality – now so tantalisingly close – is set to serve up more than its fair share of nightmares. Here They Lie submerged us in the surreal and the skin-crawlingly scary in a way we thought only our own subconscious could – we’re just glad we’re awake for this one!

• Click here to learn more about Here They Lie on PlayStation.com

6. Playroom VR

The immersion of virtual reality can often mean leaving the rest of the world behind for a little while. Playroom VR however, invites you to drag your friends along for the ride – or maybe it’s them dragging you: immersed in a VR bubble, it was up to our friends to shape that space however they saw fit – all we can say is that we now know who our real friends are.

• Click here to learn more about Playroom VR on PlayStation.com

7. Super Stardust VR

While delivering compelling VR experiences places emphasis on vivid worlds and seamless immersion, creating great games is all about that moment-to-moment play. Finnish developer Housemarque has been behind some of PlayStation’s most addictive shooters and Super Stardust Ultra VR – a virtual reality upgrade of their PS3 arcade hit – combines that impeccable instinct for gameplay with the peerless immersion of PSVR. It’s really quite something.

8. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing like a good old-fashioned jump scare. Developers Supermassive Games put a fresh spin on those tried and tested horror tropes in last year’s Until Dawn. With Rush of Blood they’re now bringing everything they’ve learned to PSVR and putting pulses through the roof with a hammer-horror rollercoaster ride from hell – scream if you want to go faster.

• Click here to learn more about Until Dawn: Rush of Blood on PlayStation.com

9. PlayStation VR Worlds

The deep end is not for everyone. Virtual reality throws open a world of possibilities for game developers and players alike and we wouldn’t blame anyone for feeling daunted. Those looking to see a real showcase of just what is possible need look no further than VR Worlds. Five totally unique gaming experiences that throw wide open the doors of possibility. If you’re not sure where to start with virtual reality, start here.

• Click here to learn more about VR Worlds on PlayStation.com

10. Resident Evil VII – Biohazard

Virtual reality needn’t always be about exploring strange new worlds – sometimes it can be about revisiting worlds we already know and seeing them from a fresh perspective. If you already know and love the world of Resident Evil, with its deep lore and memorable characters, then Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is the perfect chance to get closer to the action than ever before – maybe even too close for comfort.

• Click here to learn more about Resident Evil VII Biohazard on PlayStation.com

11. RIGS: Mechanized Combat League

Competition is a core component of modern gaming and virtual reality offers every chance to build on that. RIGS: Mechanized Combat League is leading the charge in combining the fast-paced competitive chops of modern first-person shooters with the unique features of virtual reality – if you love a good arena shooter, then RIGS should be your first stop on PSVR.

• Click here to learn more about RIGS: Mechanized Combat League on PlayStation.com

12. Final Fantasy XV VR Experience

A huge surprise from the PlayStation press conference was the revelation that Final Fantasy XV would be getting the PS VR treatment, bringing you into the world as Prompto. In the E3 demo, we helped a team of heroes take down a towering monster, dodging, weaving and shooting from a distance as they got up-close with the beast. The open-top car ride at the end was a stylish reward for our efforts!

13. Statik

A unique take on the puzzle genre, Statik replaces the Dualshock controller in your hands with a fiendish puzzle inside the virtual world, locking your hands together until you solve the challenge. So addictive were the puzzles that we genuinely felt trapped in the world until our sense of logic took over to solve the mystery and set us free.

14. 100ft Robot Golf

The relatively sedate game of golf isn’t generally criticised for lacking explosions, demolitions and carnage on a grand scale, but then it’s not usually played by towering mechs. Swinging a club in 100ft Robot Golf gives an unparalleled sense of size and scale that’s enormous fun as you drive the ball across a destructible city-scape.

15. Harmonix Music VR

Proving that there’s more to creating an immersive VR world than just visuals, Harmonix Music VR blends sound and vision in mind-blowing ways to create something truly unique. With a soundtrack ranging from melodic space-rock to thumping rhythms, this is more creative experience than traditional game – and is sure to bring out the artistic side of PS VR when it launches.

16. Thumper

Drool’s pounding “rhythm violence” game proved just the ticket for blowing away the jetlag. There’s a bit of Tron in its DNA, a bit of Wipeout, a bit of Rez – but it’s very much its own beast. The non-PS VR version is great in its own right, but the headset takes the experience into a different realm entirely.