What the Bat?Year: 2022Rating: ETime Played: ~4 hours
Having played through the ridiculously funny game, What the Golf?, their VR game, What the Bat?, intrigued me. Where What the Golf? deconstructed what it means to be a golf game (or even a video game in general), What the Bat? used VR to demonstrate just how difficult it would be to live with two bats for hands. Luckily, there are buttons and other devices that help you achieve each level's objective. That still doesn't make it any easier to control.
It's odd how there's almost too much content for this game. Each level only takes a few minutes (if you're used to your bat arms, that is), but there are just so many levels that it took me quite a few sessions to play through them all. And because it's easy to just keep going, I found myself worn out from VR sessions that were probably too long as I tried to finish...
Virtual Boy WorksYear: 2021Author: Jeremy ParishLength: 176 pages
A few years ago, I found myself down a YouTube rabbit hole and stumbled across Jeremy Parish's "Works" series of videos detailing the history of video games. Specifically, he was making videos that chronologically documented the games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Super NES, and Sega Genesis. One system that I was able to watch all the way through was his series on the Virtual Boy, Nintendo's oft-maligned 32-bit console. This book is a written-down version of the scripts from that series.
While I enjoyed the bite-size chapters on each of the 22 games for the system, the few additional chapters on fan games were a nice addition that wasn't part of the YouTube series. The book also included a pair of blue/red 3D glasses so readers could catch a glimpse of what these games might have been like (it works OK, but it's no Virtual Boy emulation on a VR...
Pistol Whip
Year: 2019
Rating: T
Time Played: 4+ hours
While Beat Saber likely convinced many people to jump into owning a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, it should be noted that it is hardly the only music rhythm game out there. Now, imagine if you mashed the rhythm game portion of Beat Saber with the polygon-person shoot-'em-up action of SUPERHOT. The result is Pistol Whip, a full-body workout with great songs and visceral reactions to being shot (and shooting your enemies). With so much free content released for this game, you'd almost be stupid to not get it—even if you already own Beat Saber.
Before some of the later updates, Pistol Whip had the same problem most VR music rhythm games have: boring or repetitive backgrounds. Each song would play, and you'd only focus on the beats you need to hit to progress to the end of the level. However, with the "western" and "sci-fi" updates, there's at least some variety in the scenery as...
Walkabout Mini Golf
Year: 2020
Rating: E
Time Played: 4+ hours
It's funny how Virtual Reality (VR) can encapsulate both the most banal things (a la Job Simulator) and the most fantastic (a la Moss) almost in the same breath. The prime example of this fusion is in Walkabout Mini Golf. Most people have played mini golf, but few have done so on a space station or in a haunted castle. Sure, some better real-world courses work hard to bring that sense of fantasy, but rarely for more than a hole or two.
In Walkabout Mini Golf, the gameplay feels fantastic. Mini golf in VR like this is fun, even if you have to sit through an entire course worth of holes in a particular theme (like a Pirate Island or Arizona). Sometimes, the physics might feel a little frustrating when trying to get a precise shot; but overall, the golf doesn't feel any worse than the golf mini-game from Wii Sports—which is a compliment....
Virtual Virtual RealityYear: 2019Rating: TTime Played: ~3 hours
The one qualm I have with many VR games is how many of them fail to include any kind of story into their gameplay. It's mostly, "Here's this thing you can do in an immersive environment," and that's it. The ones that have a story (like Shadow Point or Moss) sometimes don't lean into the VR nearly as much—mostly being games that could be played in first- or third-person without VR. Virtual Virtual Reality, though, is the best of both worlds, combining VR interactions with a great story.
Placed somewhere between the meta Accounting+ and interactivity of Job Simulator, Virtual Virtual Reality takes the Portal approach to gradual storytelling. There are a lot of parallels that are hard to miss here. At its core, this game's story revolves around a cheery yet malevolent AI who tries to get the player to perform odd jobs for a variety of requestors. However, when you peel back...
Accounting+
Year: 2017
Rating: M
Time Played: ~2 hours
A lot of VR games lean into the gimmick by providing an immersive and interactive experience. Sometimes, this experience is through stereoscopic 3D, which is easily achieved in a VR headset. Other times, these games use the medium to place the user in settings that are not possible in real life. For the most part, though, each VR game sticks to a single concept or setting. Accounting+ is hard to describe because it goes in so many directions, each of which relies on the "meta" nature of virtual reality to work.
There isn't a lot of cohesion between the different "levels" of Accounting+, other than interacting with the characters and environment to find the next VR headset to warp into the next world. As a comedic game, it has its funny moments if you can get past some of its more crass humor. Other portions are a bit gruesome as well, depending on how cartoony the...
Shadow Point
Year: 2019
Rating: E
Time Played: ~7.5 hours
One of the most underappreciated kinds of virtual reality games are the ones that both tell a great story and have interesting gameplay mechanics. In Shadow Point, the story follows a lost girl who finds herself trapped in a parallel universe and enjoying the freedom this bizarre world gives her. Its gameplay centers on a form of “shadow puppets” that the player creates using light and a variety of found objects. There is enough content in both portions of this game to be entertaining right up to the end of the emotionally gripping climax.
With narration provided by Patrick Stewart, Shadow Point jumps along the young girl’s timeline with each subsequent world explored via the observatory “hub world.” As she grows up fending for herself, the initial excitement involved with exploring this new world gradually fades. Her voice actor expertly captures this change as the game progresses, eventually leading to one of the most emotional moments I’ve...
Vader Immortal
Year: 2019
Rating: T
Time Played: ~3 hours
One perk of virtual reality is the ability to experience universes different from our own. The ability to interact with the Star Wars universe fulfills the dreams of many who want to feel what it’s like to shoot a blaster or wield a lightsaber. In Vader Immortal, you get to experience exploring Mustafar while also using the Force in a few key moments. While the story is relatively shallow—far too shallow to split into three parts—it’s disappointing that this experience suffers from somewhat janky VR controls.
For a Star Wars game, the setting and characters are definitely the selling points of this experience. VR’s immersive nature made me feel like I was really there, even if the environment didn’t always react to my Force powers as consistently as I would have liked. What is most telling about Vader Immortal is that the lightsaber dojo (which is unlocked with only one part of this three-part game) is the most...
Tetris Effect
Year: 2018
Rating: E
Time Played: ~10 hours
While most virtual reality games attempt to immerse the player in an interactive environment, Tetris Effect is best played sitting completely still. Tetris is Tetris, but Tetris Effect takes this classic formula and adds just enough new mechanics to it for the entire game to feel fresh and engaging. I've played this game both on my PC and on my Oculus Quest, and I have to say that I prefer the Quest version because of how immersive it is. There are no distractions. It's just you and Tetris.
Since I recently trained myself on Tetris 99, I still found some levels in Tetris Effect's story mode to be quite difficult. Of course, as a single-player game, Tetris Effect had little to offer past this story mode. That was until they added the "Connected" mode that introduced online multiplayer. The 3-versus-1 mode is some of the most innovative Tetris I've ever played. With the multiplayer aspect...
Job SimulatorYear: 2016Rating: E10+Time Played: ~2.5 hours
While I didn't know it at the time, one of the first Virtual Reality games I ever encountered was none other than Job Simulator. Many years later, I bought this game for my Oculus Quest and immediately understood the appeal. Sure, the graphics aren't top-notch, but that's not the point of Job Simulator. If anything, it's an easy introduction into the world of VR that allows the user to play around in a variety of "job" environments. The comedy in this game is quite amusing; however, its replay value is fairly limited.
Set in the far future, Job Simulator pokes fun at several professions, including Auto Mechanic, Gourmet Chef, Store Clerk, and Office Worker. Anyone who has experienced any of these jobs will likely get a chuckle out of its tongue-in-cheek satire. As a single-player game, it only takes a few hours to complete all four campaigns. And while the tasks are the same on...
MossYear: 2018Rating: ETime Played: ~4 hours
As gaming advances into an era with an option for virtual reality, I'm glad to see some games embrace this technology in ways to bridge the gap between traditional gaming and VR gaming. For example, it's too easy to merely adapt a first-person shooter like SUPERHOT into the VR space since the platform is basically made for the first-person perspective. But what about platformers? Adventure games? Moss shows how games in these genres can still work in virtual reality while also making the interactivity of the medium part of the gameplay.
I have to say there's a bit of a challenge in controlling the player character while also using these controllers to modify the environment. This multitasking takes some time to get used to but ultimately is interesting enough to not be completely frustrating. Sometimes, the next step in a particular room isn't readily apparent, which led me to look up the solution to advance the...
SUPERHOT VRYear: 2016Rating: TTime Played: 2 hours
The concept: time moves when you do. The challenge: survive. I had already played a few hours of the regular SUPERHOT game on my PC, but SUPERHOT VR is an experience on a whole other level. Sure, there's not as much of a plot in this version of the game (they are two entirely different games), but it's compensated for by being one of the most immersive experiences I've had on my Oculus Quest. In fact, it's likely one of the titles that caused me to get the Quest at all.
What's interesting about this quasi first-person shooter is how it's more like a puzzle game than anything else. When you have to figure out the best way to avoid being "reset" in each scene, you start to think strategically about where you are and what items are nearby to use. Sure, the violence of gunning down humanoid shapes is lessened by them being bright...
Nintendo Labo: VR Starter Set
Year: 2019
Rating: E10
Time Played: ~5 hours
With the increasing number and availability of virtual reality (VR) headsets, I figured it was only a matter of time before Nintendo jumped in on the craze. I always felt the Switch would be ideal for VR, as it has a gyroscopic screen with detachable controllers that have an equal amount of finesse in their movements. It is then no wonder that Nintendo decided to pursue the VR space with its line of experimental cardboard toys: Labo. While I didn’t have too much interest in the previous Labo sets, the fact that the VR Labo could also be used on other games for a VR effect is what pushed me to purchase the starter set.
Putting together the cardboard for the VR goggles and blaster accessory took me a long evening to assemble. I appreciated the user interface for the instructions, as it made the whole process easy and basically idiot-proof. Of...
