When it comes to my personal VR upgrade path, I blame Meta Quest 2's outstanding quality as the reason it took so long to level up to a Meta Quest 3. You could also point a 1:1-tracked finger at the detour I took with the impressive tech of PlayStation VR2, a platform I still cover extensively here and here. It's the same deal with my ongoing and original love affair with the Valve Index and its vast PCVR library.
What finally tipped me into a purchase? Aside from the Quest 3's much improved specs, it was Meta's voracious appetite for acquiring premier VR studios that forced my hand. Combine that with a large ecosystem of existing Meta Quest 2 games plus the ability to tap into the vaster world of PCVR, and some "only-available-heres" like the 10/10'er Asgard's Wrath 2, and who was I to resist?
Since that sweet surrender, I've been digging through the considerably stocked Meta Store in pursuit of the crème de la crème of VR games. All genres were considered; old classics and new head-turners were given fair chance for glory. The fruits of my sweaty, sweaty labour await you below in a living list that'll continue to evolve with time. Now let's get to it...
Top of the Pile
My ever-changing spotlight on what’s more or less unmissable
Asgard's Wrath 2
Given the huge Meta Quest 3 update patch, I feel this can be considered "new" again. Earner of our coveted "10/10, masterpiece" score, Asgard's Wrath 2 is the open-world RPG that lasts a whopping 90+ hours, and each one of those is magical (sometimes literally as well as figuratively, depending on the character class you select). The four playable heroes on offer are extraordinarily unique in terms of playstyles, and the deep RPG mechanics, combat, exploration, and puzzling systems make for a deeply satisfying adventure that easily surpasses almost everything that’s previously been accomplished in VR.
Basically, if you buy a Meta Quest, you buy this by default. Do so, and you'll be getting a game that takes all the most important parts of your Elder Scrolls and your Legends of Zelda and reimagines them for virtual reality from the ground up with amazing success. Toss in some addictive fishing—because, why not, it's masterpiece RPG tradition—and this is the complete package.
Meta Quest 2 / Meta Quest 3 Prices
TL;DR / Contents
- After the Fall
- Assassin's Creed Nexus VR
- Arizona Sunshine 2
- Asgard's Wrath 2
- Creed: Rise to Glory Championship Ed.
- Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
- Hellsweeper VR
- Puzzling Places
- Ragnarock
- Resident Evil 4 VR
- Rez Infinite
- Tetris Effect: Connected
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- Unplugged - Air Guitar
- Walkabout Mini Golf
After the Fall
Let me get the downsides out of the way quick. If you're in this for VR visuals, After The Fall is a zombie shooter that looks a little mouldy around the edges these days. Despite that serviceable presentation, however, it still excels as one of the few four-person, cross-platform mulltiplayer titles available. Seamlessly sharing the intensity of these short survival-a-thon missions with three mates—on a Meta 3, Valve Index, PS VR2, and PS VR—was amazing for me. (Mostly because I wasn't the one subsisting on that last platform.)
If Left 4 Dead-esque co-op isn't your use-case, a respectable degree of solo fun can still be had here. But I have to say that my lone gunman self would prefer to take aim at something like Arizona Sunshine 2 before this. Better hand-tracking. Zombie killin'. Skews harder into comedy. And it boasts 100% more dog.
Assassin's Creed Nexus VR
Not gonna lie—this Meta Quest 3 exclusive is what pushed me over the edge and into a purchase of the headset, even though that entry price was steeper than a belltower leap of faith. I'm happy to report that this landed me a cushy haystack of rock solid combat, a fan-service roster of playable characters (read: Ezio, Connor, and Cassandra), and some brilliant free-climbing around surprisingly large sandboxes. (For VR, at least.)
The highs of this 10-12 hour AC anthology are the repeated moments of sheer wish fulfilment. Undertaking the aforementioned leaps of faith are one. Ninja-ing into a compound, and physically flicking one's wrist to engage that iconic blade for an aerial execution of some unsuspecting guard? Incomparably cool. Though Nexus's toe-to-toe fighting isn't quite apex, it truly is a new breed of AAA VR gaming.
Arizona Sunshine 2
Gory action, overly interactive environments, and pets who bring to mind Dogmeat from Fallout are all things I adore. Arizona Sunshine 2 delivers on all of this, with a Z-shredding 'cross co-op' campaign (along with Horde mode) that includes a commandable German Shepherd, and ridiculous headwear (for human and pooch alike).
The enhanced graphics, some more intricate reloading, and a larger selection of weaponry that reaches as high as miniguns and grenade launchers were well appreciated. Aside from firepower, Buddy the dog is the real game-changer, both in terms of the story and as a fortunate way to stall Walkers while you're panicking and struggling to find your next magazine. Pull the trigger on this if you find the Resi VR titles to be too gloomy and ammo stingy.
Creed: Rise to Glory Championship Ed.
Much like Sly Stallone himself, this one's getting older and increasingly harder to look at, but man, can it still deliver some knockout entertainment. Expect one hell of a workout if you try to take this on at its zenith difficulty or against a human cross-platform multiplayer contender, and Championship Edition has a bunch of extra modes and content to keep you sweatin' for hours.
Also, there’s the simple fact that you actually have decent freedom to stalk your opponent, and true 1:1 gloves which can dispense a smashing experience (literally) in the right hands. Even if you've only got a passing interest in pugilism, I challenge you not to grin like a goon when that Rocky theme drops during the ‘80s micro-training montages. Honestly, the sweet science has rarely been tastier than this. Skip Creed without even a speculative demo test, and you’re a bum, Rock. You’re a bum!
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
Being a child of the Eighties, using a ghost trap, a PKE meter, and a positron collider were on my to-do list, right up next to using Luke Skywalker's lightsaber or Indy's bullwhip. Through the magic of VR, you can not only live that fantasy, but do 4P co-op to enlist some friends to be my (imaginary and honourary) Stantz, Spengler, and Zeddemore. Or you can just pretend to be Venkman on your lonesome for a reasonably lengthy campaign.
Having said that, this isn't your father's Ghostbusters; rather, it's a contemporary tribute with a fresh cast, a San Francisco backdrop, and a Sega Bass Fishing approach to the job. Because tracking your prey, hooking them, and then reeling that sucker down into a trap is fundamentally what "bustin" is all about. Better yet, it's gotten a bunch of new content slotted in since launch, much of it freebies.
Hellsweeper VR
I fully believe that the purgatory of the next life will indeed be janitorial duties. That being said, if it's going to be anything like Hellsweeper VR—a demon-slashing, abomination-blasting power fantasy—then sign me up now. Guided across The Infernal Lands in Twain by a wisecracking beetle you've jammed into your ear, Hellsweeper quickly becomes a gratifying, gravity-defying mash-up of low ammo but high-mobility gunplay and swashbuckling, techniques-rich bladeplay.
The best part of the combat is that you make your solutions. Need to prune somebody? Use the assigned hand motion to conjure a sweet broadsword or just rip the Wolverine clawed forearm off a vanquished foe. Likewise, ammo for your beastly six shooter may be infinitely drawn out of the ether, and, speaking of bullet-time, you can slow the clock for breathing-space as you Sariento somersault over an otherwise hi-octane firefight. Factor in cross-play multi and brilliant mechanics interactions—like leveraging your telekinesis to gunsling your revolver a metre beyond your reach—and Hellsweeper feels like the most heavenly hell-blaster I've ripped and torn since Doom VFR.
Puzzling Places
Understatement of the day: This 3D head-scratcher has a very, very uphill battle against the explosion-filled shooters and RPG swashbucklers dominating this list. Be that as it may, and anecdotally, I am still constantly dipping into Puzzling Places as a quick-fix time-waster. Mostly as a non-bandwidth-siphoning means to keep myself amused as I download my next game.
Besides being a handy zip in-and-out proposition that effortlessly preserves where you're at in a 25-to-1,000 piece conundrum, Puzzling Places is universally entertaining and offers little to no barrier of entry. Grab chunks of exploded buildings or everyday objects, twist 'em, smoosh 'em together, receive a satisfying click, some ambient sound effects, and a little endorphin spurt—it couldn't be simpler. Oh, and it gets better, thanks to a recent cross-platform multi update that lets you share a chill virtual space with a like-minded puzzler!
Ragnarock
Who'd a thunk that a game where you thwack drums to hasten a Viking ship into the end-times could be this...oarsome? For my part, I went into this one largely already catered to, thanks to the demon slaying antics of Drums Rock. That said, Ragnarock boasts higher production values, more unlockable content to chase, and a toe-tapping 30 song soundtrack of unique, non-mainstream...er, bangers.
Whereas a turn of Drums Rock often felt like I was playing a pedal-less, band-less, mate-less VR Rock Band 4, Ragnarock is an odyssey into a setlist packed with badass sea shanties, power metal, and Celtic rock that I might otherwise never have listened to and loved. The clincher: It has custom song support (!!!), six-player cross-platform multi, and leaderboards to keep you combo-chasing for hours.
Resident Evil 4 VR
Truly, one of the first Meta exclusive titles that made me insanely jealous until I got myself an MQ2. You could argue this envy no longer applies, now that Resident Evil 4 Remake has been VR patched for PS VR2, but it'd be a flawed statement. For though that fancy-looking version has been gussied up in the graphics department, it's inferior in one key area—no VR functionality for the score attack Mercenaries mode present in this version.
Aside from that perfect-for-VR (and literal) "shoot in and shootout" mode, this Meta edition still bears some exceptional craftsmanship that goes well beyond a perspective shift from third-person. Intoxicating dual-wield capability (particularly with your knife and gun) opens up new combat possibilities. Plus, the constant need to desperately backpdeal from chainsaw-packing hordes as you're 1:1 reloading a shottie—shell by shell and pump by pump—ramps up the tension like never before. Bottom line: Make space in your suitcase inventory for this.
Rez Infinite
Quick tip for anyone who wants to zip to the pinnacle moment of this package: bypass the story mode and click into 'Area X' first. For you see, while the campaign is a VR-ifying of the mind-blowing Dreamcast 2002 original—a rough crossbreeding of a Lawnmower Man system hack, an on-rails 3D Space Harrier, and a mushroom trip—Area X is a modern sandbox dogfighting experience. Without spoiling too much, it's also been known to almost reduce some folks to tears of joy.
Whether you sample the more restrictive campaign or the free-wheeling flight of the newer content, the whole Rez Infinite package sticks to the same throughline—synaesthesia. In layman's terms, that's the intoxicating fusion of (literal) pulsing beats, good old fashioned pew-pew, and pupil-dazzling bursts of kaleidoscopic colour. Even after all these decades, this remains a must-take trip unlike any other.
Tetris Effect: Connected
If you're looking for a piece of VR media that'll blow your mind and then possibly chunks into a nearby bucket, Tetris Effect: Connected isn't it. This is about as sedate a VR trip as one can take, though it can dazzle and addict in other ways. Firstly, by being a rock solid version of the world's most beloved puzzler, and secondly, because that already blissful block-vanquishing is now amped up by some Rez Infinite-style synesthesia.
Having bursts of colour flare out as you slap bricks down and the soundtrack layer and evolve as you disappear lines faster than Hunter S. Thompson is truly hypnotic. Hell, I've clocked this game no fewer than three times (think: Xbox Series X, PS VR 2, MQ2), and what was planned to be a 10-minute check to see how it goes on Meta Quest 3 turned into a multi-hour marathon. That is the power of a toe-tapper Tetris, even before you factor in its cross-platform multiplayer. Give it a chance, and you'll have a [space]whale of a time.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
Here's an oldie but a goodie that's been given a new shot of life, thanks to a dedicated Meta Quest 3 update (plus a separate, story continuing Chapter 2). More specifically, we're talking about visual enhancements like improved textures, dynamic shadows, and an increased number of on-screen Walkers. So yeah—more gorier-looking undead hungry for your brains per square metre, plus darker areas for them to lie in wait for you. Wonderful!
Sarcasm aside, this is. It's still wonderful to play an untold half-season of The Walking Dead TV show, lashed onto a Deus Ex or System Shock style of exploration and decision-making. Obviously, also standing between you and your Choose Your Own Adventure ending is a ton of limited-inventory combat that feels weighty and intense (thanks to breakable weaponry and stamina limits). Don't let the age of this make you underestimate TWD: Saints & Sinners; it will surely sink its teeth in and not let go of you for ages.
Unplugged - Air Guitar
As an avid lover of Rock Band 4 who's been forced to subsist on the vastly inferior Fortnite Festival, I went into this title fretting about how bad it could be. One hilarious live-action tutorial and a few songs later, and I found I'd done a full about on my Unplugged perceptions, harder and faster than a Pete Townshend windmill strum. The note-highway chasing here is easy-to-grasp but tough-to-master, and there's a modestly-sized but well-curated soundtrack that's pretty strum-ptious. While it's obviously nowhere near as complex nor satisfying as using an actual axe or a last-gen plastic fantastic peripheral, Unplugged streamlines those experiences into a surpisingly engaging riff on the real deal that gets quite taxing if you crank that difficulty to 11.
Walkabout Mini Golf
Mini Golf is like pizza—everybody likes it, no ifs, no putts. That's particularly true if it's played in a virtual space with seven mates who are all whacking away at their own pace whilst talking trash to make this nothing less than a par-tee. Not only does Walkabout Mini Golf impress as the coolest 'conference call + sports' package around, it's also a brilliant solo experience. I've happily lost hours and hours on this. Some of those were standing affairs, other times playing in a lazy-man seated position, thanks to the self-adjusting telescopic putter.
It's also worth knowing that these endearingly low-poly courses are actually vast sandboxes that hide 10 lost balls. Collect 'em all—or just Tiger Woods your way into a low score—and you'll earn 'fox hunts' around these cleverly designed holes. Lastly, I'm a huge fan of the robust physics that allow for ludcrous power shots, ricochet airtime, and speaker-shredding victory cheers when you prove that not all gamers are created eagle (some of us are albatrosses).
Adam Mathew played all of the above. He now has shocking "headset hair" and needs a really big drink of water.
