Our top 5 VR Games so Far

Top 5 Must Play Games for the HTC Vive

#5: Knock out League

If you like boxing and sweating then this game is very much for you. This is probably the most tired I have been after playing a VR game. Knockout League pits you against various boxers of varying difficulty and style. They range from a very typical looking boxer to a giant octopus with boxing gloves on its tentacles. It also has a calorie counter built in so you can track calorie loss from playing this game. It's actually part of my workout routine considering it's such an active title.

#4: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim VR

TESV: Skyrim is a long time favorite of our's and the VR release is a real game-changer for this title. While not a from the ground up VR game, we feel this port was done rather well. It's a straight port of Skyrim into VR and, after a couple patches and some mods, it works rather well. We plan to have many posts on modding and reviewing this game in the future so be sure to stay tuned for that.

#3: Budget Cuts

Budget Cuts has finally been released in full and, we believe it lived up to the demo released a couple years ago. The gameplay consists of stealthy teleporting through an office environment while trying to avoid the robot guards. The knife throwing takes a bit to get used to but this game is well worth picking up if you want an active stealth game.

#2: GORN

GORN is a pleasantly violent gladiatorial combat game. It's somewhat cartoonish style makes for a very clean VR look and it's buggy physics actually only add to the charm. Check out our recent post on the latest update that added a crab boss and crab claw cestus to play with. This game is well worth the money and we can't wait to see what the developers add next.

#1: Beat Saber

If you haven't heard of Beat Saber then you must be new to VR and, well, gaming in general so... Welcome to the party! Beat saber is a rhythm game where you cut up 3D boxes to the beat of the music with a couple of lightsabers. The default song collection is rather small but you can head on over to our post on how to add custom songs to add your own music.

These titles are more what we've been playing a lot lately. There are a ton of great VR titles out there and this top list will definitely change as we fully experience more and more of the industry. So be sure to check back for updated lists and reviews.

First Impressions Blind

Blind First Impressions(No Spoilers)

Blind is, so far, an interesting, immersive, and story-driven puzzle game. The game starts with a short cutscene to set up the rest of the game's mystery and plot. Once you get through that you are placed in the game with a little more narrative and the game mechanics are slowly introduced to you as you progress through the first few rooms. The antagonist, at least we think he is, leads you along your path through this story and continually adds to the enigma of the mansion you are exploring.

Throwing things is a good way to see farther away

The puzzles so far have been rather straightforward but with the added blindness, things can take a bit longer to master. At one point early on you get your cane and from then on are able to see much better since you can generate sound at will without having to find things to throw.

We were a bit concerned at first as in the first area before you get your cane, you can pretty clearly see the outlines of furniture in the room without any sound present. However, we suspect that this is just for the somewhat tutorial area to ease you into the mechanics and story because once you get your cane the rooms are pitch black when sound is not present.

So far it is a very pleasant experience and we can't wait to finish it and give our full review. There are a few quirks and bugs to the game as well but nothing really worth noting so far. So check back for our full review sometime next week.

How to: Installing Beat Saber Mods and add Custom Songs

So you want to mod Beat Saber...

By now you are probably familiar with the VR title Beat Saber. I mean it is only the most popular VR title to date. Well, then you may already know that the default repertoire of songs, while massively fun, are limited. That's where a little mod called BeatSaver comes in. This mod allows for custom songs to be added with fan-made beat maps. Being a mod from a third party it can get a little confusing to install, and it should go without saying that you install these mods at your own risk. However, if you follow our links and instructions you should be just fine. So without further ado let's dive in.

Step 1: Download the installer.

The first thing you'll need is the mod installer. This is what you'll use to install and update all your mods for Beat Saber.

Head on over to this link: https://github.com/Umbranoxio/BeatSaberModInstaller/releases

Click on the link labeled BeatSaberModManager.exe then save it to a location you will remember.

Step 2: Install mods with the mod manager.

Once your download is complete navigate to the location of the file and open it. it should look something like this:

Make sure to click yes on the UAC prompt that pops up if you're on windows. Once the installer is open it should look like this:

Note: Make sure that Steam VR and Beat Saber are closed before installing any mods.

The three mods that are checked by default are the minimum you need to download and play custom songs. If you are interested in any of the others you can right-click any of them and select view info to see what they do. Also, make sure to check that your Beat Saber Folder Path is correct at the top. If it is not the right path then click the button next to the dialogue box and browse to the correct folder. 

Once you're sure the file path is correct and you have selected the mods that you want, you are ready to install. Simply click the Install/Update button at the bottom right and the mod manager will do the rest. Once it is done it will display Install complete at the bottom.

And that's it! You're ready to jump in and start downloading songs. If you already know how to use the mod in-game then you can stop here, but if you think you'll need help setting things up we'll go over how to download and play songs. in the next couple steps.

Using the mods:

Get in the game and download some songs.

So now you're ready to boot up Beat Saber and get to downloading music. Once in-game you should see a new button in the bottom left corner of the center menu labeled Beatsaver.

Go ahead and click on that with your laser pointer. This will take you to a list of custom songs that have been uploaded to the Beatsaver server. You can sort by Downloads, Popularity, or Upload date by clicking the filters at the top of the list. You can also search for your favorite music by clicking the search button also located at the top.

Once you find the music that you are looking for go ahead and select it, then click download.

Once it is finished you can head on over to whatever mode you were looking to play and select your new song from the list as you would for any of the default songs.

Some notes about custom songs:

• Not all songs work in all modes.
• Most songs only have one difficulty setting though there are a few with multiple options.
• These beat maps are fan made and quality is not guaranteed.

That's really all there is to it! Hope this helped and have fun playing custom songs in Beat Saber.

New GORN Update includes a Giant Crab Boss

GORN update adds new cestus and a giant crab.

With copious amounts of violence and easy to pick up gameplay, GORN has become one of the must-have VR games on the market. GORN is an early access game where you play the part of a gladiator combating an ever increasing number of opponents in an arena purely for the enjoyment of an audience consisting of disembodied heads and their sadistic leader. Let's just say this game is a really good way to let off steam after a long day.

Audience and the sadistic king. This is the smaller of the two arenas.

The developers, Free Lives, put out somewhat frequent updates that include things such as bug fixes or new content in the form of new enemies, weapons, or features. In one such update, they added battle cestus, which is essentially a combat glove with various perks or weapons attached. These gloves originally included things such as Wolverine-style claws or a Zelda like grappling hook.

In the most recent update, the developers added a crab boss which, upon defeating, you unlock the crab claw cestus. This boss fight, I would say, was the hardest one of the eight currently in the game. However, it was very much worth it. The crab claws are very fun and once you get used to them are very powerful.

First time I discovered that you can hit with them.

Along with the crab, this update came with some minor graphics and performance improvements as well as some physics tweaks. Free lives also ensured that they are back to devoting all of their attention to the game after a small break for some game conferences. On top of all that they released a very well done rap video to promote their new content update. All in all this game rocks and we look forward to future updates and additions. We leave you with GORNs own BE KIROOD and his ROKIBE Diss Track, enjoy.

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