Hands-on with the 8 new games that will level-up the Oculus Rift

Robo Recall

Blasting wayward ‘bots on the streets of a future city? It’s a simple concept and one that Robo Recall executes with aplomb.

From critters on the floor to walking, shooting humanoids, Robo Recall will have you blasting and grabbing the day away with your Touch controllers. With addictive combos, a host of weapons – including shoulder-holstered shotguns – and a wonderfully rendered urban environment, this feels like the accessible, guilt-free game that the Rift needs to hit it big.

Besides the usual blast-and-smash combat, there are some nifty mechanics – such as the ability to grab bullets and fling them back at the robots – as well as neat retro-style score overlays that give Robo Recall bags of character.

Moving by teleport takes a little getting used to but, once you’ve mastered the orientation, you’ll be hooked.

Release date: Out now

Price: £22.99 / Free with Oculus Touch

Download Robo Recall here from Oculus

Mage’s Tale

Fancy yourself a dab-handed sorcerer? Mage’s Tale will have you mixing, equipping and casting a barrage of unique spells – from fireballs to confetti lightning. In fact, there are so many possible combinations of ingredients that even the developers haven’t seen all of the spells.

When you’re not flinging ingredients into the potion pot and giving it a good VR stir, Mage’s Tale will have you puzzle-solving your way through levels reminiscent of Tomb Raider, as frog-like enemies come at you with arrows.

While teleportation is a little clunky, the option to strafe helps a little and combat is rewarding, as you block volleys with your shield before lobbing your latest spell at the nearest enemy – all while a floating, gloating assistant reluctantly instructs you. It’s not for everyone, but it’s VR fantasy done right.

Release date: TBC

Price: TBC

Arktika.1

Arktika.1 flings you into a dystopian future, sticks a barrage of weapons in your Touch-wielding hands and sends you out into rebellious lands to fight off bad guys – and their drones. And, coupled with addictive reload mechanics and meaningful duck-and-cover gameplay, it takes mere moments to get hooked.

Many will find the lack of free movement frustrating, but the teleportation system is better here than most. Accepting its limits, the game allows you to jump between fixed firing positions, highlighted in blue (safe) and yellow (risky).

From these, it’s a case of firing, hiding and – when a drone comes by – standing stock still. Graphics are excellent, with the abandoned airport terminal and plane carcasses properly immersive. Pulled out after 25 minutes, I was desperate to play on. That’s got to be good sign.

Release date: Autumn 2017

Price: TBC

Rock Band VR

Think you’ve rocked out all you can? You’ve not played Rock Band VR. Stick on a Rift headset, grab a guitar and prepare to feel stage fright like never before.

See, the latest iteration in the strumming series puts you on a virtual stage with a big virtual crowd – and it’s easily the most immersive musical gaming experience there’s ever been.

Developer Harmonix has worked hard to refine the traditional button track, instead opting for a slimmer horizontal bar at the top. I played rhythm guitar and, while it feels like it requires a little less skill than previous games, the freedom to pick chord patterns without being dominated by an rolling fretboar – as well as the need to strum in time and the bonus points on offer for hitting suggested chords – takes Rock Band VR far closer to the experience of playing a guitar for real.

Plus, I never got over the weirdness of seeing my VR hands holding a VR guitar in exactly the same place as my real hands held the real, erm, fake guitar.

Release date: 23 March

Price: US$69.99

Pre-order Rock Band VR here from Oculus

Lone Echo

Few Rift games are yet to master the movement mechanic, with many opting for the frequently frustrating teleportation option. Not Lone Echo. See, Lone Echo has you taking on the role of an ‘Echo’ – a robot companion to a human astronaut – and it has perhaps the most fluid movement method of any VR game to date.

As it’s all set in zero gravity, you travel by means of grabbing surfaces with your extra-grippy gloves and flinging yourself towards other objects – just as real space-goers do. You also have a small booster on each arm, should you find yourself too far from a handle, though it’s really this ability to grab and go that sets Lone Echo apart.

Short of playing it, it’s hard to communicate just how fluid this experience feels, with the ability to slingshot around and grab almost anything that takes your fancy. It’s properly immersive, with the depth of space as a background only adding to the sense of realism.

A story mode delivers drama, action and tasks aplenty, while there’s also set to be a manic multiplayer mode that’ll see you and your Rift pals zipping around in zero-G.

Release date: TBC

Price: TBC

Brass Tactics

Real-time strategy might seem an odd genre to pick for a VR platform – until you play Brass Tactics.

With theming straight out of Game of Thrones, Brass Tactics places you hovering above a prettily rendered table in a watchtower. By grabbing and dragging you can float and zip all around the board, focussing on where your opponent – represented by a floating head – is working or, alternatively, going off to build units and capture towers wherever takes your fancy.

Animations are attractive and upgrades well structured, with a real sense that you need to manage your gameplay across the board – which, in turn, feels like a truly physical space. As you assign resources to a tower in order to create more cavalry units to fend of an impending archers’ attack, you might spot your foe crafting new units in your peripheral vision.

That physicality is mirrored in the hapctic feedback of the Touch controllers, too, with clicks as you pull back a catapult, for example. This is a game that takes an established concept and crafts it for VR to excellent effect.

Release date: Autumn 2017

Price: TBC

From Other Suns

Blasting rogue robots on a spaceship? It’s not a new concept – but it’s one that From Other Suns does pretty darn well. Choose between a slightly clunky third-person mode or make it a first-person shooter – either way, you’ll enjoy visuals that don’t feel a million miles away from Doom 3 and enough tension to keep your eyes wide inside the headset.

Some will find the 45-degree rotation jumps nauseating – not to mention the odd third-person quirk where you see the back of your character as it runs ahead – but the gameplay itself is good, button-bashing fun, where finding cover and physically leaning around the corner and aiming with the Touch handset feels thoroughly involving.

Tasks are clear and engaging, while procedurally generated levels should mean that things don’t get too repetitive. It’s all of a type, but it’s good fun and, if you’re an aggressive sort, you won’t find it hard to get into the shield-then-shoot mechanics.

Release date: Autumn 2017

Price: TBC

Killing Floor: Incursion

This is one best played with a friend and, despite the zombie-slashing, axe-wielding concept, it delivers bags of fun.

Notionally, you’re fighting a computer virus that seems to have taken the form of the undead – not that you’ll remember that as you seek out bugs with your UV torch before hoardes of variously aggressive, lumbering and downright disturbing flesh-eaters flail towards you.

You’ve an array of items with which to obliterate them – including a shotgun and an axe – or, if you’re feeling creative, you can pick up their decaptiated body parts to lob at other creepers. There are some puzzles to solve, too, such as finding crystal skulls to open doors, but really it’s the ludicrous combat that’ll have you laughing and coming back for more.

Until you hit the immensely difficult boss, that is, when you’ll curse your mate for dying first and leaving you to pump the shotgun with the Touch controllers alone.

Release date: TBC

Price: TBC

Follow Killing Floor Incursion here on Oculus