Now that Star Wars: Squadrons [read our review here] is out you might be hungry for space combat in VR — we’ve got you covered. This list covers five of our favorites across all major VR platforms and then we threw in a few bonus suggestions at the end for free fan-made experiences.
Chances are if you’re a Star Wars fan or space combat fan, then you’ve already decided whether or not to play Star Wars: Squadrons. Personally, I’m loving it so far.
House of the Dying Sun [Steam]
HOTAS Support Included [Recommended HOTAS/Stick List]
If you’re looking for something that’s the most similar to Star Wars Squadrons out there, this is probably your best bet for a single-player experience. It’s another arcade-style space combat game that has you shooting down pirates and bad guys across a relatively lengthy campaign. It’s fully playable in VR, with HOTAS or stick, and it’s on sale often.
End Space (Steam, PSVR, Quest)
HOTAS Support Included on PC/PSVR [Recommended HOTAS/Stick List]
This next one is for basically everyone — End Space. It’s one of the oldest space combat VR games out there in terms of being a fully playable and realized single player campaign. What began as a Gear VR title has since been ported to basically ever VR headset including Oculus Go, all PC VR platform, PSVR, and Quest. And if you’re playing on PC or PSVR then you can use a HOTAS setup similar to what you might use in Star Wars: Squadrons. It doesn’t have multiplayer, but it delivers similar thrills to the Star Wars: Squadrons campaign, just without The Force.
Here is our review of the PSVR version and our feature story on how two brothers started the studio out of literal pizza boxes.
Elite Dangerous [Steam, PS4 Non-VR]
HOTAS Support on PC Included [Recommended HOTAS/Stick List]
If you’ve got a VR-capable PC and love space, then this is the big one. If you want to fly a space ship and have a relatively realistic experience with it, then look no further than Elite Dangerous. There is a basically endless amount of things to do in this MMO-like and it’s ful of intricate attention to detail. The PS4 version does not have PSVR support.
EVE: Valkyrie – Warzone [Steam, PSVR]
HOTAS Support Included [Recommended HOTAS/Stick List]
Nowhere near as many people play this one anymore, but last I checked it was still fun against bots at least. For a combat-focused experience, this is another one that feels similar to Star Wars: Squadrons, albeit a little more simplistic by design. It’s definitely more of an arcade-style space combat game rather than a realistic one.
Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission (PSVR)
Arguably, this is what showed the world a Star Wars flight game with VR could absolutely be amazing. It’s super short and requires you own a copy of DICE’s first Battlefront game to play it, but it’s a pitch perfect thrill ride from start to finish. If you’ve got a PSVR, you owe it to yourself to play this. You can usually find a copy of Battlefront super cheaply these days to make it worth it.
Bonus: Free Fan-Made Game: – Project Stardust [PC VR]
According to the developer: “Destroy the Death Star in a VR remake of a 1983 Atari classic arcade game. Pilot an X-Wing as you destroy TIE fighters, Turbolaser turrets, and avoid Darth Vader while making an attack run. Created at the University of Utah by Dylan Stout as a research project on Virtual Reality Sickness.”
There you go — that’s our list of five (actually six) awesome VR space combat games and experiences that will let you experience a similar sensation and space fantasy to playing Star Wars: Squadrons. Let us know if you have any other good suggestions down in the comments below!
