Rockstar Games is one of the most prolific game studios on the entire planet. Each time they release a big new game it dominates sales charts for years and sends people flocking to the servers in the sum of millions. From Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead, Max Payne, and so much more they’re easily one of the most popular developers in the entire industry. When they get interested in VR others will also take notice. This morning the news broke that Rockstar Games is officially adapting several hand-selected cases from their groundbreaking detective adventure game, LA Noire, into a brand new rebuilt package specifically for the HTC Vive dubbed LA Noire: The VR Case Files. It’s due out this November and we’re excited to revisit the streets of 1940s Los Angeles.
But what about their other game franchises? We want to see those get the VR treatment as well, so we picked five of our favorites and laid out exactly how and why each of them should come to VR headsets.
Grand Theft Auto
This one’s a no-brainer. As Rockstar’s indisputably biggest and most popular game series, Grand Theft Auto should absolutely be officially brought into the immersive realm of VR. In fact, it’s such an amazing fit, modders have already realized a big part of that dream with a GTA V VR mod.
Going a step further than that though, it has everything fans of VR want out of a game. There are huge cities to explore, dozens of characters to meet, dense multiplayer activities, tons of content to complete, driving, flying, and shooting, and basically everything else you can imagine. If GTA VI were to have official VR support from the start then we could all die happy.
Bully
It’s been a long time since I’ve played Bully. It’s long been regarded as the red-headed stepchild of the Rockstar game catalog and it’s a bit of a shame. On its face it feels and looks like GTA III in terms of gameplay mechanics and visuals, but is actually a much more subtle and complex adventure.
When you’re not busy going to class, trying to fight your way up the social ladder, or completing side activities, the game tells an immensely personal story about what it’s like going to school in the modern world and all the trials, tribulations, and stress that entails.
Max Payne
Anyone that’s played games like Raw Data and Sairento know how satisfying it is to do things like slow down time and dodge bullets in VR. We’re still waiting on the obvious Matrix VR experience, but until then, something based on Max Payne would be great.
Looking beyond the obviously perfect gameplay there’s also the dark and brooding tale of murder and revenge that would be even more unsettling to see play out while wearing a VR headset.
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar’s biggest upcoming game on the horizon right now is the sequel to the smash-hit Red Dead Redemption. The former lead designer of the series is already embracing VR as a medium for storytelling, so we’d love to see his former franchise follow suit.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is poised to be one of the biggest games of 2018 and we’d love to gallop across the West from the immersive confines of a VR headset.
Manhunt
Rockstar’s Manhunt series hasn’t seen the light of day in a very long time. It’s gory, it’s crass, and it’s horrifically violent, but in the wake of films like The Purge, it could be more popular than ever if it got the support and funding it needed.
The last thing VR needs right now is more violence, but despite what it appears, Manhunt is an incredibly deep inspection of violence and through the lens of a VR headset it could teach a lot of people a lot of things about society’s obsession with blood and guts.
