New HTC Vive Releases For The Week Of 03/12/17

Lots of new stuff released for HTC Vive on Steam this week, but not all of it is particularly noteworthy or earth-shattering. The biggest highlight is likely Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul, a made-for-VR horror title that’s based within the iconic film franchise’s expanded universe. If that’s not your cup of tea, there’s plenty else to pick from.

In the meantime, if you missed last week, you can see those new releases here. And don’t forget that UploadVR has a Steam community group, complete with a curated list of recommendations so that you don’t have to waste any money finding out what’s good in the world of VR.

We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.

New Steam Releases

War of Castle VR, from Lemonvr

Price: $15.99 (Currently Discounted)

In this VR MOBA game you’ll do battle against your enemy’s forces as you try to take down their tower. There is a large number of weapons and enemy types in the game, but it lacks the creativity needed to really make this genre excel in the VR space. It boils down to Plants vs. Zombies, more or less.

Recommendation: Pass on this one, doesn’t feel like the best adaptation of the genre for VR.

VR Sports, from SAT-BOX

Price: $12.99 (Currently Discounted)

In this latest mini-game collection, SAT-BOX and Degica Games attempt to deliver the definitive VR version of the Wii Sports experience. We’ve already got basketball, baseball, archery, bowling, soccer, clay shooting, and boxing, with ping pong and kart racing to come.

Recommendation: This VR Sports game takes the breadth over depth approach. Simple fun, but not groundbreaking.

Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul, from VRWERX

Price: $39.99 (Currently Discounted)

Make no mistake: the horror genre and VR feel like the perfect match, that is, as long as you enjoy having your skin crawl and hair stand on end. While licensed games don’t exactly have the greatest track record, the immersive power of VR has the potential to side step many of the issues — that’s where Paranormal Activity VR comes in.

Recommendation: It’s still in Early Access, so some improvements are in store, but it’s a solid starting point. Not quite as long as some hoped, but still a solid horror game.

Carlos III y la difusión de la antigüedad, from Future Lighthouse

Price: Free

Charles III of Spain and the antiquity tells the story of how Charles III funded the excavations that discovered the ancient cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, spreading the knowledge acquired throughout Europe and America.

Recommendation: It’s beautiful, so definitely recommended for art and history buffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5KkIoyw22A

The Ancient Remains, from Outhouse Games

Price: $9.99

Roguelikes are gaining a lot of traction in VR as of late, with The Ancient Remains as the latest example. It’s only about 10 minutes long right now in Early Access, but has promise with this strong foundation of mechanics. The catacombs are procedurally generated as you search for lost relics and treasure.

Recommendation: If you love roguelikes, this could blossom into something solid. As of now, hard to recommend based on existing content alone.

Super VR Trainer, from Jorge Moreno Aguilera and David Erosa

Price: $19.99

With Super VR Trainer we’ve got another small collection of mini-games — but this time they’re not all sport themed. There’s a hospital-based zombie shooter, a light blade game, an archery game against skeletons, basketball, hover board gliding, and a puzzle game.

Recommendation: Feels unfinished, which wouldn’t be as big of a deal if it was still in Early Access, but it’s launched now. Hard to recommend paying for this in the face of better free options.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtkdyuPi3vE

Constricted VR, from PNxDesigns

Price: $0.99

It’s another Escape the Room VR game. Slow pace, atmospheric environments, and a pseudo-horror theme. That’s about it.

Recommendation: It’s a buck, grab it if you like these kind of games.

Overload, from Revival Productions

Price: $24.99

6DOF (six degrees of freedom) shooters are making a bit of a comeback with the dawn of VR, with Descent: Underground, StarBlood Arena, and now Overload. It’s only single player and still in Early Access though, so don’t expect a full or complete game yet.

Recommendation: Certainly packs the production values to be worth a purchase for fans of the genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4u7DDzFkQ

IronWolf VR, from Ionized Studios

Price: $19.99 (Currently Discounted)

Take control of a deep sea submarine with an entire crew in cooperative multiplayer. Single player is supported as well, but playing this online with other people in VR is the way to go. You don’t have to love subs and naval warfare to enjoy it, but it certainly helps.

Recommendation: It’s like FTL, in co-op, but underwater. Even in Early Access we recommend this one.

Quizality, from UV Games,

Price: $4.99 (Currently Discounted)

This is a trivia game played entirely in VR, which is fine, except you can’t explore the environments and it’s only single player.

Recommendation: Hard to see the value with the current list of features.

Passengers: Awakening VR Experience, from MPC VR

Price: $9.99

Hang out on the massive Avalon spaceship from the sci-fi movie Passengers. Chris Pratt even recorded original dialogue for the experience and it features some truly breathtaking views and cool areas to explore. The puzzle solving is a little tedious.

Recommendation: A step above most movie tie-in VR experiences, recommended for fans of the film. More info.

Heaven Forest NIGHTS, from Fabio Ferrara

Price: $0.99 (Currently Discounted)

Once you’re done yelling the final word in this experience’s title, you can embark on a slow-paced, atmospheric journey through a beautiful forest. It explores topics such as: what is the meaning of death?

Recommendation: Cheap little experience, some nice visuals and themes. Grab it up and give it a go one night when you’re feeling philosophical.

Panzer Panic VR, from HandyGames

Price: $9.99 (Currently Discounted)

This is a relatively standard tank combat game, similar to the like of Battlezone. While it’s a bit limited in terms of content, the core gameplay is definitely entertaining.

Recommendation: If you don’t have a PSVR to play Battlezone, this is a capable replacement for the price.

VRCURATOR, from Lobaki

Price: $4.99 (Currently Discounted)

Find it tough to communicate with and give direction to people while they’re in VR? Then this is for you. It acts like a walkie-talkie of sorts that connects you to their VR experience so they can hear and communicate without removing the HMD or headphones.

Recommendation: A pretty niche product but it works great if you have the need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U57FZYsOq6k

Warpaint, from Adam Thompson

Price: $9.99

Command an army and launch catapults at your enemies in this turn-based strategy game. The gimmick here is that you can also paint your miniature dwarves for additional customization.

Recommendation: Neat premise with varied multiplayer, but a bit shallow overall. Grab it on sale if you love RTS games.

Arch Virtual HQ, from Arch Virtual

Price: Free

This is a bit weird, as it’s essentially just a virtual tour of this company’s office space along with a few product demos. Not sure if they will find any potential clients or partners via Steam, but hey, maybe they will.

Recommendation: Probably just pass on this.

Tales of Escape, by OnSkull Games

Price: $4.99

You might want to sit down for this one: it’s yet another Escape the Room VR game. Shocking, I know. However, this one is actually a multiplayer experience, which gets major bonus points for doing something a bit different.

Recommendation: If you’ve got enough friends with Vives, give this a go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJjwxDtoQdM

Violent killer VR, from 威震天科技

Price: $2.99

Visually, this game actually gets the job done. Textures are nice and the overall design is quite pleasant to look at, but it’s just not a very inspired shooter.

Recommendation: Good price, but hard to recommend since you likely own several much better games.

Welcome Home, Love, from A Trifle Odd

Price: $7.99 (Currently Discounted)

You arrive back at your humble abode only to find a note from your partner and a series of puzzles to uncover the surprise. Lots of voiced dialogue and lots of areas to explore. It’s not exactly too inspired or impressive, but it’s an ambitious VR adaptation of the “walking simulator” genre of games.

Recommendation: A bit shoddy in terms of production values, but a decent time killer if you’re low on stuff to play. Maybe wait for a bigger sale either way.

A-Tech Cybernetic, from XREAL Games

Price: $24.99 (Currently Discounted)

A-Tech Cybernetic has a weird name and a weird description. XREAL Games says that it is “a visibly beautifully elaborated sci-fi game taking place at external and internal venues.” That doesn’t make any sense so let us clear it up for you: you get to punch aliens in the face. And then, if the punch doesn’t take care of them, you get to shoot them. Varied combat methods and a few solid weapons make this wave shooter a random, but fun experience.

Recommendation: Did we mention you get to punch aliens in the face? It’s far from original, but packs a lot of quality alien shooting and punching.

Metal Assault, from BitBerg

Price: $4.99

Metal Assault is the first episode in a series of VR shooter experiences from BitBerg. It’s a 30 minute challenge that will pit you, your wits, and your guns against waves of mutated enemies

Recommendation: Wave shooters aren’t exactly new ground for VR and this one is especially limited to a paltry 30 minutes. This would have been better positioned as a free demo. It’s not very steep but even $5 feels like a little much for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QRS_MrOKFU

Masters of Chess, from Mobile Fusion Apps Ltd.

Price: $7.99

This is chess in VR. You can play chess in VR with this game. You can play against other players online, locally (using a monitor vs. VR feature) or against AI. Chess is the game that you will be able to play.

Recommendation: Do you want to play chess in VR? If you do then get this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrUi10Y7ADY

World Builder, from Guruji VR, Inc.

Price: $9.99 (Currently Discounted)

World Builder, as the name would suggest, lets you build “worlds and landscapes” in VR. There is any easy pick up and play UI and plenty of effects to choose from like rain, fog, fire, etc.

Recommendation: This would actually be a good experience to try out (at a reasonable price) if you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at designing VR worlds before putting down major cash on Unity or Unreal courses and assets.

Galactic Core: The Lost Fleet, from Portal Studios VR

Price: $14.99 (Currently Discounted)

What’s that? You say you want another wave shooter in VR? Well alright! Here’s Galactic Core: The Lost Fleet. At least this one offers some sense of depth by providing a class system and some very light progression elements.

Recommendation: Wave shooters are being done to death but there’s enough graphical power and interesting gameplay here to justify a $10 or less purchase if you feel so inclined during a sale.

Atramentum VR, from Craplabs

Price: $8.99 (Currently Discounted)

Slow-paced horror puzzle game. It’s a lot like an Escape the Room game, except the environments are larger with a bit more exploration. Nice and spooky, but clearly a small indie project.

Recommendation: There are plenty of VR horror titles out there, but it’s worth a look if Paranormal Activity is too pricey for your taste.

Clash of Vessels VR, from Druid Technologies

Price: $3.99 (Currently Discounted)

Feels a bit like battleship, but the way you were imagining it in your head when you were little. The graphics are quite nice for what this is and do a nice job of visualizing naval warfare.

Recommendation: There’s no multiplayer, but it’s cool if you’re a fan of military strategy games.

Hover Skate VR, from Hyper Light Studios

Price: $11.99 (Currently Discounted)

Do you remember Tech Deck Fingerboards? I used to collect these things and would construct elaborate, tiny little skate parks that I’d grind and flip my way around using my fingers as feet. Hover Skate VR is kind of like that, mixed with Tony Hawk, except you use your entire hands as feet instead of just your fingers.

Recommendation: Tons of features (like auto GIF capture, hundreds of tricks, lots of locations, and good customization) make this an easy recommendation.

New Viveport Releases

Buzz Aldrin: Cycling Pathways to Mars, from LIFE VR

Price: Free

Chances are that you will very likely never meet Buzz Aldrin, the second person to ever walk on the Moon. But a hologram that chats with you in VR while exploring Mars is just about the next best thing.

Recommendation: It’s free, definitely grab it. Available on Viveport and on Steam.