There’s not as many new releases for the Vive on Steam this week when compared to the small flood of last week, but there’s still enough to sink your teeth into. Now that we have a pretty good idea that roughly 50,000 people own an HTC Vive, hopefully we see a bigger influx of high-quality titles since the market may be growing a bit faster than some early developers initially anticipated.
Let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s new releases (and one that released late last week after we posted the list) on Steam for the HTC Vive! If you missed them, you can see last week’s releases right here!
DollcitydemoV_1 Demo, from GaeIDk –
Release Date: 05/6/2016, Price: Free
Despite the fact that the name of this one resembles the filename of an unfinished .exe file, it’s currently available to download and play on Steam. We missed it in last week’s list because it went live after we ran the article, so we wanted to make sure we included it this week. The developers are referring to it as Doll-CityVR on the page, so that’s likely the intended name. It promises a cyberpunk-fueled adventure, much like that one found in the excellent Technolust, although much of it appears to be from a sideview perspective.
VIRTUAnimator, from Pheonise –
Release Date: 05/09/2016, Price: $9.99, Currently 10% Off
Since VR development is still in such early stages, it’s fair game for anyone to jump into the fray and see where their development journey takes them. Much like the early days of mobile gaming, the early days of VR development are all about experimentation and trying new things. VIRTUAnimator is a a VR-exclusive animation tool that lets you use the Vive’s controllers to easily move and manipulate objects in 3D space. With Steam workshop support, this Early Access software has a lot of potential, with a series of video tutorials already only.
Orc Assault, from Ghost Machine –
Release Date: 05/10/2016, Price: $19.99, Currently 40% Off
If your HTC Vive looks at the Oculus Store longingly wishing to experience the joy of Defense Grid 2, a stellar tower defense game, then the indie tower defense title, Orc Assault, may look pretty appealing. While it does have some issues in its current state, it’s at a great discount and offers some nice bright visuals to contrast against the popularity of more gritty realism you see in a lot of current VR games.
Hyper Bowling VR, from Blaze Forward Games –
Release Date, 05/11/2016, Price: $19.99
In theory a bowling game makes a lot of sense for VR, especially with motion controllers. Wii Sports was a huge hit because of the novelty of throwing an object with a motion controller, so why not expand and improve on that for VR? Well, there are two big problems with Hyper Bowling VR: no multiplayer and a high price tag. You’d expect a lot more content for that price and far fewer bugs.
Observatory: A VR Variety Pack, from 2DArray –
Release Date: 05/12/2016, Price $9.99, Free Demo Available
At a time in which we don’t know how many VR experiences that sound good on paper will actually work out, a VR variety pack comes across as quite a good idea. That’s what 2DArray is offering here with three VR games and a music video. There’s a procedurally generated downhill racer, a sci-fi horror game, and an animal-based puzzler to enjoy, whole the video is described as a “musical trip through space”. It’s all in early access right now, though, but you can download the free demo to get a bit of a sneak peek.
