Watching how game creators utilize virtual reality to create new immersive gaming experiences is fascinating. However, sometimes you want to switch off your head and play an old classic.
So why also try playing your favorite vintage title in virtual reality? A surprising number of VR ports of existing games are available to play now. Here are a few titles we recommend you try on your VR gaming setup.
What Is a VR Port?
A video game port is a title created for one console system and then ported to another. This is usually a console game that is also being released on PC. In short, it’s the same game ported to a new platform.
In 1980, for example, Namco made the first Pac-Man arcade game. However, in 1982, Atari transferred the title to the Atari 2600, allowing the game to penetrate many children’s homes. This made Pac-Man a gaming industry mainstay, even making it one of the best retro gifts you can give gamers and non-gamers equally.
In VR games, porting a match to a VR platform could imply incorporating fully realized depth, body presence, and motion controls into familiar old worlds.
As you might expect, porting a game into VR is difficult. A VR port may be getting the game to run in the headset, but it is frequently an attempt to include room-scale play.
Some games on this list are official, while others are free mods. Nonetheless, if you enjoyed the original game, all of them are worth a look.
1. Fallout 4 VR
Fallout 4 VR, another Bethesda-created port, is similar to Skyrim VR. Again, it provides complete motion control and room-scale assistance, but this time it gives you guns to shoot and explosives to toss.
Unfortunately, for an official title, the gun interface in this port is pretty primitive. For example, no reloading mechanisms exist, and all your weapons are one-handed.
Again, similar to Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR has a relatively active modding culture that can help to address some of the difficulties with this port.
2. Skyrim VR
It has about ten different versions across various platforms, and Skyrim VR is one of the game’s most exciting and engaging versions.
Skyrim VR is an official Bethesda port. Therefore, this version of Skyrim allows you to enter the world with full motion controls immediately. You can swing weapons, shoot arrows, and cast spells while dodging around your play area.
When you consider mods, this version improves much more. Skyrim VR features its own fork of the popular script extender and several VR-specific mods that can further enhance your experience. Even better, Skyrim VR can run a variety of mods from the original Skyrim version, so check out all of these enormous Skyrim mods!
3. Borderlands 2 VR
Borderlands 2 invites you to immerse yourself in the loot-and-shoot experience in VR, and it’s a decent port. The aesthetics are stunning, and it performs admirably. But, unfortunately, it needs to be improved in a few areas.
It lacks any multiplayer functionality. Borderlands is known for its co-op experience, but the VR version will be played alone. However, if you can get past that, you’ll have a blast mowing down hordes of foes and employing distinct character powers with subtle VR twists.
This game is challenging on the stomach, if not simply due to how quickly it moves. However, the game does contain a teleport locomotion mode and comfort choices, which can help you get used to playing it in VR.
4. Alien Isolation VR
Alien Isolation was supposed to come with a VR option in 2014, but that plan was canceled. Instead, the Alien Isolation VR mod was rapidly made because enough code was left over from the game’s final version. As a result, it’s now one of the most polished fan-made VR mods available, with sharp visuals and low-performance overhead.
Because it is based on the game’s original VR code and because few VR headsets supported motion controls back then, this is, unfortunately, a seated experience. Unfortunately, this means you won’t be able to use a game-changing omnidirectional VR treadmill to play this title. Instead, you’ll have to rely on your controller, which is far less immersive.
However, the port remains one of the most aesthetically engaging and disturbing VR experiences accessible. And, while you must do the labor of installing a user-made mod to the original game, the process is expedited, and the experience is well worth it.
5. No Man’s Sky VR
No Man’s Sky continues to impress with its VR mode after surprising everyone with its redemption storyline.
This is a familiar game, unlike the preceding entries on this list. You’re ready to go if you have a VR headset and No Man’s Sky on Steam or GoG.
This VR version of the game has pleasing aesthetics and on-foot action, but the vehicle gameplay is where it shines. You can enter your ship or ground vehicle and engage with the controls, whether a steering wheel or a throttle-and-stick combo. Few VR games allow players to switch from on-foot to vehicle action seamlessly, yet the No Man’s Sky VR port does so.
This one can be difficult for folks with weak VR legs, but the vistas are well worth it. No Man’s Sky, like Skyrim VR and Fallout 4 VR, allows you to add mods to enhance your VR experience.
6. Half-Life 2 VR
Half-Life’s world drew people to VR, but Half-Life: Alyx is one of many options to see City 17 in complete 3D. Half-Life 2 VR is a fan-made port of Half-Life 2, which includes the whole campaign and wholly redesigned weapon systems.
You’ll be able to interact and reload with your weapons to a similar extent as in Half-Life: Alyx. You also have complete stick-based mobility, teleportation, and a slew of additional conveniences.
Because of the antiquity of the original game, this is a fairly straightforward port to run. It’s not the most visually appealing VR game out there, but sometimes the classics just can’t be beaten.
7. Outer Wilds VR
Outer Wilds VR is the most ambitious port on this list, bringing all the unease of drifting through space in six degrees of freedom to your VR headset. This mod is a passion project by some dedicated fans that adds full motion controls and room-scale play to Outer Wilds.
It has a high-performance overhead and can test even the most robust VR legs. Still, the Outer Wilds experience is the same.
8. Resident Evil Games in VR
REFramework is another fan-made mod that is an all-in-one VR mod for numerous Resident Evil titles. Resident Evil Remake 2 and 3, as well as Resident Evil Remake 7 and 8, have all been remade into fully playable, room-scale-enabled VR experiences.
That means you’ll be shooting and swinging your knife. Unfortunately, no reload interactivity is available. Therefore the game has a hefty performance cost. In addition, even while playing at a high and consistent frame rate, the UI elements might be difficult to see, and motion sickness is brutal to avoid.
Run-through worlds that appear lifelike in VR is an experience few other games can provide
VR Game Ports: A New Way to Play Your Favorite Classic Games
VR alters the game, sometimes dramatically. Playing brand-new VR games can give you experiences not available anywhere else in gaming, but playing old classics in VR can give you a fresh perspective on previously unseen games.
So, provided your VR legs can handle it, have fun sprinting around these older game worlds.
