It’s been a fantastic year for virtual reality games, and with VR titles hailing from ambitious indie studios and well-established developers alike, the prospect of having truly great games in VR is decidedly here. We at the Road to VR editorial staff, having explored content across VR platforms over the last year, have deliberated over the past few weeks and have come to a decision on 2017’s top honors.

Because the medium is still in its infancy, we felt it wasn’t possible to provide a meaningful set of awards based around individual genres at this time. Instead, this year we focused on the much broader task of weighing games according to the most immersive platforms available: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR.

Games eligible for Road to VR‘s Game of the Year award must be available to the public on or before December 1st to allow for ample deliberation. Games must also natively support the target platform as to ensure full operability.

Without further ado, here are this year’s winners.

Lone Echo

Developer: Ready at Dawn

Available On: Oculus

Release Date: July 20th, 2017

As an Oculus exclusive title developed specifically for Touch, this first-person sci-fi adventure amazingly grounds you in the story while letting you fly free in zero-G. The game seems to have everything going for it too; incredible visuals, lifelike motion capture, quality writing, quality voice actors, excellent object interaction, detailed hand presence thanks to dynamic hand poses… we could go on. And we will.

Sometimes VR games overstep their bounds into territory the medium just can’t make good on right now. Lone Echo respects these boundaries while offering a locomotion style that is so freeing—while also being widely nausea-free—that it can even be used for its fast-paced multiplayer counterpart Echo Arena. It’s not only easy to control, but also contributes to immersion; you’re able to easily internalize how the world works and accept it without really thinking after only a few minutes of on-boarding. That’s an important part of the Presence equation for sure.

The game may feature cinematic sci-fi settings seemingly pulled from the set of Gravity (2013), but the star of the show is without a doubt Olivia. The early part of the game is filled with engaging ways to interact with her, creating a genuine feeling that she’s actually there—something that’s easy to screw up with poorly executed mocap, bad dialogue, or lackluster voice acting—basically anything that reveals her to be a hollow simulacra and not the living, breathing, ball-busting starship captain she is. Yet, the developers did a great job of making Olivia real enough for the player to connect with.

Lone Echo isn’t without flaws; nothing is. Puzzles show a great affinity for wow-factor and make good use of motion controls, but ultimately could be more complex. Despite this, Lone Echo it represents a shining light pointing towards greater, more in-depth games that don’t necessarily rely on old gameplay styles. Lone Echo has embraced the medium fully, searching for the most compelling way to deliver deep immersion.


SUPERHOT VR

Developer: SUPERHOT Team

Available On: Steam, Oculus, PSN

Release Date: May 25th, 2017

Since the launch of Touch in December 2016, the distinction between the sort of games made available on Oculus Home and Steam has become less pronounced over time. Undoubtedly, the company’s ‘walled garden’ approach has been unpopular for its creation of exclusivity where open standards would better serve the public. Though it’s hard to deny that Oculus’ concerted investment in motion controller-supporting VR games in 2017 hasn’t resulted in some incredible titles that may not otherwise exist. Case in point, the Oculus-funded SUPERHOT VR that later found a resounding success on Steam.

It’s honestly hard to believe that the original flatscreen Superhot (2016) wasn’t conceived for VR in the first place, considering how well the game’s slow motion, red guy-shattering premise works with a headset and two motion controllers. Built from the ground-up for VR headsets, Superhot VR isn’t a lengthy game when playing through story mode, but its ability to immerse with its low poly style and physical movement-based gameplay immediately make it one of those “easy to learn, hard to master” games that are undoubtedly worth coming back to—if only to perfect your trick shots, and delve deeper into the feeling of being some sort of badass from The Matrix (1999).

Stylish, addictive, immersive. All of these words come to mind when we think about Superhot VR. Now that the developers have pushed their ‘Forever Update’, several challenge modes make the game that much more difficult, and ridiculously fun.


Farpoint

DeveloperImpulse Gear

Available OnPSN

Release Date: May 16, 2017

Farpoint made its debut on PlayStation VR as one of the first ‘full’ AAA titles to delivery an engaging single player campaign to didn’t feel like it ended just as things were getting started. The VR FPS also launched with full support for the PS Aim controller which worked seamlessly with the game’s two-handed weapons, including an intuitive method for switching between them with a quick and funcional gesture.

While Farpoint’s story didn’t enrapture us, it was a serviceable foundation for immersive and fun gunplay. The game’s weapons didn’t do much to break new ground—mostly falling into the usual tropes of shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle—but there’s something to be said about great execution of a known formula. The weapons themselves wouldn’t be much fun without the right mixture of enemies; a slew of interesting enemies with well-defined roles was a great match for the weapons on offer, giving the player clear and fun ways to develop a strategy and prioritize enemies in the midst of battle. And what’s more, just as things start to feel a little too familiar the game throws a curveball at the player, introducing new and quite different enemies, as well as a number of new weapons to use against them.

Farpoint already felt substantial at launch, but the game recently got a free ‘Versus Expansion Pack’ which added a brand new PVP mode—which takes advantage of a 15 new weapon variants for 1v1 combat—further rounding out the title’s value proposition.


We’re looking forward to next year’s awards with the expectation of even more great games and platforms to choose from.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


  • Wednaud Ronelus

    Excellent Choices!!!!

  • NooYawker

    I’m obviously in the minority but Super Hot is the most over rated game.

    • Lucidfeuer

      Fortunately you’re the minority. This is great concept that had never been done in any interactive experience, and of course it happens to be great for VR.

      • NooYawker

        Sure it’s an interesting fun concept, but best game on the Vive?

        • Lucidfeuer

          Well you got to give it up for the mere concept, but also the fact that as such, this is one of the best, varied and simple introductory experience to VR. Maybe not to you after testing lots of high-production experiences, but for most people this is one the best VR demonstration game there is.

      • Richard Matey

        There is literally levels from the original Non VR game in this version. Super Hot is good, saying there has never been anything like this before…. settle down.

        • Lucidfeuer

          I was talking about Super Hot original (flash version in fact) obviously.

      • Celia

        Google is paying 97$ per hour,with weekly payouts.You can also avail this.
        On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $11752 this last four weeks..with-out any doubt it’s the most-comfortable job I have ever done .. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
        !da250d:
        ➽➽
        ➽➽;➽➽ http://GoogleCashOfficeCareerPartTimeJobs/get/hourly ★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫:::::!da250uuu

    • sfmike

      Have to agree. Very overrated.

    • benz145

      As with another commenter, I’m curious to know which headset you’ve played the game on?

    • Sky Castle

      Thought this was over rated as well. While fun, it’s far from the best VR game. Maybe best Indie game, but Arizona Sunshine, The Talos Principle, Raw Data, and so many more I can name just outclass Super Hot in every way in terms of content, gameplay, and art concepts.

    • Super

      If anything, superhot is underrated. The simple elegance of the purely fun, awesome game mechanics towers over anything else; content, story, production values, anything. If you could create and compete on custom levels, it would literally be the perfect game. No hyperbole.

  • grandpatryhard

    Super Hot is so over rated. Can’t believe it made your number 1.

    • benz145

      I’m curious, which headset did you play it with?

      • grandpatryhard

        Vive with large room scale (16 ft between sensors)

        • benz145

          Gotcha. Personally I found the game to offer a really unique experience that simply couldn’t be done outside of VR; the best games are those which are totally unique to the medium. I expect in the future we’ll see more games build on this idea, resulting in some really cool VR projects.

  • Num1

    Farpoint is the only PS4 VR game that deserves any real recognition, cant believe how few game-creators see the opportunity with aim controller and the way Farpoint is played. shit like teleport or fast turn is not how VR should be, Farpoint is exactly how VR should be, JUST MAKE IT LIKE THAT.

    • Bitekr

      I played Doom with Aim controller yesterday and I love it. Doom is so good.

      • AtmosContagion

        Doom VFR is alright, especially since PSVR is the only system with official smooth locomotion support for whatever reason, but there are better games on PC. The Doom 3 BFG mod, for instance, is far better than VFR. The level of VR interaction in the BFG mod just goes far beyond what VFR does.

        Decent shooters are also a dime a dozen on PC. They have to do much, much more than just being able to aim a weapon in VR to stand out these days, otherwise they’re just a generic VR shooter.

        • ivan

          Smooth locomotion does not suit for DOOM VFR. Game feels much betters on HTC Vive.

          • Graham

            Doom is a game that has smooth locomotion at its heart – it’s the only way I would want to play it.

          • AtmosContagion

            I used the mod for smooth locomotion in VFR and, while it wasn’t a perfect mod (some smooth movement mods are awesome), it did feel a lot better in terms of gameplay.

            It’s just odd that PSVR has an option for it, while PC doesn’t have an option at all.

      • Num1

        I was actually thinking about that while i was writing this, but i didnt say it because i feel farpoint is not getting as much cred as it should and I want to stress that to help vr in the right direction, but you are absolutely right

    • Pistolvania

      Are you serious? Resident evil 7 vr mode is psvr exclusive, the best vr game on any system

      • Num1

        Except its NOT better than farpoint..

  • Suitch

    I really hope Valve ups their games in 2018. Oculus has been funding almost every great VR game, and Valve is even further behind on the curve than Sony is. It is honestly disheartening that Vive’s best game chosen here was funded by Oculus. Oculus’s “walled garden” has proven to work very well for allowing focused funds on AAA content, but Valve has plenty of its own funding if only it used it.

  • HoriZon

    Farpoint is a worthy choice its unbelievable its not got more recognition in the game media its a solid game.

    • Celia

      Google is paying 97$ per hour,with weekly payouts.You can also avail this.
      On tuesday I got a great New Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $11752 this last four weeks..with-out any doubt it’s the most-comfortable job I have ever done .. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
      !da251d:
      ➽➽
      ➽➽;➽➽ http://GoogleCashOfficeCareerPartTimeJobs/get/hourly ★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫:::::!da251luuu

  • Sky Castle

    Lone Echo is the only winner I agree with. For Vive there are so much more games better than Super Hot. I actually didn’t even like it enough to finish.

    Fallout 4 VR would be my Vive winner.

    For PSVR it would be a close tie between Skyrim VR and Resident Evil 7 VR

    • Graham

      Didn’t fallout 4 vr come out after 1 December? The article says that’s the cut off point

      • Sky Castle

        Yes but I still disagree, all games in Dec should count since it’s still in 2017. But even if you don’t count Fallout 4 VR there’s still many more games better than what’s listed.

  • DinoHunter

    I enjoyed Echo arena. That is the one title i spent the most time on with my Oculus. So cool. This is the game of the year for me. Superhot was alright but i was bored after a weekend.

  • Graham

    Well done Road To VR!! At last, a site that recognises Farpoint for the awesome psvr game it was (although I only played it with the Aim controller).

    As others have said below and the countless comments in reddit, this game was treated very unfairly by all the “professional” reviewers (i’ve still no idea why) so great to see it recognised at last.