Best PlayStation VR games: the PSVR adventures you shouldn't miss

best PlayStation VR games: the PSVR launch bundle with the headset and controllers
(Image credit: Sony)

 

The best PlayStation VR games showcase the power of VR and that of PlayStations roster of exclusive titles. VR is an attractive technology for everyone looking for a different way to enjoy games, but PlayStation VR arguably makes VR gaming slightly more accessible than for example the Meta Quest 2 – a full bundle of hardware that will work with your console, at a competitive price.

Whether you're thinking about going for the current PlayStation VR headset or are currently waiting for PlayStation VR 2, knowing what kinds of games you can expect always makes the decision easier. VR games should utilize the hardware to the best of their ability to provide a unique gaming experience, feel good to control and, in the case of a VR game for a beloved series, exemplify what we love about our favorite PlayStation heroes.

There’s quite a lot a game has to live up to, which is why we keep our guides small and make sure you know exactly why we’ve chosen certain games. From spy action to platforming, VR games have a lot going for themselves, and there are plenty of 2023 PlayStation VR 2 games to look forward to. 

Best PlayStation VR games

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best PlayStation VR games – Astro Bot is giving a flower to another bot, you can see several large vines growing towards the sky in the background

(Image credit: Japan Studio)

Astro Bot: Rescue Mission

A family-friendly platformer

Does it require Move controllers? No

If you own a PlayStation VR headset, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is absolutely unmissable. Astro Bot has for a long time served as an introduction to new PlayStation consoles and technologies, but he is also simply the hero of one of the best platforming series.

Full of the kind of inventiveness that rival Nintendo's  Super Mario series, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission plays with the VR format with such wild imagination there is no way it wouldn't have made the list of the best PlayStation VR games. Weaving levels all around the player, and using scale to both disarm and delight your expectations, it's quite unlike anything you'll have ever played before, both a brilliant tech demo and a testament to Team Asobi, who always infuse the Astro Bot games with fun Easter eggs and plenty of moments that will make you smile.

best PlayStation VR games – slashing through blocks in Beat Saber

(Image credit: Beat Games)

Beat Saber

The rhythm game you need to try

 

Does it require Move controllers? Yes

You can't talk about the best PlayStation VR games without mentioning Beat Saber, a generally great way to use VR and probably the best rhythm game since Guitar Hero. That might sound like high praise, but just looking at Beat Saber gameplay is an experience, and we reckon a lot of people have bought a VR headset specifically for this game. As its name suggests, Beat Saber is about using light-sabers to slash blocks to the beat of the music. The songs are often fast-paced, and there are walls of dissonance that you need to duck under or dodge. 

Thanks to a large catalog of songs, everyone is likely to find something they enjoy, and the temptation to become the next Beat Saber pro is as good a reason to get a VR headset as any. With Beat Saber, you get an idea of how VR technology could replace the once very popular genre of games with their own peripherals. After all, as long as you can translate a movement in VR to an action in a game, anything is possible.

best PlayStation VR games – A racing car coming around a corner in Gran Turismo: Sport

(Image credit: Sony)

Gran Turismo Sport

The racing game of all racing games

Does it require Move controllers? No, but getting a racing wheel elevates the experience.

Gran Turismo is PlayStation's first-party racing series, so it's fitting that Gran Turismo Sport, the franchise's first foray on the PS4, should embrace the PlayStation VR headset. The racing series is also available on PlayStation 5 with Gran Turismo 7, however that game does not currently offer VR support, but likely will in future.

While VR comes as a mode rather than a full standalone game, you still get in the cockpit of a huge selection of beautifully realized vehicles, each modeled exactly as they appear in real life, before taking them out onto the circuit for head-to-head races. To make your VR experience a good one, the mode adds a discreet in-game HUD, useful mirrors and some fine-stitched racing gloves sitting over your digital hands. It makes an already great racer extra tempting, and with a wheel, the experience makes the best possible use of a great racing game and the PlayStation VR headset.

best Playstation VR games – first-person view of two hands using a keypad

(Image credit: Schell Games)

I Expect You To Die 2

A Bond-like PSVR game

Does it require Move controllers? No, but with so many things you can interact with, the Move controllers will offer a lot of extra freedom

The sequel to the already great I Expect You To Die has you solving puzzles in the manner of a classy super spy trapped by their greatest nemesis. I Expect You to Die 2 does continue the story of the first game, and while it works without knowledge of the predecessor, we do recommend getting the first game, even if it's just for more fun puzzling. 

This is one of the best PlayStation VR games because it makes excellent use of VR, as you can pick up and play with objects all over your environment, whether or not doing so actually helps you complete your objective. The theme also lends itself superbly to VR, bringing escap room puzzling, an experience that needed your physical presence into the digital realm. There are several levels  and each sets you in a unique environment that plays out much like an escape room. You’re faced with a series of puzzles, and your actions will determine whether you live or die. Check our I Expect You To Die 2 review for more details.

Best PlayStation VR games – a view of a bomb with keys, two green light, a timer and wires in different colours

(Image credit: Steel Crate Games)

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

The best choice for cooperative play in VR

 

Does it require Move controllers? No

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes doesn’t sound like much fun on paper. While one person puts on a headset to look at an overly detailed bomb in a nondescript room, the other player uses the TV screen to read a dense direction manual on which wires to cut and buttons to push to make sure you get to the next level. But understanding your task correctly and fulfilling it in time is tense fun, as many bomb defusal scenes in movies have shown. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes captures that feeling perfectly.

Part of the game’s charm is that whenever you start feeling good about your skills as either a decoder or disarmer, something else comes up that ruins your day, while VR adds an important tactile element. It’s fun trying to stay calm under pressure and laughing when it all blows up in your face.

best PlayStation VR games – first-person view of hands writing in a notebook as the viewer sits across a white man in a suit

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files

The VR version of a detective game classic

Does it require move controllers? Yes

With The VR case files, a great Rockstar game gets a VR spin-off.  Here, you physically make notes on cases, batter goons on vacant rooftops and solve tricky, engaging puzzles to put criminals in the clink where they belong. 

The detective work is fun, and you can feel the work that went into translating move sets and activities from third-person gameplay to VR. 

The VR Case Files is one of the best PlayStation VR games and even though it isn't an adaptation of La Noire's 20 plus hours, it's still an essential pickup for any PSVR owner looking for to experience what a VR adaptation feels like. 


best PlayStation VR games – Characters in astronaut suits riding crab-like creatures, spaceshipts flying in the sky overhead

(Image credit: Hello Games)

No Man's Sky VR

Play a different way

Does it require Move controllers? No

No Man's Sky has been available for a few years now, but its most recent Beyond update added No Man's Sky VR - which from the name is likely pretty self-explanatory. This isn't some virtual reality focused addendum to the existing game though - this is the entirety of No Man's Sky playable in VR, and is compatible with existing saves made before the update too. 

That means you can go from a planet's surface, into your ship, to the Nexus and back again all within VR. You'll also be able to interact with non-VR players on your chosen platform.

Cntrols have been tweaked too – you can play with a controller, or use a PlayStation Move controller as your ship's throttle. No Man's Sky VR is an example of a VR mode that changes the game entirely.

best PlayStation VR games – a ghostly old woman in Resident Evil 7 looking straight at you

(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

A great horror game made scarier

Reasons to buy

+
You can play the whole game in VR
+
VR makes good use of the first-person perspective of the game
+
Genuinely frightening

Reasons to avoid

-
Genuinely frightening

Does it require Move controllers? No

Resident Evil 7 is a bit of an anomaly on this list: this entry in the long-running horror series takes the experience into first-person for the first time, but, more impressively, can be played in its 18 hour entirety in VR. 

This means that the game is one of the longest PSVR experiences available right now, but you'll need a lot of courage to make it through the game this way, since by all accounts Resident Evil 7 is one scary game – especially in virtual reality. 

However, if you're able to stomach the scares you'll be rewarded with one of the best horror games of this generation, and a true return to form for the Resident Evil series.  


best PlayStation VR games – Superhot VR two balled fists in front of a red human figure with raised arms and balled fists

(Image credit: Oculus/SuperHot VR)

SUPERHOT VR

Matrix-esque action

Reasons to buy

+
Empowering and clever gameplay
+
Highly replayable
+
Doesn't require too much space

Reasons to avoid

-
PSVR motion tracking can frustrate

Does it require Move controllers? Yes, though a non-VR version of the game is also available and truly excellent.

It’s always a delight when a game developer takes a tried-and-true genre and introduces a new gameplay mechanic that flips it on its head. That was the case when SUPERHOT was released, offeringa slowed-down version of first-person shooter gameplay.

In the game, time only moves when the player moves, and that can make for some fantastic Matrix-esque moments. All of that gameplay has translated excellently into virtual reality with SUPERHOT VR. 

SUPERHOT VR lives from leaving you in truly precarious situations, such as standing empty-handed before three enemies with shotguns who have you dead-to-rights, with only your wits and time on your side. 

While the story only takes a couple of hours to play through, there’s plenty of replayability in SUPERHOT VR, as you can try to play through in different ways, or take on challenge modes. It’s also a great VR party game, as players can swap in and out to show off their moves. 

With SUPERHOT VR an already great game gets elevated in all the right ways, making it one of the best PlayStation VR games available.


best PlayStation VR games – a Tetris board surrounded by brightly coloured drops

(Image credit: Resonair/Monstars)

Tetris Effect: Connected

Tetris, effectfully rendered in VR

Reasons to buy

+
Totally hypnotic
+
Fantastic soundtrack
+
Utterly absorbing gameplay

Reasons to avoid

-
Difficult to play with analogue sticks

Does it require Move controllers? No

It's hard to put the Tetris Effect experience into words, but let's try.. Essentially you play regular games of Tetris, except that the environments you're playing in change. Each level has its own distinct flavor - with music and visuals tailored to its theme. You can play an underwater level for example, during which the game plays soothing underwater noises while sparkling, whales float around your head. 

It's a psychedelic and hypnotic experience, and one that everyone should have the privilege to play, which si enough to make it one of the best PlayStation VR games, even though you can enjoy it equally with or without VR.


Vic Hood
Associate Editor, TechRadar Gaming

Vic is TechRadar Gaming's Associate Editor. An award-winning games journalist, Vic brings experience from IGN, Eurogamer and more to the TechRadar table. You may have even heard her on the radio or speaking on a panel. Not only is Vic passionate about games, but she's also an avid mental health advocate who has appeared on both panels and podcasts to discuss mental health awareness. Make sure to follow her on Twitter for more.