4 Awesome VR Space Games on the Oculus Quest 2
Want to experience the dark depths of space? Want to immerse yourself in the final frontier? Well there’s no better way to immerse yourself than with Virtual Reality, and no more convenient platform for VR than the Oculus Quest 2. While there are a lot of Sci Fi games set in the depths of space, this list will focus on non-sci fi games that are about our Solar System, and the technology that we already have. No hyperdrives or laser cannons here.
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Interkosmos 2000
Instead of saving the best for last, let’s get to it first. Interkosmos 2000 may be the ultimate space flight simulator available on the Meta Quest 2, and Virtual Reality in general. If you ever wanted to feel like an early astronaut, alone in a metal ship zooming around the earth at over 25000 kilometers per hour, then this is the game for you.
In Interkosmos 2000 you are the sole pilot of an aging spacecraft sent to the ISS to correct its orbit… and a variety of other places and things around the Earth (I won’t spoil it all). The piloting is tough and is pretty accurate to how piloting an actual orbiter would work, and the docking procedure for when you reach your destination is pretty faithful as well.
It’s not all piloting though, you’ll also have to deal with the realities of using aging technology in the harshest environment known to humankind. Manage your power, or your batteries will either go out, or overcharge and blow a fuse. Keep an eye on your CO2 levels and cabin pressure, and so many other malfunctions. Keeping your ship running is just as much a part of this game as piloting it.
If you want a game to sink your teeth into that really makes you feel like you are navigating through space in a (somewhat) modern and realistic craft, then Interkosmos 2000 is the game from this list to get. Nothing else on the market currently beats it.
Apollo 11 VR
Want to experience the moon landing as immersively as you can without going to the moon yourself? (I mean not even Jeff Bezos can afford that) Then Apollo 11 VR is as good as you’re going to get, for now.
It’s sort of a mix between a documentary and space piloting simulator. While you are given control at a few moments, such as docking two modules in space or landing on the moon, generally Apollo 11 VR is a very passive experience for the player. You don’t even have to do any of these things if you don’t want to, and can just have the game do it for you in a cinematic.
Most of Apollo 11 VR is essentially watching really cool cinematics from a perspective external to the craft, or from one of the crewmembers’ views. It’s main draw is that it looks really cool, and is a great passive experience. If you want something interactive though, look elsewhere.
Titans of Space PLUS
Want to explore the Solar System? Well that’s what Titans of Space PLUS does best. In this game you aren’t constrained to a space ship or other craft, or even to earth. Instead you board a sort of magical flying chair and zoom around the Solar System, with everything to scale. Want to feel like a giant? Well then scale everything down, or bask in the huge scale of the planets by keeping yourself in human size.
You can even ditch the chair if you want, but inside it is a whole lot of information. Listen to voiceovers telling you more about the celestial bodies of our Solar System and the space missions that revealed them to us. Titans of space doesn’t have any real any real gameplay to it. All of the interactions with the world are focused around viewing and moving around it. It is a purely exploration and learning based experience, though if you want to learn some interesting facts about the Solar System, it is a great VR experience.
Mission: ISS
Mission: ISS is another experience that is more educational tool than game. There is some interactivity to it. Using the handholds in the walls of the International Space Station to fling yourself down its hallways and modules is really fun. There is a brief spacewalking section, but it doesn’t really seem like an actual spacewalk. You are really light first of all, and they couldn’t even be bothered to change your hand models to look like an EVA suit. It’s disappointing really.
Otherwise using the ISS’s grabber arm (Canadarm) to secure a supply mission is an interesting and novel experience. Unfortunately that is basically where the fun ends. You can always explore the ISS and watch little video clips on the objects found inside, but that’s about it. So the bulk of Mission: ISS is an interactive museum. Still, it is free, and there are some very fun things to learn about humans living in space.
Anyway there you have it, these are the best realism focused VR titles on the Oculus Quest 2, for now. Hopefully one day there will be more interesting games that come out to flesh out this list a little more. For the time being the more realistic spacefaring experiences are mostly educational and dry with little interactivity.
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