10 Best VR Shooters

Summary

• Pistol Whip is a rhythm-on-rails shooter with mod support & unique weapon campaigns.
• Contractors Showdown is a solid, enjoyable, intense, and easy-to-use VR Battle Royale game.
• Onward is a military sim focusing on teamwork with regular updates & different game modes.

As the virtual reality game space grows and evolves, we've seen more and more new games come into the fold, changing and pushing the medium even further than what was ever expected. New and unique games have been developed for years now, but which games are the best? What genres are going to be the heaviest hitters in VR?

Virtual reality shooting games have been some of the most popular fully-realized games in VR. It's an easy concept to develop and work around, and many find it very compelling. But, sometimes we just want to know for sure which games are going to get the most bang for our buck.

10 Blade & Sorcery

While it's not a shooting game, Blade & Sorcery still deserves a spot here solely because of the work put into the game to make it something unrivaled and completely different from the rest.

Blade & Sorcery is not a shooting game for VR, but rather a physics-based sandbox and gladiator-style game where players pick the maps they’d like to fight in and fight through waves of enemies looking to take the player down.

The developer, however, has added intensive mod support for players to bring in a plethora of weapons you’d not expect in Blade & Sorcery. The community has thought of it all, from guns and fantasy blades to new magic spells to use. With everything the community has added, you can wield a short sword and a Glock if it is something that makes your inner war god happy.

9 Contractors Showdown

This is one of the newest entries in virtual reality, and it already has a very solid foundation.

If you're are a fan of Battle Royale titles, you might want to give Contractors Showdown a shot. Contractors Showdown is a new entry to the VR world, and it’s comparable to PUBG: Battlegrounds. You’ll drop into the map via parachute to land in key destinations to find some weapons to take on other players.

Players can drop in as a squad, join other squads, or if they are feeling brave, they can just drop into the map solo to take on the world. The weapons in Contractors Showdown are all easy to get the hang of using, and while it’s barebones, it’s still an enjoyable and intense VR experience.

8 Onward

This milsim should not be overlooked when looking to buy a new VR title. It has stood against many VR titles and is still one of the best, if not only, military sims in VR that does its job very well.

Onward is a PvP military sim that is all about teamwork and strategically taking down the enemy teams. While it's an older title for the VR space, it’s still getting regular updates and even has co-op and single-player game modes for players to enjoy if the PvP gets too taxing or if players want to slowly get a handle on how to effectively use weapons before going into the PvP space. Onward’s focus on communication and teamwork makes for some of the most entertaining and intense situations for players and their teammates.

7 Pavlov VR

The Pavlov VR developer took an older formula and ran away with it, making it something the community never knew they wanted but was always happy to have it.

Pavlov VR is going to be more of an arcade VR game. Most will compare this to Counter-Strike but in VR form, which is an accurate description of the game. Pavlov VR has a ton of community-made content and maps to use to make each server still feel fresh.

The game will allow players to buy their weapons of choice in-between rounds as well as various game modes to enjoy. Since Pavlov VR is getting older, the game does sport some lower player numbers, but it still has active players who enjoy the content the game offers.

6 Population: ONE

This game takes VR Battle Royale games to another level, some are more grounded, but Population ONE will take it another few steps further to make the game ridiculously exciting.

If Contractors Showdown is the PUBG: Battlegrounds of VR, then Population: ONE is the Fortnite of the VR world. In Population: ONE, you can fly, climb and build to your heart's content for some action-packed battle royale goodness. Players can fight anywhere on the map, climb anywhere they want, and fly anywhere once they have high ground.

Unlike some other PvP VR titles, Population: ONE leans into being a vibrant and over-the-top PvP experience and is better for it. The game is on the Steam and Meta storefronts but is also completely free to play for players who own Meta VR headsets.

5 Breachers

Breachers combines aspects of different competitive shooting games to create a new virtual reality game that makes a familiar and unique new experience.

Breachers is going to be what will scratch that Rainbow Six Siege itch for VR players. It shares a lot with Onward, where players need to coordinate and execute plans to take out the enemy teams, but still retains an arcade-style look and feel to the game.

The game has crossplay, so users on Steam PCVR, Meta Quest and PlayStation VR can all compete with and against each other. Breachers is still getting regular updates from the developer and even recently received a competitive mode update, allowing those who play the game to see how high their skill can take them.

4 Ghosts of Tabor

Ghosts of Tabor is the Escape From Tarkov of virtual reality, a compelling PvP and PvE game for VR.

Ghosts of Tabor is an extraction shooter that is much slower than everything else on this list. Players will fight against each other and the AI occupying the map to get the best loot and get back out. Players can also join a squad with their friends and loot together while watching each other's backs, use the in-game marketplace to buy anything they may need for their next raid, and even craft different ammo types and sizes for their guns. Ghosts of Tabor will be intense, as players will be looking to gain the advantage over one another for better loot, making each loot run a risk, but still highly rewarding.

3 Swarm 1 & 2

The game was built around the “Spider-Man but with guns” mindset from the developer.

The Swarm games are another two extremely awesome and unique games for virtual reality. They are fast-paced arcade shooters that revolve around grappling through the environment. Swarm 1 & 2 offers challenging gameplay and a rush of excitement once you complete each level. Swinging through each arena while dodging blasts and shooting down swarms of enemies is unparalleled and exhilarating.

There are different stages for players to play, each one offering a different challenge for players to complete. From shooting enemies down to collecting gems as fast as you can, to boss fights, the Swarm games give players a variety of action for compelling gameplay.

2 Guardians Frontline

Whether it's PvP or PvE, Guardians Frontline will push forward in a different yet familiar way compared to the rest of this list.

While Guardians Frontline might not be the prettiest-looking VR game ever made, it still has a spot because it’ll scratch that itch of something as close to Helldivers in VR as we can get. Players not only play in first-person to blast but also manage the battlefield with some real-time strategy elements to take on objectives within the game as well.

Just like Helldivers, players will fight enemies on specific planets to end up controlling the said planet. What's interesting per planet is that the community helps make the maps that players will be fighting on with the map editor mode found within the game. Guardians Frontline puts a unique and compelling spin on the VR shooter genre.

1 Pistol Whip

Pistol Whip is a rhythm-on-the-rails shooter that will bring back the feeling of some of our favorite shooting arcade cabinets.

Pistol Whip might not be on the same level as Beat Saber, but it can still work up a sweat and give players some fun moments while playing. Compared to Beat Saber, the song variety is lacking, but Pistol Whip has a solid starting song selection and mod support for players to upload maps of beloved songs.

Pistol Whip also has multiple campaigns for players to use unique weapon types as well. If you ever wanted to go to a version of the Wild West with two six-shooters and shoot to the beat of Short Change Hero by The Heavy this is the game for you.