If what we've seen from virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift or the upcoming Project Morpheus for PlayStation 4 is anything to go by, gamers have good reason to be excited. Even just typing the words Oculus Rift into the Youtube search bar will lead to a bunch of videos with views into the millions, all with people completely enamoured with the revolutionary new tech. Looking at video games as they are now, what are some of the moments that could blow players away in VR? Gamers raved about the epic feeling of scaling giants in Shadow Of The Colossus, Uncharted 2 gave you vertigo as Drake's train car dangled over the side of a cliff at the start of the game, and the grindingly-difficult boss fights of Dark Souls had players tearing their hair out with frustration - but left them feeling satisfied after finally conquering their foes. Could these moments be transferred to the Oculus Rift and have the same impact as they did originally? It's certainly the hope for many of the people lucky enough to have used the Rift before. At the moment - if Lets Players on Youtube are anything to go by - indie horror games are the go-to genre for the tech, with certain visuals or experiences that wouldnt frighten a child when played on a monitor (such as Linger and Dark Dreams) absolutely petrifying in VR. However, if fear can be amplified in such a manner, why not other emotions? Virtual reality could open up opportunities for less-appreciated game mechanics and genres, so lets take a look at a few of them.
Writer, gamer and games design student from the North East of England. Finally taking a break from reading WhatCulture articles to make an attempt at writing WhatCulture articles.
