Best VR Game of 2020 - Article

by Lee Mehr , posted on 14 January 2021 / 3,744 Views

December 31st 2019 was a special date for me. Before Plague Inc. became a reality for the globe, I was doing the usual rounds for New Year's Eve: social drinking and lighting off fireworks with friends. This year would be different because one friend brought over his Oculus Quest. The previous time I had any sort of experience with VR was the Virtual Boy and perhaps a few unique arcade cabinets. All it took were a few janky Quest mini-games to solidify a newfound respect for the technology as a whole. But the nominees for this award are not mere distractions; they're full experiences that are not only treated as exemplars of a genre but of an entire medium.

The Shortlist:

Paper Beast

Dreams VR

Half-Life: Alyx

Star Wars: Squadrons

The Winner:

Half-Life: Alyx

Runner-up: Star Wars: Squadrons

Out of all the games not reviewed by our staff, Half-Life: Alyx may be the most discussed 2020 game across the site. With the incredibly high cost of a Valve Index (considered "the best way to play it") or other high-quality VR sets, the barrier to entry is too high for a plethora of consumers. But for the well-to-do VR enthusiast, Valve's latest game is another venerated example of fundamentally innovating the medium and permanently changing expectations going forward. Not too shabby for a studio that can't count to three.