EVE: Valkyrie

In this epic sci-fi space shooter, you don't just get to watch dogfights, you get to live them, so long as you can deal with repetition. From the first moment your fighter gets catapulted into battle, you can't help but get a sense of how massive deep space can be. It doesn't take long, though, before enemy squads swoop in and you realize that even in the depth of space, combat can be claustrophobic. You see, in space it's easy to lose sight of which way is up because, technically, every direction is up. It can be a little disorienting at first, especially with the 360-degree view the VR unit provides, but before long you'll be swooping in and out, rolling, dodging, boosting, and braking with the best of them, all to try to get a clear shot at an opponent while avoiding getting hit from behind … or below … or above.

As wild as the dogfighting can get, even deep space can have a few speed bumps. One of the game's most interesting features is its use of eye tracking to lock onto targets. Basically, if you want to fire a salvo of missiles at one enemy, you stare at the target to get a lock, and then fire away. Most of the time it works great, but occasionally (and especially when the VR headset needs a quick recalibration), the alignment gets a little off and you find yourself forced to look just to the side of your target to establish a lock. The other gripe you're likely to have with the game is its reliance on grinding. There are lots of little things to unlock in EVE: Valkyrie, but to get to any of them requires a marathon session of gameplay. It's not only a grind to unlock these items, but it's also a grind to earn the in-game currency to buy those unlocked items. This is where microtransactions rear their ugly heads. Mind you, most of the items you can buy are vanity items, like new looks for the cockpit, new paint jobs, and the like. But there are also a few performance-related upgrades that can really help in both single-player and multiplayer, leaving you to decide if you'd rather grind a few more hours under the weight of the VR headset or go ahead and spend a few bucks to unlock some things that'll make your time in space bit easier. Whatever you decide, the good news is that once you're strapped into the cockpit of your fighter, all the other concerns just sort of fade away in a blissful escape. You can easily forget that you're in a virtual environment, and, in that moment, you truly are an ace pilot and the pride of the Valkyries.