Want to play non-VR games in VR? Our list of best VR mods on Oculus Quest and PC will help you get started.
There are lots of great native VR titles to enjoy on basically any VR headset these days. But it’s also true that lots of these titles are on the short side and many of gaming’s biggest names are yet to take the plunge with AAA, multi-hour VR offerings. If you’re wanting something a little meatier to play, VR mods are a great place to turn.
Do keep in mind that, while the work on these mods themselves might be first-rate, the games in question haven’t been designed for VR and often won’t offer the most comfortable, immersive experience out there, so play at your own risk! Links to each mod are in their headings.
Best VR Mods – PC
Alien: Isolation – MotherVR
VR veterans will remember that Alien: Isolation was once used to demo the Oculus Rift DK2 headset at gaming expos. Sadly, official support for Creative Assembly’s scary survival game never materialized, but the MotherVR mod provides a pretty excellent alternative. Now with support for the inputs on your respective motion controllers, too.
Grand Theft Auto V – GTA5 Real
If you want an official Rockstar game in VR then, right now, your only choice is the excellent (but severely abridged) LA Noire: The VR Case Files. The company’s magnum opus, Grand Theft Auto 5, can be played in VR with this great mod, however. Developer Luke Ross has put in a lot of work to make the experience feel as natural as possible and, though there are still some issues, this is as close to the full GTA VR experience as you can currently get.
Outer Wilds – Nomai VR
Outer Wilds was a game we always hoped would get native VR support. And it’s a fairly recent release, so hope isn’t lost. But Nomai VR does a great job of porting the experience into VR all the same. The game’s sense of exploration is unmatched and a lot of its mechanics fit into VR with surprising ease. There’s even comprehensive motion controller support, making this easily one of the best VR mods.
Doom 3 – Fully Possessed
There is now an official version of Doom 3 in VR available, but it’s exclusive to PSVR and your mod options are just as good, to be frank. On PC, Doom 3 Fully Possessed includes motion-controlled aiming and even support for teleportation locomotion. It’s one of the older options out there, but still one of the best VR mods you’ll find.
Minecraft – Vivecraft
Yes, the official Minecraft release has official VR support. And, yes, it’s pretty good – we’d definitely like to see it come to Oculus Quest, but it works well on PC at the very least. Vivecraft, however, goes a few steps further, with full support for physical interactions (like, y’know, actually mining with your arms) and even the ability to scale the world and become a giant within it. If you want to plat Minecraft in VR, this is the best way to do it.
Best VR Mods – Quest
Half-Life – Lambda1
It’s probably worth saying now that essentially all of the best VR mods for Oculus Quest stem from the work of DrBeef and the larger Team Beef outfit. The team has done incredible work bringing some classic PC shooters to the standalone headset, starting with this port of Half-Life that includes full motion-controlled aiming and even support for the game’s expansion campaigns.
Doom, Quake & More – Team Beef Ports
Team Beef has also been busy bringing some id Software classics and their spin-offs to VR. With QuestZDoom, you can play the original Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and titles like Heretic in full 6DOF VR with support for other mods. Plus the team has done full ports of Quake 1 and 2, and its most recent efforts brought Doom 3 to Quest too.
Return To Castle Wolfenstein – RTCWVR
The last on our list of Team Beef greats is the 2001 resurrection of the original first-person shooter series. This lets you tackle the game’s original campaign in VR. The stone halls and snowy surroundings really come to life inside a headset, and the WW2-era weapons feel great, making this one of the best VR mods on Oculus Quest.
What do you make of our list of the best VR mods? Are there any others you think are worthy of inclusion? Let us know in the comments below!
