The Best Open World VR Games

So you want to experience a fantastic open world in VR. You want huge vistas, interesting landmarks to explore, and all sorts of fantastic things to find in a huge landscape brought to you in Virtual Reality.

Well good thing you found your way here, because you’re about to discover the best Open World VR games in existence. While these VR games have a variety of different mechanics and VR interactions, each is guaranteed to give you a massive place to explore and discover intriguing things.

These are the Best Open World VR Games.

Into The Radius

The Into The Radius Logo

If you’re looking for a truly weird place to explore then Into The Radius will certainly deliver. In all of the VR games I’ve played none gives as much of an experience of the surreal and scary quite like Into The Radius does.

In this game you’re an explorer doing your best to survive the Pechorsk Zone, which is a huge open world area comprised of 5 areas where the laws of the natural world no longer apply.

Fighting the dark figures in Into The Radius

As you hunt for artifacts, scavenge for supplies, and try to complete missions you’ll have to fight your way through the hostile dark figures that stalk the radius, and dodge the deadly anomalies that dot the landscape.

Into The Radius is a great open world game not only for its numerous combat and survival challenges, but for the imagination behind its world.

Pechorsk was once a normal place, but now there are all sorts of insane gravity defying ruins and odd structures scattered about. You really never know what you’ll see and discover next while exploring in this VR open world game.

A massive anomaly in Into The Radius

Into The Radius has made its way on a lot of our lists here at Reality Remake for good reasons. Not only is it a blast to play with tons of horror and action packed gameplay, but it also gives you a mysterious and strange world to explore.

That’s why Into The Radius is among the best open world VR games out there.

Elite Dangerous VR

The Elite Dangerous Logo with “VR” slapped on it

So you want an open world to explore in Virtual Reality, well what if we told you that more than one world was available? Well there are many worlds to explore in the depths of space, and that’s why Elite Dangerous VR is such a fantastic choice as an Open World VR game.

There is so much to explore in Elite Dangerous VR that nobody has seen all of it. Even all of the players of this game put together haven’t explored a small percentage of the worlds in store, because Elite Dangerous VR models our actual Universe.

If you want to not only see the incredible sights of space, but also have an effectively infinite number of worlds to discover, then Elite Dangerous VR will satisfy your craving for deep space exploration.

The views of space in Elite Dangerous VR are unmatched

There’s also more to do in this VR open world game. There’s combat, space trucking, space piracy, all sorts of things. No matter what you choose to do your chosen profession will take you all over this gorgeous game in the cockpit of your ship.

As far as open worlds go they don’t get much more open than the depths of space, so if you want to explore the cosmos Elite Dangerous VR is a great choice of open world VR game.

Want to know more? Check out our review and setup guide for Elite Dangerous VR.

No Man’s Sky VR

The No Man’s Sky Logo for their expansion “Beyond”

Since we’re talking about VR open world space games we’ve got to mention No Man’s Sky VR.

This game has a lot of the same open world strengths that Elite Dangerous VR has, but with very different gameplay mechanics.

The universe is just as infinite in No Man’s Sky VR, but instead of always being confined to your ship you also have much more to do by walking around on the surfaces of planets like harvesting resources, fighting robots, and a ton more. All in immersive Virtual Reality.

Exploring a massive open world planet in No Man’s Sky VR

Learn alien languages, upgrade your ship, get a massive freighter, start a space colony, and so much more is available in No Man’s Sky VR. Of course, this game also has more worlds to explore than you can possibly imagine.

Despite getting a lot of bad press at its release, No Man’s Sky has delivered on so much since then, including this VR port, though on PCVR it leaves some to be desired. It’s easy to walk outside of your body, and the VR controls are a little janky at times.

So while not as smooth of a VR open world sci fi experience as Elite Dangerous VR, No Man’s Sky VR brings a ton of different gameplay options that Elite Dangerous’ purely spaceship and space rover based experience just can’t deliver on.

So while it’s not the best VR port around and can run pretty choppily, No Man’s Sky VR is still a fantastic open world VR game, especially on the PSVR2, where it runs much more smoothly.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Logo

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is another fantastic example of a VR open world game done well.

In this game you are the Tourist, an infamous survivor of the zombie apocalypse in the universe of The Walking Dead and you’ve recently arrived in the flooded city of New Orleans.

This game has an interesting story with compelling characters that centers around your quest to find The Reserve, a bunker which is rumored to contain tons of weapons and supplies that everyone in the city wants.

A small horde of zombies in The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners

Your mission to find The Reserve will take you all over the ruined and zombie filled streets of The Walking Dead’s New Orleans. You’ll need to scavenge, craft, and fight through not only zombies but also the human factions that all want a piece of The Reserve, and you.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is a fantastic game not only for its story, missions, and events, but also the world that you enter every time you go out into the city.

There are all sorts of ruins to explore and sights to see in the zombie filled streets of New Orleans. The world is massive, though it is cut up into separate maps with tons of nooks and crannies to explore and things to find.

If you want a zombie themed open world VR game then there is no better one to scratch that itch than The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. It’s also available on the Meta/Oculus Quest as well as PCVR.

Green Hell VR

The Green Hell VR Logo

Both on PCVR and the Meta Quest platforms Green Hell VR is a fantastic game that lets you explore the Amazon rainforest in all of its green and dangerous glory.

From hunting animals to discovering which plants will make you sick or nourish you, Green Hell VR combines an intricate crafting, survival, and building system with a huge rainforest to explore.

You’ll even discover that you’re not quite alone in the green hell, there are some local peoples that aren’t too fond of you interloping in their territory.

Being attacked by a Jaguar in Green Hell VR

Green Hell VR is a fantastic VR survival game that constantly forces you to deal with the very real perils of your environment from leeches in the water to pumas stalking you between the trees.

There are very few games that combine survival elements with the thrill of exploration and discovery in a natural space quite like Green Hell does, and even fewer that do so in Virtual Reality.

Green Hell VR is a great open world VR game, and also a great story for you to discover. Why are you trapped in the rainforest? Why can’t you leave?

Hanging out and cooking food in Green Hell VR

If you want to discover the rainforest in all its dangerous beauty and master it then there’s no better VR open world game than Green Hell VR.

The Forest VR

The Forest VR Logo

While we’re on the topic of VR open world games that give you a big natural environment to explore, then there’s no way we won’t mention The Forest VR.

A PCVR port of the hit game The Forest, The Forest VR is essentially the same game but with a VR view and controls. While it’s not the smoothest VR port in terms of performance, quality, or VR interactions, it is still a great open world VR game to enjoy.

In this game you are a passenger on a crashed plane that must survive in a dangerous forest inhabited with cannibal tribes that only grow more aggressive as time passes.

Meanwhile you’re looking for your kidnapped son, and try to discover what exactly is happening in the remote stretch of wilderness you find yourself in.

Walking through the titular Forest

I’m not going to sugar coat this though, The Forest VR has a lot of jankiness to it.

From the third person animations to the annoyances of trying to crouch without being teleported into the air, and the input lag that can give you a headache or just make the game frustrating to play.

Still, The Forest is such fun as a Virtual Reality open world game if you can get over those things. It gives you a huge world to explore filled with dangerous cannibals, vistas and caves to explore.

Slingshotting a cannibal

There is a lot of VR game for you to have fun with if you’re able to, and exploring the forest and its mysteries while you gather resources and uncover mysteries is too much fun to not include it on this list.

Gorilla Tag

The Gorilla Tag Logo

If you’re into VR games then you’ve probably heard of Gorilla Tag. So we won’t talk too much about it here, but you might not have realized that Gorilla Tag is basically an open world game as well.

Each area in Gorilla Tag is connected, and whether you’re playing it on PCVR or the Oculus Quest it is completely free. Your first time exploring each area with this game’s fantastic movement system is still a ton of fun, because each of the levels is connected.

A fantastic piece of Gorilla Tag’s open world

There are a lot of nooks and crannies and things to discover and explore in Gorilla Tag, from a sunny beach to floating platforms high up in the sky.

So if you want to discover what is so special about Gorilla Tag’s VR oriented movement while also exploring an interesting world, then give it a shot. It’s free, and surprisingly satisfying as a VR open world to explore.

Ghosts of Tabor

The Ghosts Of Tabor Logo

If you want player vs player shooting action while you scavenge and explore a world ravaged island, then Ghosts of Tabor is a game that delivers just that. It is a fantastic VR shooting game and a fantastic VR open world game.

We’ve called it a VR Escape From Tarkov game before, and if you’ve heard of Tarkov then you know exactly what that means.

In Ghosts of Tabor you enter the world from your secret bunker by starting a raid, and in that raid you have a certain amount of time, at least 30 minutes, to find an extraction point and exit.

A massive building to explore in Ghosts Of Tabor

While you look for one you explore the map and try to find loot to take out with you and either sell for money to buy more equipment, or store in your bunker for later use.

Meanwhile other players might be your friend or foe out in Tabor, and the local FENIX rebels will certainly be unhappy to see you.

Oh, and just like in Escape From Tarkov if you die you lose everything you have on you. So staying alive is always your number one priority.

Fighting another player in Ghosts Of Tabor

So if you want an open world to explore while combined with fantastic player versus player shooting and the extraction shooter mechanics pioneered by Escape From Tarkov, then give Ghosts of Tabor a look.

For such an action focused game it also gives you a ton of explore and discover, making it a great open world VR game as well.

If you want to know more then check out our article on Ghosts of Tabor.

Stormland

The Stormland Logo

Stormland is a VR game so old that you might not have heard of it. This was an early Oculus title from the days when standalone VR headsets like the Meta Quest weren’t even available yet.

So Stormland is PCVR exclusive, but wow is it a hidden gem.

In this game you’re a robot with human consciousness on an alien world, and it takes a lot of inspiration from flatscreen open world games.

Flying in Stormland

You explore around finding camps of enemies and clearing them to make the world a little bit safer, and there’s a shooting combat system that by today’s standards is a little unsophisticated. Oh, and the game is awfully short at about five to six hours.

Though where Stormland really shines is when it lets you loose to explore its open world. I’ve never had such a good time flying around in a VR game than I did when coasting through the alien world of Stormland.

The towering columns packed with vegetation and science fiction structures scattered around the place make Stormland a very pleasing game to look at and a great VR open world game to explore.

Despite how short of an experience it is compared to more modern VR open world titles, and a somewhat lackluster combat system, Stormland is a ton of fun to explore at least once if you don’t mind paying the price for it.

Grimlord

The Grimlord Logo

Remember Dark Souls? Or maybe Elden Ring. You’ve probably heard of at least one of them and are familiar with the concept of a “souls-like”.

These games are very well known for their excellent melee combat systems as well as their harsh punishments for repeated failure. Well Grimlord takes both of those things, and puts them into a fantastic open world just like any of the flatscreen soulslike games.

Fighting multiple enemies in Grimlord

The biggest difference is, of course, the addition of VR controls and a VR view.

Instead of hitting a button to attack in a set pattern, depending on your weapon, you’re now swinging your weapon any way that you want with your actual arm!

If a VR fighting game that includes a massive open world and soulslike progression sounds interesting in the slightest then you should really check out Grimlord, it’s a ton of fun.

Skyrim VR (With Mods)

The Skyrim VR Logo

It’s no secret that Skyrim VR was not a very good VR port. From the poor optimization to the lack of very basic VR interactions, it was considered a flop and a cash grab by its publisher, Bethesda Softworks.

Luckily as with all Bethesda games, Skyrim VR has had a lot of work put into it independently by the modding community.

If you want to do fairly basic VR things like grab stuff, have a physical body in the world, or enjoy melee combat that amounts to more than just flicking your wrist near an enemy, Skyrim VR with mods will give you all of that in the beautiful and immersive open world of Skyrim.

The entrance to Whiterun in Skyrim VR

Now you can experience Skyrim VR like you should have been able to from the start. While there are still some performance issues on certain graphics cards, Skyrim VR with mods really delivers on a VR Elder Scrolls experience.

Now you can explore Skyrim’s vast open world with truly immersive VR controls, and wow is it a ton of fun. If you’ve always wanted to explore Skyrim in VR, but the reputation of the VR port kept you away, it’s time to install mods and give it a go.

If you want the easiest way to install a large suite of Skyrim VR mods without having to worry about cross compatability issues, then check out our guide on the easiest way to install Skyrim VR mods so that you can enjoy this VR open world.

Minecraft VR

A Minecraft Logo

To cap off this list of the Best Open World VR Games, none needs as little introduction as Minecraft VR.

We don’t need to tell you anything about this game and what it entails, just that it’s possible to enjoy it in Virtual Reality and experience the most open of open worlds.

The satisfaction of creating a fantastic building is better than ever in Virtual Reality, and if you want a limitless open world to explore in VR then Minecraft VR will always deliver.

Well that’s it for our list of the best VR Open World games. If you want a big world to explore then you’ll certainly have found something on this list that you’ll enjoy. I’ve personally played every single one and found something to enjoy in exploring each of them, and you certainly will too. Have fun!

Elite Dangerous VR Review and Setup Guide

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is a space exploration and combat game that has been around for a long time. Still, defining it so simply seems to do it injustice. You can explore space in a variety of ships, and explore planets in vehicles or on foot. There are many wars and skirmishes popping up over inhabited space all of the time in Elite Dangerous. There is even a mysterious and hostile alien race to encounter. The universe of Elite Dangerous is true to scale, and hardly any of it has even been explored in the many years since the game’s release.

Even better, Elite Dangerous and its expansion Odyssey, have VR support! Just as we did in our article on War Thunder VR here you’ll get an Elite Dangerous VR review on how it stands as a PCVR game. If you’re still interested after reading the review, there is also a setup guide at the end to help you avoid some potential pitfalls getting Elite Dangerous VR running on your computer.

This review and setup is based on running Elite Dangerous VR on a Meta Quest Pro or Meta Quest 2 using Airlink, though the same result can easily be achieved through Meta Link using a cable. Any VR Headset or HMD that can run a Virtual Reality game through Steam should be able to run Elite Dangerous in Virtual Reality mode.

Table of Contents:

• Elite Dangerous VR Space Exploration

• Elite Dangerous VR SRV Ground Exploration

• Elite Dangerous VR On Foot

• Elite Dangerous VR Settings

• Elite Dangerous VR Setup

Elite Dangerous VR Space Exploration

The real meat of Elite Dangerous VR Odyssey is the space exploration. Cruising through the cosmos in your spaceship was originally the only way to explore the game, and still remains the primary way in which Elite Dangerous VR is played.

Before we get there though, we start at the main menu and… well it looks really nice. The background is entirely 3D and isn’t just a flat picture behind a menu. It looks good in Virtual Reality. It’s also immediately clear that Elite Dangerous detects where your VR headset is pointed (at least on a Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2). Just looking directly at menu options will select them.

The menu can be navigated with VR touch controllers using the right joystick and “A” button. It’s well put together and has a unified sci-fi space aesthetic. Later we’ll fuss with the settings a little, but for now there’s nothing to do but start the game.

It is immediately obvious that Virtual Reality is well integrated in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey. Your field of view is excellent, and you can immediately look down at your own virtual body that manipulates the controls in front of you as you do actions in the ship. You can even use the Oculus touch controls by changing the control scheme in the options menu. Though using a mouse and keyboard gives you a much wider array of buttons to work with, and is overall an easier way to play Elite Dangerous in Virtual Reality.

Though even if you do use the Oculus touch controls, the only input registered is from the joysticks and buttons. You can’t actually move your arms by using them. If you wanted to physically manipulate the controls with your actual hands then you won’t find that level of VR immersion in Elite Dangerous VR. Still, the controls are smooth and good overall.

The cockpit of even your little starter ship looks fantastic, and menus appear and become interactable around your cockpit as you look at them. A further reminder that Elite Dangerous VR is tracking what direction you are looking in. You probably wouldn’t notice that at first though, because the first time you launch your ship everything looks absolutely magnificent.

The inside of the space station you launch from looks amazing and extremely detailed. The other ships, the little tugs and trams moving along the walls. All of it looks absolutely fantastic and Virtual Reality makes it all feel so immediate. It’s as though you’re actually looking out of the window of an actual spaceship and witnessing these technological marvels. It only gets better once you go outside.

There were some graphical glitches here. Playing around with the graphical settings didn’t prevent them, but the visuals were still fantastic overall. Viewing space around you from the cockpit of your ship in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey VR is absolutely astounding. You’ll also be spending a lot of time jumping from star system to star system, and even something as mundane as travelling from place to place looks and sounds incredible.

Elite Dangerous VR benefits from being in Virtual Reality rather than the flat screen even when doing mundane things like moving cargo around. Though occasionally you will have to sit around and wait as your ship takes a long time to travel to a part of the solar system you are in that’s a long way out. Sitting around looking at your cockpit for over ten minutes in VR is a little boring, but generally that’s rare.

As you might expect, the most thrilling aspect of Elite Dangerous VR in space, the combat, is absolutely fantastic. You actually have an advantage over someone using a flat screen, because you can easily look up and around your cockpit freely by just moving your head physically.

As always, the combat also just looks more impressive by being in VR. Just like the inside of a space station, or seeing an unknown planet from afar, the extra depth and immediacy of your surroundings that VR brings makes the whole experience more intense. Virtual Reality in Elite Dangerous also throws away the distractions. You can’t see your desk or whatever room you might be playing in. All that surrounds you is your cockpit and the space that surrounds it. Elite Dangerous VR is easy to get lost in because of that, and that is certainly a good thing.

The one downside to Elite Dangerous VR is that is can be nauseating. There are a lot of options to help control motion sickness in Elite Dangerous VR in the settings menu, which is covered here in the “Elite Dangerous Settings” section below. For some general ways to avoid getting motion sickness in VR, check out this article here.

Elite Dangerous VR SRV Ground Exploration

While not the main draw of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, there are still a lot of interesting things to see when exploring the surface of a planet in your Surface Recon Vehicle, or SRV. The ability to explore the surface of a planet makes each one more than just a blip on your map. Each planet is now a whole new arena for play.

Just like in space there’s plenty to do on planets in your SRV. Bases to explore and destroy. Missions to complete. Cargo to deliver. The SRV mode is sort of a game within a game. All you have to do to enter it is park your ship on the planet’s surface and launch your rover (assuming your ship has a bay holding one.)

As far as the SRV in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey VR, it’s a lot like the space gameplay. The cabin of your vehicle is very well detailed and you have full freedom to look around it. Menus appear when you point your headset at them. It’s all very well made and an overall fantastic VR port. Just like in space there is also the option to use your Touch Controllers, but it is much easier to keep relying on the mouse and keyboard for the excess of buttons.

The SRV mode is just as strongly supported in VR as the space gameplay overall. Though the downside of it potentially giving you motion sickness is even stronger. It can be easy to flip your SRV without realizing you are doing it, and flipping without being ready for it coming is a shock if you’re prone to motion sickness. There are a lot of options to help control motion sickness in Elite Dangerous VR in the settings menu, which is covered here in the “Elite Dangerous Settings” section below. For some general ways to avoid getting motion sickness in VR, check out this article here.

Elite Dangerous VR On Foot

The single most disappointing part of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey VR is that there is no official support for “On Foot” gameplay in VR. “On Foot” gameplay means playing the game outside of a vehicle. Including walking through space stations, or traversing planets outside of a vehicle.

There is absolutely no official VR support for this gameplay in Elite Dangerous, and there are no current plans announced to implement VR support for on foot gameplay. This is a real shame, and denies a whole part of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey to Virtual Reality lovers.

Though while there is no official support for on foot VR gameplay in Elite Dangerous VR, there are some unofficial ways to play on foot in Virtual Reality. Keep in mind that these methods are not officially supported by the developer, and can potentially break your game. Use at your own risk.

Here is a Reddit thread showing and describing how to play on foot in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey VR. Here is also a Youtube video describing how.

Elite Dangerous VR Settings

Motion Sickness can be a problem in almost all VR Games, and Elite Dangerous: Odyssey VR is no exception. In fact the constant rolling of your spacecraft or SRV can result in very bad motion sickness. Luckily the Virtual Reality support in Elite Dangerous VR is so good that there are settings to help you counteract this. Here’s a quick rundown of what you have to help reduce motion sickness.

When you go to the Graphics options in the main menu, these are present at the bottom. Disabling GUI effects can make your view a little less busy and chaotic, and that can help. One of the best options to help reduce motion sickness is by turning the “Reduce Camera Shake” option on. Even if you don’t get motion sickness having a less shaky view can help to increase your situational awareness.

“Vehicle Motion Blackout” essentially functions as a vignette. Whenever your vehicle moves a black border will appear on the edges of your view. This blocks your peripheral vision, and is a feature in a lot of VR games because it reduces nausea and motion sickness.

The “Vehicle Maintain Horizon Camera” option keeps your view more steady and horizontal when piloting a vehicle. This can help prevent motion sickness as a result of tumbles and quick turns in your vehicle, meaning you can maneuver quickly without feeling nauseous. Finally the “Disable Idle Hand Animations” option simply stops the idle hand animations of your player character inside of your vehicle. It can be a little weird when your pilot’s hands move around when you’re not actually moving your hands.

Elite Dangerous VR Setup

Setup was more difficult than you’d think. Mostly due to a bug in the Steam version of the game. I’d bought Elite Dangerous a long time ago, and apparently that came with some problems. When launching the Steam version of the game I made a new Frontier account and linked my Steam account to it using the instructions found at this link.

Unfortunately after logging in and launching through steam I could get nowhere, and just got this popup telling me that I needed to update the game. There was nothing else I could do here, hitting the X in the window closed the whole launcher.

I couldn’t even log in and try linking a different account or anything. After some googling I found a number of possible fixes, including downloading a sketchy seeming alternate launcher and using that. The most straightforward fix I found was manually launching the EDLaunch.exe file as an administrator from the Elite Dangerous directory itself in steam (\Steam\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous).

This forced me to log back in, but when I did the game stated that I didn’t have access to the game. After another hour or so of googling, reading ancient forum threads, and trying different solutions brought me to remember that I had used a different email for my previous account when I’d last played the game. After guessing the right email in the Frontier website’s “Forgot My Password” function, I finally could log in by manually running the launcher and updated the game. After that running it directly through Steam worked fine. This was all even before purchasing the Elite Dangerous: Odyssey DLC, though luckily purchasing that DLC through Steam created no further problems.

From what I read a lot of people have had this problem for years, and honestly it doesn’t look good for Elite Dangerous or Frontier. Not only was the account linking process annoying, but having to link an account and it still not working could be the last time a lot of people touch Elite Dangerous: Odyssey.

Luckily when all that was over launching the game was as simple as connecting the headset to the computer with Meta Airlink, running the game through steam, and selecting “Launch Elite Dangerous in Steam VR Mode.”

That was the whole setup! Enjoy Elite Dangerous Odyssey VR.