I have a soft spot in my heart for racing games. I’m not great at them in the slightest, but I have always found enjoyment in getting behind the wheel of a shiny supercar and sending it barreling down a strip of asphalt.
With the dawn of virtual reality, people have been able to take these games to a new level. You can actually see yourself sitting in the driver’s seat of whatever car you want, and see everything happening around you. The other racers lined up on the grid, the walls of the track flying by as you speed down the road, a car slamming into another racer in front of you…you can see all of it. It presents a completely new level of immersion.
But I am a broke twenty-something living in an apartment working at a pizza place, so being able to afford a VR setup isn’t in the cards for me right now. So let’s have some fun with this. I have looked over the Steam cover art for 4 VR racing games (or racing games that have full VR support) and judged each of them. Because if it looks good on paper it’s definitely going to look good in (virtual) reality, right? Right!
So based on that cover art alone, here are the 4 racing games that look like they would make great VR games.
4. Project CARS
First up is Project CARS. Let’s start by breaking down the cover art itself. We have the title of the game front and center to let us know what the game is called. Good start. Then we have the background, and I feel this is where the art goes to shambles. What is all that behind the title? The only thing I am able to make out of the background is the flame that is making its way across the image. Other than that, I have no idea what I’m seeing. Is that scaffolding in the background? What does scaffolding have to do with cars? I am completely confused by this image.
Setting aside how crazy this image is, it is cool looking. But how am I supposed to know this is a racing game? Yes, the word “cars” is in the title, but that could mean anything. Not only that, the word “cars” is in all caps. Is it an acronym? Is someone shouting the word at me? Who knows!
3. DiRT Rally
With our next title, DiRT Rally, we already have a better image. First of all, we have a car in the image! Also, we have that car taking part in action of some form. As a whole, this image does a great job of communicating what kind of game I’m going to be playing. I know rally is a style of racing and I see a car taking part in what I can assume is a rally race.
So why isn’t this game higher on the list? Well considering that this whole list is based around judging games by their cover and it is me judging these games, I just have to say that I’m just not the biggest fan of rally races. So I’m not super hype about playing them in VR. Plain and simple.
2. iRacing
iRacing is doing quite a bit right with this image. We have an actual racecar in the image and it is on a race track. Already I know what kind of racing I will be doing and what kind of cars I think I will have access to.
This image hits just about all of the right switches for me, but it does have one issue. The image itself looks a little soft and the textures used in the image really aren’t all that pretty to me. If I’m judging this purely on it’s cover, I wouldn’t jump at a VR experience of this game first.
1. Assetto Corsa
Now this is an image that is speaking my language. To start, that logo is pretty cool looking, is it not? Whoever designed that needs a promotion. Next, the words “your racing simulator” are right on the cover. I know exactly what I am getting into. We also have a really cool looking car here on a track, so I can see what kind of cars I will be getting to drive. I’m a sucker for a pretty supercar so this image does a lot for me. This game seems exactly what I would be looking for so it gets our first place prize.
And that’s it! There are the top 4 racing games in VR based purely on their Steam cover art — because judging a game by its cover is surely a great way to find the right VR racing experience for you!
What game covers have got you excited for more racing action? Anything you’d like to experience in VR? Let me know in the comments!
Published: Nov 6, 2016 04:48 pm