It has been a tentative time for VR games thus far what with a major lack of commitment from the major publishers – who are sitting on more cash than you can imagine – only tip-toeing into the medium. Then you have a slew of indie developers leading the way with a variety of games and experiences. To be frank, there’s a lot of junk out there which might hold your interest due to the novelty factor but after a while the shallow nature of their design becomes apparent. Cue “Raw Data” from developers Survios who have touted their first person shooter action game for quite some time now. Well as of July 15th 2016 the game has finally reached the public domain with a Steam Early Access release for £23.99 and a whole lot of attitude for HTC Vive owners.

In a nutshell, you control one of two characters either in single player or online co-op and hack data terminals or defend your own from waves of robots. Each character has his or her own style, so one is a master of firearms and the other a ninja action herione complete with melee attacks. It’s a fairly basic idea we’ve seen in other games like Hordez, Space Pirate Trainer etc. but the sci-fi direction and high production values make this a stand out game. More importantly, once you’re thrust into the game there’s a real sense of being involved with the full-on VR game people have been wishing for.

In game, you’re required to hack, duck, dodge, shoot and simply survive the oncoming robot forces who come in various guises including airborne, heavy, explosive and even ninja style attackers. What makes the game so compelling aside from the engaging story is the fact that as a player you’re fully “in the zone” where you’ll feel a big part of the shooter experience either solo or with another player. It’s an intense game with a driving soundtrack, loud and impacting sound effects and great sense of urgency.

Raw Data is still in early development and has more characters, levels, modes of play and weapons to add alongside support for other VR platforms potentially such as PSVR and Oculus Rift. Right now though, if you’ve got a Vive then you owe it to yourself to play this game as it is the best VR game so far without a doubt.