Hover Junkers is virtual reality’s best multiplayer game

While the rest of the industry is figuring out virtual reality, I’m going to continue enjoying an HTC Vive game that already knows how to use immersion, motion controls, and vulgar hand gestures to bring its action to life.

Hover Junkers is a $35 launch game for the Vive virtual reality headset from HTC and Valve from developer Stress Level Zero, and it is all about providing players with a variety of movement techniques and communications tools in an online multiplayer shooter. You play a merc who must fly around in your piece-of-crap hovercraft until you find other players and shoot them. It’s simple, but inside of virtual reality, this is an exhilarating experience. I have it set up with Vive’s room-scale technology, and this enabled me to run from one side of my hovercraft to the other to use my boat as cover during firefights with enemies. This had me running around my room while ducking and hiding behind objects. I’ve never interacted with a game in this way before. Analysts at SuperData Research think VR will generate $40 billion in spending by 2020, and Hover Junkers shows that the market can produce compelling content worthy of those kinds of revenues.