PlayStation VR’s Killer App Is ... Music

Picking up PlayStation VR today? You may find that some of its best launch experiences are musical.

Maybe it's all a harmonious coincidence, but there are quite a few games for Sony's PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset that revolve around the mixing of music and all-encompassing visuals. And they truly run the gamut of gameplay experiences, whether you're looking for a totally non-interactive chill-out experience, a brutally difficult rhythm-matching challenge, or something in between those extremes.

Riding that middle lane is Rez Infinite, which is also probably the best of the three. Originally released on the Sega Dreamcast in 2000, Rez embodied that turn-of-the-century aesthetic with funky graphics that designed their way around the low-poly limitations of the time, and a musical gameplay style that was in vogue in those days (in this case, "paint" enemies with your cursor, then release to fire attacks on the beat). It's more of a musical take on Space Invaders than a rhythm-matching game.

The PlayStation VR version presents that original experience, as well as a new level called "Area X," in a third-person VR mode--- the game looks just like you're playing the original, except your television has grown to giant size and swallowed you. And it's just as challenging as the original, too, seeing as the Area 2 boss is still a giant pain in the ass that I can't seem to beat.

If you have no idea what I am talking about because you can beat Rez with your eyes closed, you may want to kick things up several notches with Thumper, a music game that goes all out to make you think you're riding a groove straight into the mouth of Hell. Like Guitar Hero, you're traveling down a "note highway" and pressing buttons to various musical prompts: Press X on the beat to hit notes, hold the joystick up to dodge spikes, hold left and right to take turns.