Today is the Fourth of July which is also known as Independence Day in America. Officially this day is known as a celebration of the date from over 200 years ago when the American colonists adopted the Declaration of Independence and set forth on a journey to win their freedom from the British Empire of the 1700s. Unofficially though, it’s a holiday about fireworks, grilling burgers, and enjoying time with loved ones.
In an effort to celebrate the Fourth of July the right way we’ve put together this list of 5 of the most patriotic VR experiences we could gather for you to check out on this day. Some of the selected choices may be a bit sarcastic or a little tongue-in-cheek, but our heart is definitely in the right place. Promise.
4th Of July VR (Vive)
Let’s go ahead and get the most “on-the-nose” selection out of the way first. 4th Of July VR is a newly released experience that lets you shoot off fireworks. That’s about it but if the real life colorful and loud explosives aren’t allowed in your neighborhood or you don’t like going outside then this could be something worth checking out.
Job Simulator (Rift, Vive, PSVR)
In the United States the Fourth of July is a national holiday. That means, unless your boss is an un-American dictator you probably don’t have to work today. I know I don’t — I’m writing this entire article on July 3rd because I’m a time traveler. But what if instead of going to your real job you could pretend to do a job that robots of the future think you did? Make sense? Cool, play Job Simulator because it’s awesome and hilarious.
Serious Sam VR (Rift and Vive)
What’s more American than defending the world from aliens? There is an entire movie about it starring Will Smith and it’s literally just called Independence Day. Honestly it doesn’t get a whole lot more patriotic than that. Since there isn’t an official Independence Day VR game, we recommend turning to Serious Sam VR instead. There are three different games to pick from (The Last Encounter is a standing-still wave shooter but the other two are old-school full-movement shooters with newly added VR support) so pick your poison.
Front Defense (Vive)
American Independence Day celebrates a day all the way back in the 1700s. But you know what else represents freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Killing evil Germans during World War II (WWII) obviously. In Front Defense you can hunker down behind sand bags and fight for the Allied forces like never before.
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (Vive)
You probably picked up on a bit of a theme here. Guns. It’s not much of a secret that other than the Dallas Cowboys and the colors red, white, and blue, there isn’t anything more American than guns. That’s exactly what Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades is all about. Bullets are expensive and shooting ranges are a hassle to go to sometimes, so unload some stress with this hyper-realistic simulator instead.
*COMING SOON: The American Dream
This is the ultimate VR appreciation of what it means to be an American. Remember how I just told you about guns? Well imagine a world in which America was so obsessed with firearms that they were used for literally everything in the world. Cooking burgers? Grab a gun. Need to open that beer? Better grab your gun. Feeding your infant child? Yep, get the gun. That’s what The American Dream, a sardonic parody of American life and culture, is all about. It’s coming out soon for all major VR platforms and you can read our hands-on for it right here.
—
What’d you think of our list? Did we miss any that you’d recommend? Let us know down in the comments below!
