When they launched, the
HTC Vive and
Oculus Rift both had multiple games bundled with the headsets, to help sweeten their respective pots. While that hasn't changed today, the specific games that come with the Vive just did.
At launch, the Vive included download codes for room-scale sandbox Job Simulator, building game Fantastic Contraption and 3D painting app Tilt Brush.
Today
HTC announced that, starting with new orders placed today, episodic adventure The Gallery -- Episode I: Call of the Starseed and arcade shooter Zombie Training Simulator will join the returning Tilt Brush as the new order bonus trio.
That also means that, from now on,
Vive owners who want the hilarious Job Simulator or quirky Fantastic Contraption will need to buy them for US$30 each.
Whether the new bundle is an upgrade over the previous one will depend on what kinds of games you gravitate towards. The Gallery is one of our top picks among 1st-gen
VR games, but it's also a relatively short (maybe an hour and a half of gameplay) first chapter in an upcoming episodic series.
Zombie Training Simulator, meanwhile, is far from AAA quality (the invading zombies are cardboard cut-outs) but it does have addictive arcade gameplay, and is certainly more action-packed than the previous two bundled titles.
While it isn't officially part of the bundle, keep in mind that Valve's excellent collection of mini-games, The Lab, is a free SteamVR download for all
Vive owners. Ditto for the ultra-short
Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine, where you get to live out your fantasies of swinging a real-looking, real-sounding, honest-to-goodness lightsaber.