From riding a highway to hell in Thumper to playing Tetris using your whole face, there are some things you can only properly experience in virtual reality. Here are some of the most unforgettable moments we’ve seen on PS VR.

Taking on a Star Destroyer in X-Wing VR Mission

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If you’ve played a VR space dogfighting game like Eve: Valkyrie or Elite: Dangerous, you’ll be familiar with the speed at which your jaw descends towards your navel the first time you crane your neck to see the stars.

X-Wing VR Mission turns that feeling up to 11. You’re a rookie pilot escorting a Rogue One VIP when a Star Destroyer closes in to attack. It’s one thing seeing the might of the Empire on a cinema screen, but something else to take on the giant starship and a squadron of TIE fighters by yourself, with only trusty R2 unit to cover your back.

Wrecking a convenience store in job simulator

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Photocopying is up there with toenail clipping on a list of worst scenarios on which to base a video game, but somehow Job Simulator makes it a blast

There are four jobs to try but doing a stint as a convenience store clerk is the most memorable, grilling hot dogs, shaking up a few ketchup bottles and letting off fireworks in the faces of your customers. Sure, health and safety goes out the window, but that’s half the fun. If you’ve ever worked a service job you hated, Job Simulator is downright therapeutic.

Hiding behind ANYTHING in Resident Evil 7

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When you can play the whole of Resident Evil 7 from the safety of your sofa using a normal controller, it seems mad that anyone would choose to go face-to-face with Jack in virtual reality.

Still, those that do will find it hard to forget the experience of hiding from the Baker family as they hunt you around their decrepit mansion. PS VR tracks head movements so if you drop to your knees in your living room, Ethan does the same in game, meaning you can duck into cover and peer around doors to make sure the coast is clear.

Just be prepared to have your toes forcibly uncurled when you’re finished.

Dancing in the mirror as Batman in Arkham VR

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Even Batman Arkham VR’s menu is impressive. Standing on a balcony, looking out over the whole of Gotham, is a jaw-dropping moment for any fan of the Dark Knight.

But it gets better. As the lift lowers down into the Bat Cave, it’s impossible not to squeal in excitement. Then, when you put on the famous cowl, you’re not playing Batman, you are Batman… And my version of Batman just happens to be very gifted at the "I'm a little teapot" dance.

Firing an Uzi out of a moving van in The London Heist

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We’ve all watched car chases but unless you’re on the Old Bill’s Most Wanted list it’s unlikely you’ve experienced one for yourself. That all changes in The London Heist.

The game culminates in a high-speed chase around London’s M25 Motorway, with goons on bikes raining a hail of bullets in your direction. That’s where you grab an Uzi and start firing. Nothing beats the sensation of physically leaning in your chair to hang out the van’s window, to get a better angle on the thugs chasing you down.

Standing in the foyer of Lara Croft’s mansion in Tomb Raider VR

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Lara Croft’s mansion is nearly as iconic as its owner. Since 1996 it’s seen plenty of iterations, but the 20th Anniversary edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider brought the mansion into the 21st century with virtual reality.

With headphones on, stand in the centre of the foyer and listen to the steady drip, drip of the cracked ceiling above. Press your face right up against the historical artefacts lining the walls, and lean right over the railings to peer at the tiles below. The atmosphere is breathtaking, and a must-experience for any Tomb Raider fan.

Going back to classic maps in DOOM VFR

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DOOM VFR includes a “classic mode” that lets you go back and play maps from the original game in virtual reality. While enemies are yanked from from the 2016 release, everything else - the walls, objects and surrounding environment - have been faithfully recreated in all their original low-res glory. In a time where we’re obsessed with cranking graphical fidelity to the max, there’s something deeply entertaining about plunging face first into our pixelated past.

Dodging a bullet in SUPERHOT

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SUPERHOT is the closest thing you’re gonna get to being Neo in The Matrix. This first-person runs in slow-motion, unless you yourself are moving - in which case time speeds up to real-time. It’s like inverse bullet time, meaning you can dodge bullets coming straight at you while firing off headshots at the same time - which, trust us, feels utterly badass.

Being melted by a dragon in Skyrim VR

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Experiencing Skyrim from a true first-person point of view gives you a whole new perspective on the true scope and scale of Bethesda's legendary fantasy world. Buildings and creatures that seemed imposing on a screen truly tower over you in VR. Nothing drives that point home better than one of Skyrim's signature dragons, which can now breathe their face-melting fire directly at you.

Alysia Judge is IGN UK's host, and would like to apologise to George for having to spend a day in VR capturing footage for this feature. Hope your eyes uncross themselves soon. Follow her on Twitter.