Brett Molina

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LOS ANGELES -- I zipped down hills on a skateboard, fought enemy spacecrafts and got attacked by a dragon, shark and Alien. Welcome to virtual reality.

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo on Wednesday, I tried seven different VR experiences between Facebook-owned Oculus and Sony's Project Morpheus. Here's what video game life felt like in virtual reality.

For a quick refresher of what this experience is like, users don a pair of goggles that offer a complete view of the game from every angle. Look up, down, left, right, even behind you and it appears as if you've been inserted into the game world. Users also wear headphones for sound while wielding a standard video game controller.

OCULUS

EVE Valkyrie. Hands down the intergalactic dogfighting title from CCP Games, makers of EVE Online, was the shining example of how awesome VR can become. Players sit inside the cockpit of a spacecraft and engage in aerial battles using machine guns and guided missiles. Players perform rolls and sharp turns to evade oncoming attacks. This version of Valkyrie is supported by a new tech engine, so the visual effects are striking. When a ship is damage, the glass cracks and sparks fly around. Valkyrie might be the best representative for VR gaming so far.

Alien: Isolation. The demo starts with a player in a ship, without a weapon, seeking escape as a xenomorph prowls the area. The lights flicker in and out, while the body of the vessel periodically shakes. Using the right bumper, I pull up my motion tracker to determine if the creature is near. At one point, a developer with Oculus tells me to turn around to find an empty vent to hide. As I move there, around the corner comes the xenomorph. It's one thing to play an Alien game and have a xenomorph pounce on you. It's another to feel as if a xenomorph is literally running at you waiting to bite your face off. I yelled and closed my eyes.

Lucky's Tale. The Super Mario style platformer works surprisingly well. Players guide a creature named Lucky through a series of levels, collecting coins and hitting bricks much like any Mario game. You will look up and see a giant castle in front of you, or look down from a bridge and see the water below, all while guiding Lucky through his mission. It was quite entertaining.

Superhot. Launched on Kickstarter, this game is the closest players get to becoming Neo from The Matrix. It's a shooter where time only moves when the player moves. The goal of the demo was to grab a gun in the middle of the room and take down three enemies. When shots are fired, players can stop moving and freeze time, tilting left or right to dodge bullets.

PROJECT MORPHEUS

Morpheus Castle. This combines a VR headset with two PlayStation Move controllers, each of which represent your left and right hand. Pulling the trigger on the controllers makes a fist. Players simply beat up a dragon using their hands or a weapon. The demo ends by staring up at a massive dragon that eventually eats me. Too bad this wasn't Dragon Age.

Street Luge. Using a bean bag for added effect, I lay down as if on a real skateboard and zip down streets and hills at high speeds, using only my head to move left to right. I had to dodge car and trucks and watch for sharp turns to make my way to the bottom at the fastest time.

The Deep. Placed inside a cage, I'm sent underwater to explore, only the journey is interrupted when a massive shark starts attacking. Guess the Alien and dragon weren't enough. It's a scary experience as you watch the shark rip apart the front of the cage and prepare to strike.

Between the two, overall, Oculus seems to have the edge. Most of the games feel a bit more polished and consistent. Certainly, Sony's Project Morpheus boasts interesting experiences, but it appears to still be in an early phase of development.

Meanwhile, I'm going to start avoiding all sharks and dragons.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.