The Top 5 Best Scares in VR
A love for horror is a very interesting thing and, unless you love horror yourself, it can be difficult to understand why. In gaming, horror brings a sense of dread and adrenaline that you cannot find on the big screen. In VR though... horror can make the lines between reality and virtual reality very faint and, at times, make them seem nonexistent altogether. If you're brave enough check out these 5 games that are sure to get your heart racing.
Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul
One of the most anticipated VR titles of 2017 also happens to be the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced in VR. Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul doesn't hold your hand as you explore a family home and discover the dark events that have occurred. The free roam exploration combined with the game's randomization code for moments of terror means that you'll always be on edge as you never know when a haunting will strike. I can't give out too much without ruining the game, but just know that a moment came where I was literally paralyzed with fear... I couldn't move... I didn't know what to do... That's how scary this game is.
Have fun.
A Chair in a Room: Greenwater
A Chair in a Room combines elements from escape room games with horror and ties them together with a heavy grim atmosphere. Everything in this game comes to you at a great quality, especially the scares... oh God, some of the scares in this game... but if you're looking for it all in a horror game (story, graphics, sound, scares, etc.) then make sure to grab this one.
Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shootin' Gallery
Ghost Town Mine Ride & Shootin' Gallery has one of the best environments I've seen in any VR game. The story goes that an abandoned (and haunted) mine got converted into a sort of theme park, but eventually became abandoned itself after a couple of "incidents" occurred. The environment does an excellent job on conveying this. The game has a lot of jump scares... A LOT of them, but they do a pretty darn good job, so if you can handle come aboard on this terrifying ride.
The Visitor
The Visitor has a run time of about 6 minutes and is the perfect demo for showing off horror to your friends. With a hefty price tag of $.99, it is a great investment for the amount of joy you will get watching your loved ones wet themselves.
Don't Blink
Don't Blink is, as of right now, more of a proof of concept horror game, but an effective one at that. The objective is simple enough, get from point A to point B as these killer f**king clowns (or whatever these damn things are) come after you, but the catch is that they don't move as long as you look at them. Have fun. Scary enough as it is, the developer is adding more to it to make it even more horrifying.
Honorable Mention:
The Bellows VR
When the full game for The Bellows was released it was lackluster, too fast, and, worst of all, just not that scary. Its demo, on the other hand, nailed it with its lighting, atmosphere, sound design, and scares. Since then the devs have heard the cries from the public and did something I've never seen done before; the scrapped and remade the whole game. NOW, the game is just as scary, if not better, than it's original demo.
As a reminder everything in this article is strictly opinionated by the author. VR is a truly one of a kind and amazing experience, what you experience is determined by your own ambitions and curiosity. Make it your own.