The Exorcist: Legion VR PC Game Review (HTC Vive)
Summary: The horror genre gets serious in VR as you face the world of exorcisms and evil.
4.1
First Rites
I’m not the biggest fan of horror games… at this point you would likely be thinking “what the hell are you doing reviewing a horror game then?”. It’s not that I don’t like any horror… I just don’t really like the whole “jump scare” trend, I mean I played a bit of dreadhalls once and that was enough for me. But The Exorcist: Legion VR is different. Does it have jump scares? Well you could certainly argue it does, but more importantly it has tension and atmosphere. Many jump scare games are simply about knowing that something is going to pop up at you any moment and it’s the anticipation of that, that creates the most atmosphere. The Exorcist: Legion VR goes beyond that and makes for a far more immersive experience.
But I’m getting ahead of myself (a theme of my reviews obviously). You start the game and make your way to your office, in front of you are some details about the case that’s available to you. Some newspaper clippings and other bits and pieces are about. Once you select the task you take your call on the radio and you are on your way. Gameplay is very similar to Batman Arkham VR in the way that you are tasked with solving some riddles and exploring your environment to discover what has happened. Instead of reaching to your utility belt though you have a radial menu on your left wrist which gives you access to everything from your phone to your expanding collection of exorcist tools.
The biggest difference between Batman and The Exorcist may be in regards to locomotion, you can use either teleport or free movement. I opted for free movement and after an initial feeling of having just tried to adjust speed to an escalator (ie my vision said I was moving forward so my body tried to adjust and I lurched forward a little), it became quite comfortable and with a quick turn option it really made moving about quite easy.
One of the things I normally despise in horror games is the lighting, or perhaps more accurately, the lack of lighting. Everything is nearly pitch black and gloomy with a forced reason for being that way. The Exorcist however has a reasonable amount of light in the playing area… but that lit area also has a boundary and that boundary does indeed represent a potential unknown. Your main focus is in the front (or is that back… the bit with the alter etc anyway) of a church where the crime scene has been set up. You examine each clue and sometimes those clues lead to something strange happening.
Making your way into the back offices you are presented with a little puzzle and much like in The Talos Principle VR, there is something quite pleasing about being able to actual see your hands manipulate puzzles… it’s a small thing but I really enjoy it. After examining a few more things you return to the main crime area and with a little bit of detective work you bring about an end to this case (or at least the start of your journey). You find yourself back in your office and the next case is waiting for you to start… but that requires purchasing the next case.
It’s not the longest experience but it’s also not that pricey sitting at about $5.00 at the time of writing (well a little less but that’s because of a Steam discount). Steam tells me I only spent about 35mins in the game… there may well be some other things you can do, but to get from start to finish it can be done in around 35mins… so let that factor into your purchase decision. I would imagine once all the chapters have been released there will be a bundle that can be purchased to have everything accessible and this would likely be the best option. I will say though that the atmosphere and overall feel of the experience was great, for someone who doesn’t normally “do” horror games, there was enough story and meaning to what was going on to make me willing to go back sometime… maybe not for a little while, it is still very creepy and I don’t feel like being creeped out right now thank you very much! Higher end creepiness has certainly found it’s way to the VR world.
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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