The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Developer/publisher Fireproof Games Format Index, PSVR (tested), Quest, Rift, Vive, Windows Mixed Reality Release Out now
Index, PSVR, Quest, Rift, Vive, Windows Mixed Reality
For years, Fireproof Games has invited us to puzzle our way inside its intricate contraptions. Now we find ourselves inside from the start, surrounded by the kind of world into which we’re used to peering. As we descend further into a supernatural-tinged Edwardian mystery, this feels like a VR wonderland in more ways than one. With otherworldly portals shrinking us to investigate objects from within – having manipulated them from the outside to form pathways inside – we’re frequently left asking ourselves just how deep the rabbithole goes. Curiouser and curiouser, indeed.
This series has always rewarded the player’s natural inquisitiveness like few others, and Fireproof makes the most of the opportunities the tech presents. The vocabulary has changed slightly: there’s still poking and prodding, but plenty more grabbing, lifting and tipping. And while, as ever with VR, you’re something of a semi-corporeal presence, your leather-gloved hands sometimes passing through scenery as you reach forward, everything you can interact with has a satisfying solidity. Whether you’re investigating dusty sarcophagi in the bowels of the British Museum, or indulging in a bit of eye-of-newt potion brewing in a witch’s cottage, there are levers and pulleys to tug, keys to turn, dials to twist and so much more. Everything here has a tangible presence, even the ghosts. The Room has never been short of atmosphere, but in VR it’s more enveloping than ever: you always feel on the verge of a great discovery, with hints that you’re dabbling in forces beyond your comprehension adding just a hint of danger to leave the hairs on your neck bristling.
Occasionally it lacks the elegance of its predecessors. You’ll encounter some objects that are designed only to be looked at, while others won’t yield until you’ve solved another part of the puzzle, the distinction between ‘not at all’ and ‘not yet’ not always apparent. We rely on a few more hints than usual, not because we need to know the solution but because it’s not obvious where we should be looking. And there’s a little too much back and forth, particularly in a church-set middle chapter, which returns to a stained-glass puzzle at least once too often.
But even here the quality of the craftsmanship is hard to deny, and what follows is as thrilling a VR experience we’ve had outside City 17. Here, you’ll find crystal balls and cracked mirrors revealing hidden symbols, dimensional doors activated by tarot cards and a liquid-to-solid transition so mesmerising we welcome its repetition. A finale that blends Lovecraft and Spielberg seals the deal. Before, we couldn’t imagine The Room anywhere else but a touchscreen;
A Dark Matter suggests VR could be its ideal home.