TRANSFERENCE
Home is where the horror is
Rather than describing the act whereby I leave an after-image of my full face of makeup on the OPM PS VR headset (sorry team), Transference explores the popular sci-fi idea of backing up human consciousness to storage hardware that’s less squishy but, if anything, more likely to fail in the long run. A brilliant scientist has cracked the formula but can’t secure the funding to take his research to the next step. Deciding to go his own way in proving his hypothesis, he looks to his young family…
The process was not a smooth one, and you find yourself exploring the corrupted result. The full horror of the family’s downfall is hinted at through a polished blend of video diaries, audio logs, and environments surreally transformed by each member’s subjective experience. Hitting light switches allows you to swap between each relative’s side of the story, transferring key items between their various visions.
Surfaces and objects glitch in and out of existence, hinting at the instability within the home. The various ghosts in this machine whisper cryptically in your ear when you inspect their possessions. Virtualised phantoms datamosh through intense but half-forgotten scenes. Helped by some spooky sound design, the rooms you walk through are plagued by claustrophobic unease, and there are more than a few solid scares. You quickly sense there might be something else trapped inside this simulation, and the initial reveal had us hammering at virtual door handles, while another lategame ‘boo’ left us instinctively covering our face.
DIGIT-HELL
The story follows familiar horror tropes – obsessed patriarch, troubled wife, neglected son – but, picking through the detritus of the family’s life, there’s a demonstrable awareness of these stereotypes. You won’t find yourself saddled with pages of a diary, as Transference attempts to use its chosen clichés efficiently. For example, you’ll only ever see the first two lines of an emotional letter to a sister, while the video logs seldom outstay their welcome, suggesting the corners of the bigger picture. This willingness to let you fill in the gaps yourself makes heavy-handed moments particularly baffling, especially when it’s to tell you to find something you’re already looking for.
While you can play with the DualShock 4, this might actually be one you’ll want to dig out your PS Move controllers for. Even as the family flat warps into nightmarish doubles of itself, these halls have been designed with such attention to detail that they demand you reach out and at least mime touching them. That said, your journey through these corridors is far more satisfying than the place they’ll leave you in by the end.
“THE INITIAL CREATURE REVEAL HAD US HAMMERING AT VIRTUAL DOOR HANDLES.”