VR that gets right into your head...

When I first started playing video games in the 1980s, little did I imagine I’d be here 30 years later living them.

Virtual reality may have had an air of inevitability about it as far back as the 90s, but it is slowly becoming a big deal in the video game world.

Transference is evidence of that, given that celebrated studio Ubisoft Montreal is getting in on the act despite the platform’s relative infancy, and it is rather interestingly produced by Elijah Wood, of Lord of the Rings fame.

What’s it all about then? Well, Transference is a single-player VR game which focuses on a family struggling with some serious issues.

It is all set inside in a corrupted simulation made by a brilliant but “troubled” scientist named Raymond Hayes.

From the perspective of different family members, the simulation is constructed from the “brain data” of Raymond, his wife, and their young son, they’ll move through their home, discover their secrets and collect the evidence they need to repair their lives and relationships.

If puzzle solving and psychedelic horror is your thing, you’re in for a treat. As you start out, you might think the game is broken as the world you are in isn’t complete.

It appears that the software

has crashed, but you soon realise that this is a clever way of directing you in the right direction. If you wander off the right path and make wrong decisions, you will soon know about it and without me spoiling it, all I’ll say is the game does it in a way that makes you never want to make the same mistake twice.

Part of the focus of the game is the light switches, which appear to zone you into another dimension, and what you do in this zone directly impacts other zones.

If you’re a fan of panic rooms, then this could be perfect for you.

At times the movement seems sluggish and it is occasionally difficult to highlight items to pick them up and study them, but this is only a small gripe. The look of the game is polished with great graphics and lighting, and add to this perfectlyplaced sound effects creating a superb sense atmosphere.

For VR players that struggle with motion sickness this may be a struggle, however, the game can also be played outside of VR which is easily achieved through the settings menu. A solid offering that will appeal to your twisted psychological side.