The Room VR: A Darkish Matter Evaluate (PS5 / PSVR2)

Escape rooms are an important match for VR. You’ll be able to craft fantastical eventualities and obtain extra convincing environments, all whereas permitting the expertise to happen at house. And that is an concept developer Fireproof Video games has taken to coronary heart, because the fifth title in The Room collection is VR-only. The Room VR: A Darkish Matter was beforehand launched on PSVR, nevertheless it’s higher than ever on Sony’s new headset.

As a detective searching for a lacking Egyptologist within the early 1900s, you’ll go to plenty of areas throughout the title’s 5 ranges. The title begins you off gradual, with a barebones chapter that takes place in your workplace, earlier than introducing the sport’s best asset: its issue curve.

The complexity of puzzles from degree to degree ratchets up on the excellent charge, by no means overstepping or falling into the trimmings of classical point-and-click journey titles with obtuse, nonsensical options. As an alternative, you’re handled to puzzles with logical options, lots of which embody dozens of steps to finish. And in case you do get caught, the sport has a sturdy clue system, nice for pointing you in the correct course with out fixing puzzles for you.

The puzzles rising in complexity additionally provides the chance to point out off unimaginable environments. Textures look good all through, some environments are large, and in VR, the size is introduced in a really convincing approach. You’ll often have the ability to see different clues or steps within the puzzles throughout the room, which will help jog your reminiscence about the place to go or what to do subsequent in a compelling approach.

Every degree being self-contained permits the crew to dabble with completely different tones, too. An early degree coping with an historical Sarcophagus is especially adept at splicing horror into the expertise, whereas a degree going down in a church makes use of an organ to include musical components into the sport. It’s all dealt with flawlessly, and vastly enhances the worth of the product, by providing assorted, distinctive experiences level-to-level.

That being stated, in terms of the worth of the product, the worth is without doubt one of the solely actual gripes we have now with the expertise. It merely doesn’t have sufficient content material to match its £24.99/ $29.99 price ticket. When you can abdomen the associated fee, although — or make the most of the free improve from PS4 to PS5 — there’s lots to love right here.