B
Brent D'Alessandro
Guest
Halloween is here, making this the perfect time to review possibly the scariest game ever. It is a virtual reality game designed for Google Cardboard. As you can imagine, it’s 10x scarier than it would be if it was a ‘flat’ game.
Normally, I am not the type of person to get scared. I don’t really watch scary movies as I don’t find them super scary and they usually just try to gross you out rather than actually create fear. However, A Chair in a Room takes things to the next level. A game like this is the reason why I think virtual reality is going to be huge. You truly feel fear when you play it in a way that only virtual reality can bring. To try to explain the type of fear you get while playing, it’s more like actually going to a real haunted house where people pop out all around you. Everything is just amplified because it’s happening all around and is real, or in this case ‘real’.
Story
The backstory is about a missing girl. You find out about her by all the newspaper clippings on the walls. Stories about her body being found, how her death was just a hoax, and the verdict that her dad was found not guilty in any crimes. She is still presumed missing at this time. At the start it also says this is Chapter 1 and I would assume Chapter 2 will be coming out soon to continue the story.
A Chair in a Room is literally what the title says. There is a chair in a room and that’s basically it. You could possibly say this is more of a demo rather than a game since you can’t do much, but that adds to the fear. There is no run away button, you are forced to accept whatever happens next.
I don’t want to spoil anything for you, so I won’t give exact details of what will happen. However, the idea is you are in a room and it tells you to look around to see where certain objects are. Suddenly, the lights go out and all you can see is total darkness. Due to the Cardboard viewer being literally up to your eyes, it doesn’t matter how bright it is outside. It will feel like you are actually in a dark room. The only thing you can do is look around and use a flashlight. Of course, the flashlight they give you has faulty batteries that always run out and you are forced to turn it off to charge it. Every time you turn it off you are back to complete darkness. This becomes very scary, very quickly as you can hear things happening all around you, but can’t see them. The longer you play the creepier it gets. It doesn’t help that stranger and scarier things happen along the way.
Here is the story from the developers:
A bare bulb casts a dim light around you, its flickering efforts providing the only sound in the stark room. Your seat cracks and creaks under your weight as you perch uncomfortably in its worn recess. The light from the bulb flickers again, casting you into darkness longer this time, before coming back to life…for now.
You look around the room to discover a barren state of occupation; the only sign of life is a cigarette that burns, seemingly forgotten, in an ashtray on the desk. Across the room, through the heavy mix of smoke and dust, a cone of light shows the way to the room’s only door, which sits slightly ajar.
The light flickers and struggles again, before giving out with a final snap and plunging you into darkness.
The light from the door is broken as a shadow passes. SLAM.
Now the door is shut. You can sense breathing, too close. You switch on your torch, to find only emptiness and silence. Your battery can only illuminate the scene for so long before you’ll be forced to face the dark again…
The graphics are pretty good. As I mentioned in my last virtual reality game review, it’s more to do with how your phone’s display looks rather than the game itself. I’m using the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, which has a great display, so everything looks pretty good. Nothing is overly real and you can clearly tell it’s a game, but like all virtual reality content, it’s the experience that it makes you believe is happening that counts. Out of all the virtual reality games and demos so far, this one really made me feel like it was actually happening. The depth that virtual reality brings, and the fact that it’s 360 degrees, makes it truly scary.
I wouldn’t normally talk about this, but the sound is the real star of this game. A Chair in a Room has some of the scariest sounds you could imagine. It’s pitch black and all you hear is weird noises and sound effects that are so dramatic it instantly puts you on edge. Near the end, it’s all black and suddenly a girl starts to cry. You have no idea why a girl is crying, but you do know, it’s not gonna be good. The sounds amplify the creepy level a lot.
Controls
As I mentioned, there really isn’t much to do. You can physically look around by moving your head to see things and use the button on the side of the Google Cardboard to turn on the flashlight, but that’s it. However, it’s not about what you can control, it’s about what you can’t, that’s what makes it scary.
Although you can just put your phone into a Google Cardboard and start playing, I suggest you have two extra items ready. One is a good set of headphones and the other is a chair that can spin, like a computer chair. The headphones are the real key here because they add that surround sound effect. They will take things up to another level and make you believe you are actually in a dark room. They let you hear noises from all around and will cause you to physically look around, wondering what made the noise. The spinning chair is just so you can sit and spin around to look all around the room. You could also stand if you would like, but be careful you don’t fall over. Especially when you get scared, you don’t want to step back and trip and fall. Always be aware of your surroundings when playing any virtual reality game.
Fun Level
I can absolutely promise you will get scared. The first 5 seconds of the game is scary since you know scary things will happen. Once the lights go out, you can feel your adrenaline spike. All your senses are heightened as you find yourself struggling to see what’s in the darkness. The flashlight is your only friend which can illuminate the room, but also your biggest enemy as it reveals what is lurking right in front of you. Sometimes you will wish you left the lights out.
I was terrified by the end of the game, but thankful it was over. I don’t know if I could of handled even crazier things happening if the game continued. Still, I can’t wait for Chapter 2 to come out. I have heard the Oculus will receive the full game sometime in 2016 and the Android version will be broken into smaller chapters and released later in 2016.
Here is a picture from Chapter 2, I have no idea what will happen, but I know it will be scary.
Conclusion
If you like horror movies, you will love A Chair in a Room. Like many current virtual reality games/demos, it’s short and creates an experience rather than linear start to finish gameplay. It’s so much fun to experience with friends and family and laugh at them when they get scared too.
However, the biggest level of fear will be reached the first time you play it alone. If you truly want to be scared, play it late at night when no one else is around with headphones on. The fear level increases exponentially. You can’t hear or see the outside world anymore and are locked into the virtual reality world.
Like I said at the start, I don’t really scare easily. When playing the game at first, it’s freaky, but not super scary. However, every minute that passes it gets spookier and spookier. By the end I literally jumped back and pulled my Cardboard viewer off of my face because it got so intense. A Chair in a Room delivered, it was true fear. I definitely recommend trying this game around Halloween, but it’s scary for all other times too.
Come comment on this article: [App Review] ‘A Chair in a Room’ is the scariest game I’ve ever played
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