Escape rooms are a great fit for VR. You can craft fantastical scenarios and achieve more convincing environments, all while allowing the experience to take place at home. And this is an idea developer Fireproof Games has taken to heart, as the fifth title in The Room series is VR-only. The Room VR: A Dark Matter was previously released on PSVR, but it’s better than ever on Sony’s new headset.
As a detective looking for a missing Egyptologist in the early 1900s, you’ll visit a number of locations across the title’s five levels. The title starts you off slow, with a barebones chapter that takes place in your office, before introducing the game’s greatest asset: its difficulty curve.
The complexity of puzzles from level to level ratchets up at the perfect rate, never overstepping or falling into the trappings of classical point-and-click adventure titles with obtuse, nonsensical solutions. Instead, you are treated to puzzles with logical solutions, many of which include dozens of steps to complete. And if you do get stuck, the game has a robust clue system, great for pointing you in the right direction without solving puzzles for you.
The puzzles increasing in complexity also offers the opportunity to show off incredible environments. Textures look brilliant throughout, some environments are massive, and in VR, the scale is presented in a very convincing way. You’ll usually be able to see other clues or steps in the puzzles across the room, which can help jog your memory about where to go or what to do next in a compelling way.
Each level being self-contained allows the team to dabble with different tones, too. An early level dealing with an ancient Sarcophagus is particularly adept at splicing horror into the experience, while a level taking place in a church uses an organ to incorporate musical elements into the game. It’s all handled flawlessly, and greatly enhances the value of the product, by offering varied, distinctive experiences level-to-level.
That being said, when it comes to the value of the product, the price is one of the only real gripes we have with the experience. It simply doesn’t have enough content to match its £24.99/ $29.99 price tag. If you can stomach the cost, though — or take advantage of the free upgrade from PS4 to PS5 — there’s a lot to like here.
