The Exorcist: Legion VR - Chapter 2 'Idle Hands' (2018) - Horror Video Game Review (PSVR)

In July I reviewed the first chapter of the five part The Exorcist: Legion VR game. I felt that first chapter was a nice introduction to the game but it wasn't as scary as I had hoped, overall though I was left with good impressions and high hopes for the other chapters. Second chapter Idle Hands I really hoped would improve on the strengths of the first, but instead it plays a little bit differently, and managed to be even less scary than chapter one.

In this chapter you head to a mental asylum to interview a school teacher who went crazy and kidnapped a bus full of children. Things don't go according to plan due to evil being present at the asylum, luckily for you though you still have the handy exorcism kit you picked up at the church from chapter one.

For whatever reason the controls in this game are really messed up for me and I am not sure why. I think my save might be a little corrupted but for a weird reason the left Move Controller controls my on screen right hand, and the right Move Controller controls the left. This made it really fiddly and a tad irritating to pick up and use objects. Idle Hands starts off good enough with you getting to explore a security room, it felt much like chapter one in that there is plenty of stuff to look at and read. The second half of the game has you in a long twisting corridor that has a couple of surprises, but only a couple. Like before this is quite a short experience, I was done within half an hour of starting which was a bit of a downer.

I really wish The Exorcist had actual free movement as walking around by teleporting is quite immersion breaking sadly. This is displayed very well in the second part of the game as constantly having to teleport wasn't a great way to move around the narrow corridors. I also found using items to be a bit fiddly with items jerking around when I tried to use them, though this could have been an issue with my camera rather than the game. It ends with an exorcism that to be truthful was a bit boring, I couldn't quite work out how to speed it up, or if it was even possible to speed it up. There were a couple of jump scares but only one of these actually made me shout in genuine fear. The problem with the series so far is that jump scares are the only method really used to try and get a fear reaction. There is no creeping terror like in the excellent Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul.

I ended Idle Hands a bit deflated, it wasn't what I thought I had signed up for when I brought the series. It's fine enough, it just lacks any real scares, the graphics aren't stunning, is pretty short and has a host of wasted opportunities. I'm not convinced these bite sized chapters are an effective way of creating any kind of lasting fear. Check out my complete playthrough of it below.

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The Exorcist: Legion VR - Chapter 1 'Last Rites' (2018) - Horror Video Game Review (PSVR)

The same guy who recommended I check out The Blobby Witch Project also said I needed to check out The Exorcist: Legion VR as soon as it came out on PSVR. Well I love virtual reality, and I love horror even more and so this was a good fit, especially as the demonic possession sub genre of horror is one of my favourites. The Exorcist: Legion VR is split up into five chapters, each one has you as a detective investigating a different case. I shall be writing a review per chapter, mainly as the first chapter was available as a stand alone purchase (I went ahead and brought the complete package). Currently only three of the five cases are there to play with the others coming later on, a trailer for the fourth case recently came out.

The police station is the hub area that you go to between cases, it is here you get the training room that tells you all about the controls, and also where you are able to go to the evidence room to look at objects from past cases, as well as your office where the chapters can be selected from. Chapter 1 has you going to a crime scene at a church. It soon becomes apparent that a priest has been murdered, items of note have already been marked for your perusal. The main goal in Last Rites seemed to be to collect the items that make up an exorcism kit. This includes salt, holy water, a burner, and of course a crucifix.

I like the graphics here, they give the environments a realistic look to them while use of darkness hides how limited the play area really is. I get the impression that each chapter is going to be quite brief. This one contained two different rooms and took me around half an hour to get through, that was including messing around with everything, if I had purely done the essential objectives I could have been through that in a third of the time. There is a checklist of things to do and on my go there was an objective I missed so there is some replay value there. I liked that there is plenty to read, with text that is meant to be readable. This was fine with printed stuff, but you get access to an exorcism guide that I struggled to make out any of the text in it which was a shame as it felt like I was missing out on story elements.

I had been told this was a scary game but going by this first chapter it wasn't really. There were a couple of moments that mildly scared me but I didn't feel any type of dread. To be fair I was playing on a lazy Sunday evening when the sun was still bright and out, I think for the rest I will make it a point to play at night time. Aside from being able to pick up items there isn't really a lot of interactivity to be found here, I finished the chapter unsure if it is even possible to die or if the horror is all just scripted. I would say if you are planning on getting this as stand alone then avoid unless it is on sale, it is not worth the asking price, even with the reduced price of getting it as a bundle it is not worth it. Regardless I will literally never get bored of holding a crucifix out in front of me and shouting "the power of Christ compels you!" and so for that fact I had a grand old time with this and can look past the short length.

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ARK Park (2018) - Video Game Review (PSVR)

I had a list when I first got my PSVR of exactly the type of things I wanted to experience. I wanted to be scared, to go into space, and to fly like a bird. I have done all those things, but when I heard about ARK Park I realised I should have added walking with dinosaurs to that list. ARK Park is a spin off of ARK: Survival Evolved which as far as I can tell is a survival game that has is full of dinosaurs. Now this is game is playable in multiplayer too, however I don't know anyone who has that so this review is based on my time with single player only.

In this game you play as a visitor to a Jurassic Park style theme park island that is full of dinosaurs. After riding the monorail you go to the visitor centre, then onto the park proper where you can visit a series of different areas in order to gather resources, as well as help defend a robot that is repairing special machines that keep the various dinosaurs docile.

This is a game that starts to show more and more cracks the deeper you get into it, in fact the first hour of this is the best as there is a lot of excitement and wonder. However with each passing hour you begin to realise just how shallow this experience ultimately is, and it soon sets within you a kind of desperation to find more stuff to do. It starts off fantastically with a wonderful tutorial that has a flying robot guide you through the basics of the game. You are introduced to the controls, and then take a really fun train ride over to the visitor centre. The centre lets you play around with some static dinosaurs, feeding them, looking at them, and activating the different animations they have. It was a lot of fun getting to see all these creatures up close, with some such as the T-Rex being quite imposing due to their size in relation to you. The tutorial takes you through the basics of gathering resources before taking you to one of the shooting missions.

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for February 2018

Another news round-up, this time for everything received since last months one. First up horror legend Dee Wallace (Critters, Red Christmas) has joined the cast of DEAD Afterlife. The cast for this already included Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Part 2), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th series), and Bill Oberst Jr (Coyote, DIS). It sounded exciting already just reading this list of iconic names. The film itself has been described as 'Night of the Living Dead meets Heaven Can Wait', and has an interesting story. Donald has been murdered and has became a ghost. At his funeral he is shocked to see his corpse come to life and start eating his friends and family. Now he has limited time to stop his zombie body or his soul won't be able to get to Heaven.

A new poster has been released for The Owlman: Chapter 2 (also known as The Black Gloves) which obviously now implicitly states this is a continuation of the Owlman saga (after Lord of Tears). The film that is a prequel set in the 1940's is due for a Spring 2018 release and can be preordered here.

Eric Red (Body Parts, Bad Moon) has teamed up with the Horror Equity Fund for his new horror movie - White Knuckle. This film tells a story about a woman who survives a serial killer attack and decides to stop him from ever hurting anyone else.

A teaser trailer for upcoming horror Five Wild Animals has been released. Written and directed by Blair Hoyle (Happy Endings Are A Rarity) this is about a group of friends who travel to a small mountain town for a Halloween party, but instead find themselves the victims of an ancient ritual.



The guest judges for the 2018 Fractured Visions Film Festival are now known. These include Chris Crow, Dominic Brunt (Before Dawn), Giles Edwards, Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Emma Dark (Seize the Night), Diego Lopez, Richard Elliott, James Blower, Richard Geddes and Jay Kay.

Flesh of the Void is due to release on DVD - here (and a very limited VHS run - here). Pre sales started February 10th with normal sales from March 9th. The film is described as a 'grotesque and depraved depiction of what the act of dying could feel like. This was shot on Super 8 and 16mm and has caused some controversy. Apparently director James Quinn has been accused of devil worship among other things, and Sodom & Chimera Productions official website apparently got hacked four times by a radical Christian group in protest of this movie!

There is an Indie-GoGo campaign running at the moment to raise funds to make Scottish post-apocalyptic thriller Ribbons. This is to star Shauna Macdonald (The Descent, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and tells the story of 5 houseguests locked in a basement during the onset of nuclear apocalypse. This is to be made on a micro budget with the filming to take place over just 4 days. They are looking to raise £5,000, currently £1,951 has been raised with 6 days left. if you want to contribute then head to their page here.



Video game news now with Snail Games announcing that VR multiplayer game ARK Park (based on survival game ARK: Survival Evolved) is going to be released on March 22nd. This sounds similar in idea to Jurassic Park and has you exploring a functioning dinosaur theme park. As well as exploration mode there is also a story mode in which you must defend your base from rampaging dinosaurs. This is due for release on Steam VR/HTC Vive, PSVR, and Oculus Rift, check out the trailer below.



Finally onto music news. Ludovico Technique have a new video for their single 'Absence', this was released on my birthday (13th February). That's all the news for this month, all light on details but I do what I can.

Bloody Zombies (2017) - Zombie Horror Videogame Review (PSVR)

Before I can get on with my review of Bloody Zombies it is essential I mention a few things which have certainly coloured my enjoyment with the game, and which have influenced the path of what I am about to say. Firstly I didn't complete the game, I reached the final level but it was just too damn hard to beat. This goes onto my second knowledge bomb; I only played this game in single player, as with every single scrolling beat-em up ever made the fun increases the more players you have. I did try and play online with other people but the servers for Bloody Zombies are pretty dead. My final footnote is that I played this in VR, going the other way I feel this would be a lot more bland outside of the virtual world.

Zombie apocalypse has come to the U.K but it has been contained within the boundaries of London thanks to the K.R.O.N.O.S Corporation who have built huge walls around the capital. A year since the outbreak occurred four survivors; Teller, Mick 'The Brick', Rei, and Eddie happen upon each other just as a K.R.O.N.O.S copter crashes in the street. They are informed by a transceiver they find in the wreckage that they need to use a homing beacon to locate the key cards of 4 key members of the company in order to get into the H.Q where the cure for undead apocalypse awaits.

Bloody Zombies is a classic style 2D scrolling beat-em up that has up to four players fighting through the over run streets of London. The graphics are cartoon like and reminded me quite a bit of the hand drawn style of The Dishwasher series of games. Each level takes place in a different location as is the way, these include a graveyard, a train, London bridge, the Natural History Museum, a night club and more. It was cool to have a game entirely set in London and made for some detailed environments. There is variation in the levels in that your not just fighting your way to the end, but occasionally have little missions to do. In the night club for example you have to destroy the speakers to stop zombies being attracted by the noise. At other points you have to survive against waves of enemies as you try to use switches and raise bridges.

Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul (2017) - Horror Video Game Review (PSVR)

If you had asked me before yesterday the last time I had taken some decent time to play PSVR I wouldn't have been able to tell you. It was my favourite purchase of 2016 and I had some great times with it at the start of 2017 with Resident Evil VII: Biohazard but I had come to think of it as being pretty poor. In my head it was a let down. However I decided to give Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul a go as I had brought it when it first came out a few months back, but only tried it for around 10 minutes. I'm really glad I did give this another whirl as it reminded me how damn good PSVR actually is with an immersive and genuinely terrifying experience.

In the game you play as an unnamed person arriving at night at what appears to be a typical American house. Finding the key you let yourself in but it isn't long before you discover something isn't right at all, a demonic force is prowling the place and hunting both you, and a mysterious girl you find. Armed with a spell book you discover you must explore the house, finding the required items that will hopefully expel the dark evil...

So this falls into the 'walking simulator' of game types in that your avatar is totally helpless in terms of being able to defend themselves. You explore the large house with events happening that lead to new areas opening up. Along the way you find keys, letters, and key items, as well as cassette tapes that both shed more light on what has occurred and help you try and achieve your goal. While a lot of the environment can be interacted with, such as opening drawers and doors a lot also can't be interacted with, more often than not you will find your disembodied hands vanishing into the furniture. I got around this immersion altering fact by saying in my head that was just part of the spooky goings on. Less so is that while some doors can be interacted with (either making a locked noise or actually being able to be opened) there are some that just appear to be set dressing with no interaction at all. The controls are awkward in that you use the ever not perfect move controllers, thankfully there isn't the hateful teleporting to move around, instead you use the face buttons to move forward and backward, while you can turn incrementally to the sides. I really wish there had been the option to move around without the weird incremental turn thing.