Here They Lie

Although it sits squarely in the realm of horror, Here They Lie borrows more from narrative-driven games like Firewatch or Gone Home than Resident Evil or Silent Hill. The most intricate puzzle it employs is figuring out where to go (which is usually obvious). But it benefits from that minimalist approach, since the best parts of the game come not from what you’re doing, but from exploring a world that’s equal parts intriguing, repulsive, surreal, and grim.

I’ll be honest; by the time Here They Lie’s credits rolled, I still didn’t really have a firm grasp of what it was all about. Maybe it was trying to say that the human race as a whole is a bunch of animals, or perhaps it was just about a man’s redemption from his past transgressions. Hell, it could possibly even be both. All I know is that it kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. It’s by no means perfect – its tendency to make you feel sick, the regularly underwhelming visuals and what many will perceive as overly simple gameplay puts a stop to any such notion – but it is a comp...

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Daring and provocative, but also poorly written and technically inept. PlayStation VR will no doubt get much better horror games in the future, but this is still a notable first step.

Fall into the depths of a forgotten city as you navigate the horrors of an animalistic society in Here They Lie. Your one goal is to escape, but the real evil that dwells is found in the madness of the mind. Does this result in a fascinating psychological thriller? Or a pretentious mess? Let's find out.

Though it has a few unsettling, adrenaline-pumping moments, Here They Lie fails to deliver believable psychological horror. It definitely tries — it’s filled with the requisite creepy, gargling monster sounds and reality-bending that can contribute tension to scares — but it doesn’t blend its horror elements well enough to be consistently terrifying. Relying so heavily on overwrought surrealism and a few haunted house-style jumps to create tension rather than fostering any true discomfort (besides nausea) leaves it feeling flat.

After a promising start, Here They Lie tries too hard to tell its story and ends up turning into a nightmare to play.

Here They Lie has some scary moments, and some totally bizarre ones, that will stick with me for a while. Sadly, I'm more likely to remember the game making no sense, ultimately being rather boring, ugly, unintentionally funny, and requiring VR without actually making use of the system.

It’s a shame we weren’t able to review the game prior to launch, because  Here They Lie is by far the best game I have played on the system. It’s definitely not for everyone and the weirdness may put a lot of people off, but I loved every moment and couldn’t wait to see what the game was going to throw at me next. Screaming creatures, cities on fire, underground stations that warp and shudder like an intestine, and a humanoid pig giving an antelope a high-five as they tag team a CRT television. What’s not to love?

I love a good horror game, indeed horror games and I go back a long way. Virtual reality has one of the greatest potentials in horror games in my opinion, and my first taste of this potential came in the form of Here They Lie.