Narcosis

Narcosis isn't much of a game, but it is an amazing, immersive horror that everyone should experience.

With a running time of around four hours, Narcosis doesn’t offer the most bang for your buck, but it does offer a unique experience that grabs you and doesn’t let go until the very end. Instead of relying on jump scares, it masterfully blends strong audio-visual design with a credible narrative that work together to create a thick and suitably oppressive atmosphere. Whilst the gameplay, though basic, is involving enough to keep you engaged and see things through despite a couple of minor slip-ups. As horror games go, Narcosis is a triumph, managing to get under your skin and stay there long af...

You’re stuck on the ocean floor, your facility destroyed and oxygen dwindling. Dead and dying teammates litter the environment. Each step closer to the surface seems to only bring demise and frustration. Welcome to Narcosis.

Narcosis is a horror film firmly rooted in reality that, in its best moments, can evoke a paranoid fear of what lurks in the depths. Unfortunately, poor adaptation to VR technology is more common here.

Although it dabbles in the surreal elements of horror, Narcosis emphasizes people over plot points. By the end, I felt more like I’d finished a longform profile article or listened to a This American Life segment on deep-sea divers than accomplished something or had a grand adventure. But while that story is intriguing and its character study successful, the moments between beats are so boring that those nuggets of characterization are the only thing driving your trek across the ocean floor.