Escape Room VR: Inner Voices
Genres: Story Rich, Adventure
Play modes: singleplayer, VRONLY
Release Date: 10-7-2020
Developer: PunkPirates, Don't Bite Devs
Our verdict
5.5/10
- Difficulty: Medium
- Players: 1
- Playtime: 3–8 h
Escape Room VR: Inner Voices is a VR-only horror escape game from PunkPirates and Don't Bite Devs. You guide John Blake, a tormented man, through a randomised maze of rooms while voices in his head pull the story in different directions, with choices leading to one of five endings. It is pitched at VR owners who like Lovecraft- and Stephen King-style dread more than pure puzzle solving.
Reception is split across only seven reviews, three positive and four negative. Players who finished it, after three to nine hours, praise the thick atmosphere, the voice work and music, and the floating visions that sell the setting; one reviewer says the shifting labyrinth makes sense once you grasp how it works.
The negative reviews are blunt and arrive within minutes of starting. They describe janky controls, broken hand interaction with Valve Index controllers, snap turning that stops you in place, crashes, and puzzles that are hard only because the physics fight you. One notes no updates for years. Only consider this deep on sale if you value horror mood above polish and can test it within Steam's refund window; most VR puzzle fans should look elsewhere.
Pros
- Randomised room maze and five endings tied to your choices
- Strong horror atmosphere with good music and voice work
Cons
- Several reports of broken controls, especially on Valve Index
- Snap turning halts movement; some crashes reported
- Puzzles made harder by clumsy physics; long without updates
About
Tune yourself to the voices lurking in the head of John Blake - the tormented man dwelling in a trap that only you can guide him out of. You will never know whether what you see is real - and you can be sure that even after you’ve escaped the trap, not all had been discovered. You will continuously be searching for a way to escape the randomized maze of rooms, new voices will haunt you, and you will be the one deciding who dies.
Meet John and his past in possibly the only adventure game with a non-linear plot procedurally generated user path, and (more than) a pinch of the atmosphere of your favorite horrors.
