Here They Lie

Horror games are a big favorite among VR developers. The technology was practically made for titles where sudden jumpscares, creepy atmospheres and ghoulish enemies abound. You can pretty much expect the latter two in Here They Lie, a psychological horror immersive experience which will have your chest pounding. With heavy inspirations taken by guided story games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and horrifyingly atmospheric games like Silent Hill, Here They Lie takes VR horror in a unique direction.

Try to keep your pants dry as we explore what makes Here They Lie so special.

A Creepy Dream World

The Silent Hill inspirations make themselves quite obvious from the very beginning. The game begins where you and a woman named Dana are saying your goodbyes before she boards a train.

From there on, you’re set on a path through an eerily monochromatic town as you piece together clues as to who you and Dana are, what is your relationship and what the whole hubbub of the story is about. From small notes scattered about to phone messages, uncovering the mystery will be dished out in a variety of ways and it’s your job to make sense of it all. What’s immediately striking about the game is the copious use of symbolism and explicit imagery (definitely not for under 18).

Some Stealth, Some Decisions

Make no mistake, Here They Lie is a creepy, obtuse walking sim where the primary gameplay lies in finding the notes and symbols to piece together the story. Compared to other walking sims, like Layers of Fear, this title offers a little more than just walking and collecting. There are moments where some hard moral decisions need to be made which will affect the ending of the game. You’ll encounter some moments of faux stealth where you have to avoid some enemies. Don’t expect Metal Gear Solid in VR here, though, as the mechanic is scarcely used and is extremely basic in nature.

Subliminal Immersion

As a VR horror experience, Here They Lie is interesting. Where a lot of games try to leverage scary things and throw them at your face to make the immersive effect that much scarier, this game chooses to play with your mind by pushing a strange and evocative story within the context of a creepy dream world.

While the writing isn’t anything to...write home about, it’s the sheer effect the VR world has that makes the experience worth playing through. Virtual Reality isn’t often experimented as a storytelling vehicle so Here They Lie is definitely unique in that regard.

The Bottom Line

If you ever wanted to experience a Silent Hill version of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture then Here They Lie is your chance to give it a go.

Pros

• Eerily atmospheric and unnerving immersive experience.
• Intriguing use of monochromatic tones with scarce splashes of color.

Cons

• Graphics are quite janky and outdated but in some ways make the experience that much more creepy.
• The writing is a bit heavy-handed and simplistic at times.
• It’s considered one of the most motion sickness-inducing experiences on the PSVR.