Review: Here They Lie (PS4).
By firing up Here They Lie (PS4), I hoped that this horror walking simulator would turn out to be quite an interesting and atmospheric game. Well, the climate is – depressing. But not because of the story, but what the game looks like and how it affected me.
I must admit that walking simulators are not my favorite genre, regardless of whether we just walk and solve puzzles or the game wants to scare us in a more or less inept way. Here They Lie looks like someone has compiled a list of all the things that shouldn’t be done in walking games, horror and VR titles, deciding to make their own game against everyone else.
Here They Lie is a production that beat me – and in a negative sense. I lasted several dozen minutes on the first attempt, then I was close to returning the dinner. Maybe it’s just a one-time action, I figured. I will wait, rest and try to continue playing. Unfortunately, the second attempt was over after a dozen or so minutes and after that I definitely decided that I would not physically bother with this title. Interestingly – I was possibly prepared for this turn of events, because I saw a lot of opinions that if a game makes someone nauseous, then in an extreme way. This extreme appeared for me.
There are several reasons. The title is incredibly ugly. Low resolution results in a terribly blurred image and we are constantly scared by jagged edges of objects, which in virtual reality is something shameful in virtual reality and it leads to malaise for the player. But I would still be able to digest it, if not for a completely bland design. The whole thing is totally bland and bland for most of the locations (or at least the ones I’ve been to, which is roughly half of the game). Faded colors – most often gray and all its shades – were to create an atmosphere of horror and depression, and the only thing that was achieved was discouraging further exposure to this title.
Unfortunately, the control adds its three cents. The developer gave us two ways – either we walk with the left knob and rotate the right knob, or we play the “car driver” and if we want to turn somewhere, we have to turn our head in that direction. When rotating the camera with the right analog, forget about smooth rotation – the camera changes the position of the displayed field by 45 degrees each time, which is simply inconvenient. In addition, the detection of collisions in the game is tragic and we are able to block, for example, on stairs, if we want to get down from them at the wrong angle.
The game was supposed to be atmospheric and tell an interesting story. In the time I endured with the game, I didn’t feel it completely. Oh, we show up in a strange place where people wear animal masks, and their behavior is (to put it mildly) eccentric, showing a love of violence or sexual deviation (raping a TV by one NPC is … strange). From the scraps of plot in my head I figured out what could be more or less, but … I don’t know if I’m right. I would have to have no labyrinth to finish this title. But even if I did, I probably wouldn’t want to. Everything that is worst in walking simulators accumulates here – the terrible AI of the character and the demon chaser (we can run around him and shine a flashlight on his head, because he will notice us only when you look at us), sluggish pace and practically no interaction with the world (we can open the door marked by the game, pick up cards with text or batteries for a flashlight in selected boxes). In less than an hour (the whole thing supposedly ends in two), so much happens that most people would like to take off the VR and go to sleep.
