Dead Secret is an immersive horror app available on most virtual reality platforms. There are plenty of horror games emerging on various VR platforms, but this might just be the best of them all.
Who makes Dead Secret?
Dead Secret is the creation of Robot Invader, a Californian based games company. This is their first trip into the immersive world of virtual reality. In 2014 the Robot Invader team surveyed the gaming landscape and decided they needed to innovate and stay relevant. With a prototype of Dead Secret already completed in 2013, they made the bold decision to break the game down and build it back up again to accommodate virtual reality.
What is the plot?
You play the part of a young, female journalist who visits a farm believing that the recent death of the sole inhabitant was more suspicious than the initial diagnosis of hypothermia. The plucky journalist must roam around the house seeking clues and piecing together the true story.
What we look for in VR games
Immersion
Dead Secret absolutely nails this. Slipping in the role of the female journalist was a little unusual of course, but the game intelligently opens with you looking in a mirror. This tricks the mind and from that point on you are in a different world.
Graphics
While playing on smartphones is convenient, it does generally mean we have to settle a little bit when it comes to graphics. Dead Secret was testing using the Samsung Gear VR, which does give that little more umph to the experience. Owing to this, the graphics of Dead Secret are lush. Some areas might be a little blocky, but overall the graphics are great.There are several other elements of the graphics which are also noteworthy.
Reading text on screen while using a virtual reality headset can often be difficult, but not here. Text is large enough to see while remaining nice and crisp. Also the flat layout of descriptive text on items you interact with is easy to read too.
Audio
Robot Invader know that the audio of an immersive horror is perhaps the most influential part in the gamer experience. The music is likely yo have you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the game.
Gameplay
When testing the game, we were using a small controller but the Gear VR version of the game will work with the on-headset touch-pad. Largely, the gameplay is impressive. Throughout VR games, the most important thing is often to ensure a chunky control system doesn’t hinder the gamer.
Dead Secret requires quite a bit of input through the pad, but it is straight forward. Typically, your arm does get tired from your hand hovering over your temple. Fortunately, you will likely be taking regular breaks from the game to the fear that it induces. With many horror games depending on jump scares to get their point across, Robot Invader clearly wanted to chill you to the bone with a completely immersive and terrifying experience. We don’t want to spoil anything, so that’s all the detail you’re getting.
Value
At €9.99, Dead Secret does tip the scale to the pricier of games. Yet, it is perhaps the best value game in the marketplace. The game will pass plenty of hearth-stopping hours as you try to uncover the truth behind the mystery.
Dead Secret is available now in the Oculus Gear VR store and will soon be available for PlayStation VR and the Oculus Rift.
