Grab your crucifix and face demonic entities in The Exorcist: Legion.
Fear is a complex feeling the brain triggers when in danger. In our sedentary and mundane lifestyles, we crave to recreate that moment when we most feel alive, even when the threat is virtual, and nothing can hurt us. Hailed as the scariest movie of all time by many, The Exorcist is a film that sparked hordes of fans of the horror genre and converted many more with its horrific depiction of demonic possession and the helpless action of a Catholic priest in the face of such an incomprehensible foe.
Developed by VRMonkey and Wolf & Wood and published by FunTrain, The Exorcist: Legion is the perfect VR haunted house experience in 5 distinct flavors. Each chapter offers a unique horror adventure that will get on your nerves one way or another. A church, tight corridors, a mental ward, and catacombs have all their appeal as you frantically move forward trying to solve the case of the poor possessed souls by an unexplained entity.
Deftly paying homage to the source material, fellow fans of the film that defined the horror genre will have plenty to relish here. The title uses the classic shocking soundtrack first witnessed in the original movie, giving that distinctly eerie feeling that only these sounds can evoke. Disgusting bugs like cockroaches and flies, flickering lights, and a corroded sensation of each building you visit instantly let you know that something is wrong here.
As a Police Detective from the Homicide department inadvertently turned into a priest, your focus is to solve a series of cult-like murders that seem inexplicable at best. Bearing the name of the legendary horror franchise, it is not difficult to guess where the narrative will go. Surprisingly, while some critics of this type of horror entertainment will deem this game as celebrating the occult, in reality, it is a test of the light winning against unseen forces.
Each chapter has a patient report before initiating it which details the person, and sometimes corpse, involved in the chapter. You can see the type of damage left in their bodies from lacerations and bruisings to scars and burns. There is too a checklist of things to fully 100% the episode, such as not using the wrong exorcism tools on the patient. Overall none of the requests are too difficult to achieve, as the main element of surprise is while playing the chapter for the first time.
The crucifix will be your trustworthy ally throughout The Exorcist: Legion due to the fact that at crucial moments in certain chapters, you will have to point it towards your enemies and hope for the best while they vanish from your holy power. This helps in making you feel at least somewhat braver, as although there is no shotgun with bullets blessed by a priest or any sort of out-of-this-world action movie, there is just a never-faltering crucifix, that does not even need ammo to banish demons and be compelled by the power of Christ.
Tinges of classic horror games like P.T. and Outlast rear their heads to make you gasp at each creak of the house, every ethereal whisper you hear, and every blackout when you are close to getting to the truth. As a reward, all of the haunted items you find in each chapter are available in the evidence room in the precinct for further inspection.
Puzzles, albeit short, make an appearance on most levels as secrets. As intrinsic as they have been to the genre ever since Resident Evil dictated so, in The Exorcist: Legion each brief puzzle that you solve comes in handy for future demonic encounters. A more powerful version of your holy water, or a bronze metal created to upgrade your holy cross can be found in your purifying journey, if you make the time to solve the straightforward puzzles in your way that is.
The Exorcist: Legion brilliantly moves away from recreating the story beats of the classic movie, and instead creates its own scares effectively. When you do not know what is lurking in the dark, that is when the fear creeps in. This game modules the jumpscares at just the right moments to keep you on edge throughout each chapter.
Earning the dub of “Deluxe Edition” on PSVR2, it is true that the graphics have never been better. From your veiny and shaky hands as you grab your crucifix, to the lighting and resolution of the environments, The Exorcist: Legion is truly a realistic achievement that tortures the psyche with ease. Both are due to their measured scares and impressive looks.
Just like the many staples in horror movies that were established by the original film, The Exorcist: Legion is subtle with its scares. It won’t put a demon right at your face, but with its subdued audio cues, it will make you feel like there is something lurking in the shadows. Its episodic format allows for each chapter to focus on different elements of its iconic horror franchise.
Primal fears deriving from Christianity, Motherhood, and more importantly, demonic possessions, are prevalent in each of the chapters of the stories. To be engulfed in complete darkness as you look back and forth to not be instantly surprised by the cries of babies, red lights or mannequins are some of the horrific jumpscares you will find amongst the ranks of each chapter.
As you finish each chapter, there are documents and recordings on your desk to analyze and listen to, all of them pertaining to the case at hand. As expected, the cryptic messaging of each note lends itself to uncomfortable doubt while the recordings and sounds are extremely unsettling on their own. Every little detail is perfectly designed to leave you in a state of disrepair. It is done so at such a trickle-down pace that as you reach the end of its two-hour journey it will leave you clamoring to be free from the horrors vividly shown on screen.
The liberty provided with having each chapter not be confined to only a house, or a city, is that they take advantage of this to the fullest. Exploring different places across the globe, which while contained, gives a sense of flexibility and uneasiness as each place is so estranged from the last. This also clearly feels like a completely new level to uncover what more sinister clues lurk about each time.
I would be lying to myself if I said The Exorcist: Legion was an accessible game for all ages. That is, of course, demonstrably untrue. But what I can say that is true about this game, is that each scare is well-earned. Never did I feel like they went for a cheap trope, but, just as the original IP this brilliant horror experience is based on, actually subverted your expectations into when the moment of terror was going to arrive. Not many games of its ilk can say that.
Releasing as the ultimate version of this game thanks to its updated graphics and use of Haptic Feedback & Adaptive Triggers, make The Exorcist: Legion one of the best horror experiences available among the PSVR2 games, be it if you are feeling lucky on Halloween, or in any other time of the year.
Detractors of horror entertainment condemn video games such as The Exorcist: Legion as celebrating the devil. It is understandable to fear the unknown, but when rendered with so much care as is the case here, it is worth considering giving in to curiosity and trying one of the scariest PSVR2 experiences to date. Maybe banishing demons was always your calling.
