The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2017 has given us loads of new virtual reality (VR) games to sink our teeth into, and the PlayStation press conference offered some of the most exciting titles. One of the games we want to play most is the prequel to Until Dawn, The Inpatient.
The Inpatient takes place 60 years prior to the events of Until Dawn in The Blackwood Pines Sanatorium – we spotted these details in the first trailer.
Now The Inpatient’s Game Director, Nick Bowen, has written a post for the PlayStation Blog sharing new details on the VR psychological horror experience.
Playing as a patient with amnesia, you are approached by the Sanatorium’s owner, Jefferson Bragg – seen in the trailer – as he questions you. You play out the videogame slowly discovering who you are, and why you’ve been held in the Sanatorium.
The game will heavily involve the player interacting with the other characters in the Sanatorium – both patients and staff – discovering their own story arcs, personalities and motivations.
As with most VR games, immersion has been at the forefront of the developers’ minds, with Bowen saying; “We’ve designed everything so that it really feels like you are in the game. If you look down you’ll see your body, hands and feet. You can also speak out loud to engage with the characters.”
The team are doubling down on the power of VR to enhance psychological horror; “With The Inpatient, we used psychological horror themes to infiltrate the player’s subconscious and draw them further into the story. Our team spent a lot of time working to create a sense of isolation and fear, making extensive use of immersive 3D binaural audio to complement the amazing visuals and further transport them into their unfamiliar new home.”
The game was written with closer cooperation with Until Dawn scriptwriters, Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick. This is to create an authentic Until Dawn experience that enhances and expands the lore of the universe whilst remaining coherent and believable.
The Inpatient is releasing on PlayStation VR – for more on Supermassive Games’ VR projects and everything else from E3 2017, stay on VRFocus.