Category: layers of fear vr

Posted on

The VR Game Launch Roundup: Scary, Educational, Sports in a far off Galaxy

VR Game Roundup

April will soon be coming to an end and what a month it’s been for virtual reality (VR) content. The Oculus Gaming Showcase had plenty of updates for current titles plus the likes of Maskmaker and Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife have launched. As VRFocus likes to do every Friday, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to in the days ahead.

Imercyve

Imercyve: Living with Intellectual Disability – Valley General

First up how about an educational VR app. Imercyve: Living with Intellectual Disability has been: “Developed in partnership with support services not-for-profit Mercy Connect, this experience explores the efficacy of an immersive approach to strengthening communication and understanding between advocates and people with a disability by simulating a variety of effects that may be familiar to those with diverse and high care needs.”

Star Wars Pinball VR – Zen Studios

The big IP for next week, Zen Studios return to VR fusing pinball with the iconic Star Wars franchise. Set within a customisable fan cave where you can unlock statues, posters, music and more by scoring big on the tables, there will be 8 pinball tables to master, each based on the films. There will also be two brand new tables such as The Mandalorian.

Layers of Fear VR

Layers of Fear VR – Bloober Team/Incuvo

Originally a standard PC title created by Bloober Team, developer Incuvo over saw the PC VR port in 2019. Now its PlayStation VR owners turn to step into this house of horrors. You play the role of a Victorian-era painter aiming to finish his Magnum Opus. However, as the dark narrative unfolds your character delves deeper into his own madness, experiencing visions that fill the mansion with macabre artwork as well as changing its layout.

  • Supported platforms: PlayStation VR
  • Launch date: 29th April

VR Skater – Deficit Games

An Early Access launch for PC VR headsets, VR Skater is a mix between arcade and simulation gameplay so you can pull a variety of tricks like Flips, Shuvits, Slides, and Grinds across one big map. There are practice and run modes to begin with, with thhe final version set to add a career mode and a least 6 more maps.

Disc Golf Valley VR

Disc Golf Valley VR – Latitude 64

Why bother with a small golf ball when you can utilise a frisbee instead! Another Early Access launch, Disc Golf Valley VR provides 14 courses to complete, unlocking new disc’s in Challenge mode as well as three practice modes to test those skills on.

Posted on

Layers of Fear VR Heads To PSVR Later This Month

Last month we spotted Layers of Fear VR listed on the PlayStation Store. Now the release is official, and it’s not far off.

Bloober’s horror game — ported to VR by Incuvo — lands on Sony’s headset on April 29th, priced $19.99. This is the same VR version of the game that debuted on PC headsets in later 2019 before following on on Oculus Quest in 2020. It’s a full port of the original 2016 game complete with support for VR motion controls.

Layers Of Fear PSVR Version Coming

In Layers of Fear, players take control of a troubled painter that struggles to finish what they hope is their masterpiece. Exploring the halls of an enormous Vicorian mansion, you’re submitted to psychological horrors as you try and piece your sanity back together. This will likely mark the game’s final stop on it tour of VR headsets. It actually first came to VR in a little-known port to Google Daydream called Layers of Fear: Solitude, but the less said about that the better.

We didn’t think the port was particularly great, though much of that was based on the original game itself. So if you enjoyed Layers of Fear the first time around, you might find this one worth your time.

Incuvo has since moved on to more VR ports – it also brought Bloober’s Blair Witch game to headsets and is currently working on a full translation of promising survival game, Green Hell. As for Bloober, we may see new versions of Blair Witch for other headsets, but the team hasn’t announced any other VR ports at this point in time.

Posted on

Horror Layers of Fear VR Heads to PlayStation VR in April

Layers of Fear VR

Bloober Team is well versed in virtual reality (VR) horror thanks to titles like Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition and Layers of Fear VR. The latter has made its way to most VR headsets apart from PlayStation VR, a situation the studio is going to change by the end of the month.

Layers of Fear VR

Originally a standard PC title that made the leap to VR in 2019, Layers of Fear VR is a psychological horror redesigned to offer players greater interactivity and immersion, through making use of the technology. In this story-driven experience, you play the role of a Victorian-era painter aiming to finish his Magnum Opus. However, as the dark narrative unfolds your character delves deeper into his own madness, experiencing visions that fill the mansion with macabre artwork as well as changing its layout.

Developer Incuvo has ensured PlayStation VR players can thoroughly connect with this frightening world, physically interacting with puzzles and other gameplay elements. These will twist and turn as the maddening tale unfolds, set in a world inspired by 19th-century masterpiece paintings.

The 2019 VR release was fairly well received by players thanks to its mixture or set piece hallucinations and tell-tale jump scares to get the heart racing. The studio thankfully removed one item from the original flat version which was the white cursor dot. It’s a feature which can break seriously immersion in VR so its removal is a welcome one.

Layers of Fear VR

Layers of Fear VR is scheduled to launch for PlayStation VR on 29th April 2021, retailing for $19.99 USD. PlayStation VR owners have got plenty of titles to look forward to this month with the likes of Star Wars Pinball VR, Maskmaker, Altdeus: Beyond Chronos and Alvo arriving. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.

Posted on

Layers Of Fear Listed As ‘Coming Soon’ On PlayStation Store For PSVR

A store listing on PlayStation 5 consoles indicates the Layers of Fear is coming soon to PSVR.

The listing, pictured below in a screenshot captured by UploadVR, can only been seen on the PlayStation Store when using a PS5 console and doesn’t seem to appear elsewhere, including on the desktop version of the store available online.

layers of fear psvr listing

The game is tagged as ‘Just Announced’ when listed in a search results, implying that maybe the store page was sent online early ahead of an official announcement.

There’s no release date, only ‘coming soon’ and the page says that PS Move and PSVR Aim controllers are required to play, along with a PSVR system. On other platforms, there’s no shooting mechanic in Layers of Fear, so it’s likely this is just an error and a PS Aim controller won’t be needed. Along with the placeholder title graphic, it’s likely that the page is still incomplete.

Originally a PC and console title, Layers of Fear received a PC VR port in late 2019, before coming to the Oculus Quest midway through last year. We weren’t the biggest fans of Layers of Fear in our PC VR review, however a PSVR port is still nonetheless good news for those who might have been waiting for it to come to the platform.

We talked to the developers of Layers of Fear, Bloober Team, last year about the challenges of bringing the game to Oculus Quest. When we asked about plans to bring some of their other titles, such as Layers of Fear 2, to VR platforms, they wouldn’t say yes or no and said “who knows what the future will bring.”

Keep an eye out for more details on Layers of Fear for PSVR in the near future.

Posted on

Hold Your Nerve With These Scary VR Horror Titles

Lies Beneath

Halloween is almost upon us and while the events of 2020 may hamper traditional activities such as Trick or Treating, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy the season. You could carve some pumpkins, dress up in some ghoulish face paint or if you’re really really brave play some of the virtual reality (VR) videogames listed below.

Affected: The Manor

AFFECTED: The Manor

This scary title has been doing the rounds for several years now, available on most platforms with recent updates adding a speedrun mode called The Gauntlet whilst The Darkness update upped the intensity by adding just a single candle for illumination. AFFECTED: The Manor isn’t so much a game rather a haunted house experience with multiple routes and endings if you can handle returning.

Five Nights at Freddys VR

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted

The long-running franchise came to VR in 2019 and was all the better for it. Full of bite-sized mini-games that will get your heart racing, the scenes from the previous editions have been updated for VR whilst new ones were added. If you like jump scares (or don’t) it doesn’t get much more intense than this.

In Death: Unchained

In Death/In Death: Unchained

Whether it’s In Death for PC VR and PlayStation VR or In Death: Unchained for Oculus Quest, what you get is a frantic fight against hordes of demons, with only a bow for company. Procedural levels mean that each run is never quite the same and death sees you placed back at the start.

Lies Beneath

Lies Beneath

A good horror game needs to be super creepy, usually with a nice mix of impending doom and some horrible looking monsters. If that’s what you’re looking for then Drifter Entertainment’s Lies Beneath should suffice. With some striking artwork and a comic book style delivery, this should easily keep you on edge.

Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear VR

Set in a hauntingly twisted mansion, Layers of Fear VR is a remake of the pancake original, adding immersive controls for a more intense experience. You play as a painter trying to finish his Magnum Opus yet as you wander his Victorian mansion his mind begins to unravel.

Propagation VR

Propagation VR

Time for one of the newest horror titles on this list, Propagation VR is the work of French team WanadevStudio. Normally creating videogames for VR arcades this is a wave shooter set in a dilapidated subway station after a virus has broken out. With no locomotion the action comes from all sides, creeping out of the darkness for some frightening moments. And the best bit is Propagation VR is completely free!

Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia

The current indie hit on Steam which only arrived into Early Access during September, Phasmophobia is a 4 player online co-op psychological horror. Whether you’re in VR or on PC, you and your team are paranormal investigators searching haunted locations for evidence of ghostly activity.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

For those after an awesome zombie survival experience in VR then look no further than Skydance Interactive’s The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. From the safety of your base where you can craft weapons and useful tools you need to head into the streets of New Orleans, searching houses for resources and finding other survivors to uncover their stories. And of course, removing a few walkers along the way.

The Room VR: A Dark Matter

The Room VR: A Dark Matter

Maybe not everyone’s definition of a horror experience, those that love a good atmospheric puzzle title should take a look at The Room VR: A Dark Matter. Expanding upon the popular mobile series you’re sent back to London circa 1908 to the British Institute of Archaeology where an esteemed Egyptologist has disappeared and a spine-tingling world awaits.

The Exorcist Legion VR screenshot 3

The Exorcist: Legion VR

Pretty much a staple of most VR horror lists, The Exorcist: Legion VR was released back in 2018 by British studio Wolf and Wood. An episodic story spilt across five chapters, you play the role of a detective investigating grisly murders. Needless to say, these all have a paranormal twist.

Blair Witch Oculus Quest

Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition

This final is a little extra because it’s not quite out yet. Another standard game port into VR, Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition has been redesigned for the headset with lots more interactive features. This probably makes it more terrifying to play as you wander into those haunted woods. It’s set to arrive just in time for Halloween on 29th October 2020.

Posted on

Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition Is A Redesigned Version Of The Horror Game Built For VR

Blair Witch is back! Bloober Team, the developers of Layers of Fear VR, are back in the immersive realm with a redesigned version of their Blair Witch game built specifically for VR. Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition releases on October 29th for $29.99 and will come to other headsets in the coming months afterward.

Blair Witch originally released about a year ago as a non-VR horror game from Bloober Team and is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. In the game you play as Ellis, a former police officer that joins the search party for a young boy that went missing in the Black Hills Forest. It’s an original story set within the same universe as the films filled with psychological horror and a very good boy dog companion.

And yes, you can pet the dog!

blair witch vr petting the dog

Blair Witch VR

The VR adaptation is being described as a “brand-new version of the Blair Witch story built specifically for the VR experience” with a “rebuilt” story and “redesigned environments.” From the sounds of it this is more than just a straight port. There will be new creature encounters, sounds, and in-game events with all-new interactions like catching, throwing, and stacking objects, a marker and paper for notes, breakable tree branches, and the ability to open drawers, doors, gates, and more.

On paper this sounds like a much more robust adaptation than Layer of Fear VR, which as more or less a straight port as far as we could tell. We actually asked them about whether or not this game would get the VR treatment, but they obviously didn’t confirm that back then. Blair Witch VR is coming first to Oculus Quest on October 29th for $29.99, but will also hit “additional VR platforms in the coming months” so it’s only a timed exclusive.

blair witch oculus quest screenshot blair witch oculus quest screenshot blair witch oculus quest screenshot blair witch oculus quest screenshot

Let us know what you think of the news down in the comments below and check out our list of the scariest VR horror games for more spooky times.

Posted on

Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition Is A Redesigned Version Of The Horror Game Built For VR

Blair Witch is back! Bloober Team, the developers of Layers of Fear VR, are back in the immersive realm with a redesigned version of their Blair Witch game built specifically for VR. Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition releases on October 29th for $29.99 and will come to other headsets in the coming months afterward.

Blair Witch originally released about a year ago as a non-VR horror game from Bloober Team and is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. In the game you play as Ellis, a former police officer that joins the search party for a young boy that went missing in the Black Hills Forest. It’s an original story set within the same universe as the films filled with psychological horror and a very good boy dog companion.

And yes, you can pet the dog!

blair witch vr petting the dog

Blair Witch VR

The VR adaptation is being described as a “brand-new version of the Blair Witch story built specifically for the VR experience” with a “rebuilt” story and “redesigned environments.” From the sounds of it this is more than just a straight port. There will be new creature encounters, sounds, and in-game events with all-new interactions like catching, throwing, and stacking objects, a marker and paper for notes, breakable tree branches, and the ability to open drawers, doors, gates, and more.

On paper this sounds like a much more robust adaptation than Layer of Fear VR, which as more or less a straight port as far as we could tell. We actually asked them about whether or not this game would get the VR treatment, but they obviously didn’t confirm that back then. Blair Witch VR is coming first to Oculus Quest on October 29th for $29.99, but will also hit “additional VR platforms in the coming months” so it’s only a timed exclusive.

blair witch oculus quest screenshot blair witch oculus quest screenshot blair witch oculus quest screenshot blair witch oculus quest screenshot

Let us know what you think of the news down in the comments below and check out our list of the scariest VR horror games for more spooky times.

Posted on

Layers Of Fear VR: Porting A Horror Classic To Oculus Quest

Following the release of Layers of Fear VR on Oculus Quest we caught up with Bloober Team to talk about their work in VR horror and what the future holds.

Layers of Fear VR Developer, Bloober Team, Q&A:

UploadVR: When did work on the Quest version of the game start?

Szymon Erdmański, Game Producer at Bloober Team: We started toying with the idea of bringing Layers of Fear to the Quest sometime in the fall of 2019. We wanted to experiment with this new medium, as we feel that there is certainly a lot of promise in VR. So we locked ourselves up, deep-dived into the hardware, and we started to work.

As you might be aware, we released Layers of Fear on the Oculus Rift first. That helped us get a feel for VR and it taught us a lot about the medium too. With the Quest version, we needed to spend a bit of time on optimization, so that we could get the most from the hardware and the experience itself. So overall, it’s been nearly a year that we spent from first dipping our toes into the platform to having Layers of Fear debut on the Quest.  

UploadVR: How challenging has it been to port the game to Quest? Having played both Quest and PC versions personally, I’ve seen some big, but understandable, changes.

Erdmański: The Oculus Quest is an awesome device to work with – and an even better one to play on. What makes it great is its cables-free experience – not its power. To bring the game to the Quest, we needed to do a lot of optimization. Pretty much, every level needed to go through optimization. 

Another challenge that we needed to face was to still have the lack of loading screens between levels on the Quest. The original game was structured so that there are no loading screens interrupting gameplay – just one free-flowing, continuous gameplay experience. When we started working on the VR versions of Layers of Fear, we said that this “No Loading” feature is a must, especially since VR is sooo immersive. A loading screen would just break you out of it. So what we did is we made the upcoming/future levels load in the background, as the player plays the game. Our team had quite a bit of work to do on that front, but we are happy that we did it. Seeing no loading screens made it all worth it!

layers of fear vr

UploadVR: How much of the original Layers of Fear was designed with the idea that this may one day be a VR game in the back of your minds? Did it influence original development?

Erdmański: To be honest, the original Layers of Fear was designed with PCs and consoles in mind. However, as production went along, each one of us wondered how “Layers” would look in VR and how cool it would be to play it in VR. And so, a few years later, we’ve made the plunge 😉 

UploadVR: On a similar front, how did work on the smaller Google Daydream edition, Layers of Fear: Solitude, inform the full VR version of the game?

Erdmański: Layers of Fear: Solitude taught us a lot on how to work in, and with, VR. The biggest change that we had to implement was the movement – we changed it so that players were able to teleport around the game. This meant that we also had to slightly redesign some parts of the game too. 

However, when we started working on the Rift and the Quest versions, we kinda did a full circle, and we went back to the “original” Layers of Fear as the source material. It’s crazy how much of a leap VR has made in a few years.

the medium xbox bloober team

UploadVR: Are you planning other VR ports of games like Layers of Fear 2, Blair Witch or The Medium?

Erdmański: To be honest, we do love the platform, the Oculus people are a joy to work with, we feel VR has a really bright future, and we do see our games and nightmares on the platform. So, we are not saying yes or no at this stage. I guess you just have to stay tuned for any news from us!

UploadVR: Would Bloober ever work on a native VR game from scratch?

Erdmański: We feel that VR is an amazing medium. It has so much potential – we are merely scratching the surface of it! As technology gets better, our understanding of it and how to use it will get better as well. It feels like there are so many new ways and possibilities to not just tell stories, but how to design gameplay mechanics. It feels still undiscovered. Saying all of this, who knows what the future might bring.

For more things on the spooky side, check out our list of the best VR horror games, watch our Layers of Fear VR on Quest livestream, and check out our review of Five Nights at Freddy’s VR.

Would you like to see Bloober Team work on more VR projects? Let us know down in the comments below!

The post Layers Of Fear VR: Porting A Horror Classic To Oculus Quest appeared first on UploadVR.

Posted on

The Medium And Layers Of Fear Devs Discuss Possibility Of Future VR Horror Projects

During the Xbox Series X Games Showcase yesterday Bloober Team (developers of the Layers of Fear series and Blair Witch) revealed its next non-VR horror game, The Medium. Fortunately, it does still sound like more of their work could come to VR again.

In an email Q&A following the release of Layers of Fear VR a few weeks ago, we spoke with Bloober Team about the game’s development and their plans for the future. You can check back tomorrow for the entire Q&A, but for now, here’s what they had to say regarding future VR horror projects, specifically Layers of Fear 2, Blair Witch, and The Medium in VR:

“We feel VR has a really bright future, and we do see our games and nightmares on the platform. So, we are not saying yes or no at this stage.

We feel that VR is an amazing medium. It has so much potential – we are merely scratching the surface of it! As technology gets better, our understanding of it and how to use it will get better as well. It feels like there are so many new ways and possibilities to not just tell stories, but how to design gameplay mechanics. It feels still undiscovered. Saying all of this, who knows what the future might bring.”

For more things on the spooky side, check out our list of the best VR horror games, watch our Layers of Fear VR on Quest livestream, and check out our review of Five Nights at Freddy’s VR.

Would you like to see Bloober Team work on more VR projects? Let us know down in the comments below!

The post The Medium And Layers Of Fear Devs Discuss Possibility Of Future VR Horror Projects appeared first on UploadVR.

Posted on

Oculus Quest VR Horror Livestream: Layers Of Fear, Affected, And More!

For today’s livestream we’re diving into Layers of Fear VR on Oculus Quest, which just released, as well as checking out some other VR horror titles on the standalone headset like Affected: The Manor. If you’re curious about how we livestream the way we do then look no further than this handy guide for general tips and this guide specific to our Oculus Quest setup.

Now that Layers of Fear VR is out on Oculus Quest we figured it would be a good time to dive in for good ol’ quality summer scares. In addition to this newly adapted horror adventure we’ve also got a new update for Affected: The Manor, plus Five Nights at Freddy’s VR next week, and a slew of existing games like Dreadhalls, Face Your Fears 2, and The Exorcist VR

The VR horror stream is planned to start at about 11:00 AM PT and will last for around two hours, give or take. We’ll be hitting just our YouTube and I’ll be streaming from the Quest wirelessly with Jamie and/or Zeena joining via audio call to hang out and help out with chat.

You can see the VR horror stream featuring Layers of Fear VR, Affected: The Manor, and more embedded via YouTube right here. Set a reminder if you’re reading this early! –

You can see lots of our past archived streams over in our YouTube playlist or even all livestreams here on UploadVR and various other gameplay highlights. There’s lots of good stuff there so make sure and subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up-to-date on gameplay videos, video reviews, live talk shows, interviews, and more original content!

And please let us know which games or discussions you want us to livestream next, VR horror or otherwise! We have lots of VR games in the queue that we would love to show off more completely.

The post Oculus Quest VR Horror Livestream: Layers Of Fear, Affected, And More! appeared first on UploadVR.