* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Friday, October 24, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    ‘Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc’ Review: Hit Manga Gets an Ultra-Violent, Surprisingly Emotional Big-Screen Adaptation – Yahoo

    Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc Review: A Brutal and Unexpectedly Emotional Big-Screen Adaptation

    Reba McEntire Details Personal Relationship With Late Stepson Brandon Blackstock – KNDU

    Reba McEntire Shares Emotional Tribute to Her Late Stepson Brandon Blackstock

    Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

    Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

    AMC brings first new Dolby Experience to Gwinnett since 2017 – Wyoming News Now

    AMC Launches First New Dolby Experience in Gwinnett Since 2017

    Hetzel Design: blending architecture and entertainment – Blooloop

    Hetzel Design: Where Architecture and Entertainment Unite in Perfect Harmony

    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Project underway to upgrade technology on 911 towers in Kanawha County – WCHS

    Kanawha County Launches Major Upgrade to 911 Tower Technology

    Next steps: Technology opens new options for greater mobility – Missouri Independent

    Next Steps: How Technology is Opening Exciting New Doors to Greater Mobility

    Rydberg Technologies Inc. Announces Launch of Rydberg Photonics in Berlin – The Quantum Insider

    Rydberg Technologies Launches Exciting New Photonics Division in Berlin

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    ‘Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc’ Review: Hit Manga Gets an Ultra-Violent, Surprisingly Emotional Big-Screen Adaptation – Yahoo

    Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc Review: A Brutal and Unexpectedly Emotional Big-Screen Adaptation

    Reba McEntire Details Personal Relationship With Late Stepson Brandon Blackstock – KNDU

    Reba McEntire Shares Emotional Tribute to Her Late Stepson Brandon Blackstock

    Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

    Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

    AMC brings first new Dolby Experience to Gwinnett since 2017 – Wyoming News Now

    AMC Launches First New Dolby Experience in Gwinnett Since 2017

    Hetzel Design: blending architecture and entertainment – Blooloop

    Hetzel Design: Where Architecture and Entertainment Unite in Perfect Harmony

    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Project underway to upgrade technology on 911 towers in Kanawha County – WCHS

    Kanawha County Launches Major Upgrade to 911 Tower Technology

    Next steps: Technology opens new options for greater mobility – Missouri Independent

    Next Steps: How Technology is Opening Exciting New Doors to Greater Mobility

    Rydberg Technologies Inc. Announces Launch of Rydberg Photonics in Berlin – The Quantum Insider

    Rydberg Technologies Launches Exciting New Photonics Division in Berlin

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home General

Reality Bytes: Revisiting The Room VR in a golden age of VR puzzlers

August 5, 2023
in General
Reality Bytes: Revisiting The Room VR in a golden age of VR puzzlers
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Gloved hands operating a code machine in The Room VR

Image credit: Fireproof Games / Rock Paper Shotgun

Look, I could justify this month’s Reality Bytes in any number of ways. I could say the VR launch cupboard is a little bare at the moment, with Steam’s New Releases list offering up a lot of dour military shooters, dubious Early Access projects, and fantasy dismemberment porn. I could say that The Room VR: A Dark Matter has just received a PSVR2 release, so now seems an opportune moment to revisit this acclaimed spin-off puzzler. I could say that The Room VR is the only entry in the series RPS hasn’t covered yet. But to be perfectly honest, I just fancied playing The Room VR. So there.

Oh all right, there was a slightly more specific reason why I wanted to revisit a game that came out just three days after Half-Life: Alyx. Upon its launch, there wasn’t much else like The Room on VR devices, a dedicated puzzler with high production values that didn’t feel the need to throw in a gun to shoot or a melon to chop. Now, there are bunch of fantastic VR brain-ticklers swimming in the pond, such as the time-travelling epic Wanderer, the perspective-bending A Fisherman’s Tale series, and the ingenious automation extravaganza The Last Clockwinder.

Hence I was curious to know how A Dark Matter squared up against these newer and arguably more inventive titles. Fireproof certainly know how to make a pacey, intriguing puzzle game, and their VR spin on the formula adds a few fun tricks of its own. That said, as a VR experience there are some irksome design choices that betray the studio’s unfamiliarity with the tech.

Taking place in 1908, The Room VR sees you play a police officer searching for an archaeology professor who has gone missing in the British Museum. Contacted by a stranger calling themselves The Craftsman, you’re whisked from your police station into several puzzling scenarios, each of which takes place in a different, lavishly designed location. The first of these occurs where your missing professor disappeared, an Ancient Egyptian exhibit at the British Museum. Here, you must unlock an array of elaborate mystery boxes, all to crack open a forbidding sarcophagus in the centre of the room.

A circle of forbidding stone statues in The Room VR
Image credit: Fireproof Games / Rock Paper Shotgun

VR games take varying approaches in how they let you explore environments, but the Room VR is particularly unique. It employs a teleport-based movement system, but you can only teleport to designated points in each area. This derives from, where viewpoints are also preset, likely for technical reasons in part, but also to help guide you through each puzzle. In VR, however, the inability to move around freely is much more limiting, especially given how lovingly detailed the game’s 3D environments are.

Of course, movement isn’t the main appeal of The Room VR. That would be getting hands on with all of its devious contraptions. In this, A Dark Matter does a fantastic job. It’s all gears and cranks and buttons and switches and levers and dials and pulleys and knobs and handles and oddly-shaped keys, with every pulled, pushed, turned or twisted gizmo revealing another layer of its magnificently designed puzzle boxes. I will say, though, that the game would benefit from stronger “grip” feedback, as sometimes it isn’t intuitive, and you’ll often have to look at your virtual hands to ensure they’re in the right spot to grab an object.

On top of this tactile tinkering are a couple of broader mechanical ideas. The game acknowledges the cumbersome box strapped your face in its own fiction, furnishing you with a nifty wearable “lens” that lets you peer beyond the mortal realm. In its most basic function, this lens reveals hidden neon writing covering the walls. It’s a neat trick, but I found myself distracted by the inelegance with which this vision mode is implemented. To activate the lens, you have to open up the inventory, and then manually pull a lever on the inventory menu. Worse, the lens automatically switches off every time you move through the world, which means you’re constantly having to reopen your inventory to switch it back on.

Some Ancient Egyptian themed puzzle boxes in The Room VR
Image credit: Fireproof Games / Rock Paper Shotgun

At first, the concept doesn’t really seem worth the fuss. Fortunately, it becomes more involved as the game progresses. You’ll quickly upgrade your lens to let you see through specific surfaces, enabling you to reach into the guts of certain devices to access hidden puzzles. Once you reach the game’s middle act, it upgrades again to let you physically enter the puzzles, crawling inside devices and wandering around their seemingly enormous mechanisms. This dramatic shift in scale is the kind of thing VR does really well, and while the impact of it in A Dark Matter is slightly lessened by a fade-to-black between areas, it remains impressive.

The best part of The Room VR, however, is also the most incongruous. After visiting two fairly grounded locations, A Dark Matter completely jumps the broomstick, transporting you to a fairytale witch’s hut complete with bubbling cauldron and crystal ball. Here, you solve puzzles by brewing potions, collecting ingredients and tossing them into the cauldron in exchange for items that unlock new areas in the hut.

Playing a musical puzzle piano in The Room VR
Image credit: Fireproof Games / Rock Paper Shotgun

It’s very silly, but also enormously fun, a real “let your hair down” moment even though the tone remains serious. The whole sequence operates on a different logical plain, swapping out hieroglyphs and clockwork contraptions for arcane symbols and phases of the moon. It also includes possibly the best key ever designed for a video game. I’d happily play a full game of this. Forget The Room, Crone Simulator is where it’s at.

That’s a joke, obviously. Fireproof Games should not, under any circumstances, forget The Room. The four flatscreen entries in the series are among the best puzzlers ever made, and A Dark Matter holds its own in creativity and goldilocks-zone challenge. Is it still the best VR puzzler around? Maybe not, and it remains fairly expensive almost three years on since launch. But it is a ton of fun, and not the worst place to start if you’re completely new to VR.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Rock Paper Shotgun – https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/reality-bytes-revisiting-the-room-vr-in-a-golden-age-of-vr-puzzlers

Previous Post

Google offers to alert netizens when their personal info shows up in Search

Next Post

Horror at Doll’s Village is a Creepy, Bucolic Summer Horror Manga

Ecology researchers work to update Columbia River fish advisories — but face new challenges in climate change – Longview Daily News

Ecology researchers work to update Columbia River fish advisories — but face new challenges in climate change – Longview Daily News

October 24, 2025

Unlock the Secrets to Growing a Giant Pumpkin Using Science

October 24, 2025
Rare dinosaur mummies help scientists recreate their prehistoric lives – ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

Rare Dinosaur Mummies Unlock Secrets of Their Prehistoric Lives

October 24, 2025
Orange Cat Celebrates Halloween by Putting Candy Corn in Her Water Bowl – Yahoo

Orange Cat’s Hilarious Halloween Trick: Candy Corn in Her Water Bowl!

October 24, 2025
Project underway to upgrade technology on 911 towers in Kanawha County – WCHS

Kanawha County Launches Major Upgrade to 911 Tower Technology

October 24, 2025
Sports gambling indictment revives tough questions about integrity – Axios

Sports Gambling Indictment Sparks Renewed Debate Over Integrity

October 23, 2025
Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik investigated for bullying following death of grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky – CNN

Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik Under Investigation Amid Tragic Loss of Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky

October 23, 2025
Trump approval on economy hits new low: Quinnipiac poll – The Hill

Trump’s Economic Approval Hits Historic Low in Shocking New Poll

October 23, 2025
‘Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc’ Review: Hit Manga Gets an Ultra-Violent, Surprisingly Emotional Big-Screen Adaptation – Yahoo

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc Review: A Brutal and Unexpectedly Emotional Big-Screen Adaptation

October 23, 2025
WHO launches new country guidance for health emergency coordination – World Health Organization (WHO)

WHO Launches Bold New Global Guidelines to Revolutionize Health Emergency Coordination

October 23, 2025

Categories

Archives

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (883)
  • Economy (904)
  • Entertainment (21,775)
  • General (17,768)
  • Health (9,945)
  • Lifestyle (917)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (905)
  • Politics (914)
  • Science (16,115)
  • Sports (21,404)
  • Technology (15,884)
  • World (887)

Recent News

Ecology researchers work to update Columbia River fish advisories — but face new challenges in climate change – Longview Daily News

Ecology researchers work to update Columbia River fish advisories — but face new challenges in climate change – Longview Daily News

October 24, 2025

Unlock the Secrets to Growing a Giant Pumpkin Using Science

October 24, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version