As a kid, I would often go into the darkened bathroom, face myself in the mirror, and try to conjure up a spirit by chanting “Bloody Mary” three times. Of course, nothing ever happened, and I was left slightly disappointed. However, now you can summon her for yourself with Escape Bloody Mary, a fantastically fun new game from Well Told Entertainment.
This virtual reality game throws you directly into the action, locking you in a bathroom to bring her forth, and then forcing you to use your wits to escape the room. Yes, this is a virtual reality escape room, and it is pretty damn cool. Honestly, considering escape rooms got their start in the old flash games, it’s great to see it come back full circle, and become a virtual reality experience.
I was lucky enough to play the game at the Well Told Entertainment offices, so I got a bit of director’s commentary as I tried to outsmart this lady of urban legend. Though short, the game packs a lot into it, with puzzles of different varieties and a lot of cool sequences to scare you.
And yes, it is legitimately scary. The look of Bloody Mary herself is incredibly creepy, and the sound design totally sells the entire thing. Her movements, the hushed whisper of the wind, and Mary’s screaming all make for an intense encounter.
Though this isn’t me playing, the clip below is an accurate representation of how I reacted when Bloody Mary appeared.
Being a virtual reality game for the Hive, the game makes great use of the dual hand set up, allowing me to hold a match in one hand while frantically (and fruitlessly) throw objects at Bloody Mary to slow her down. The level of interaction with everything in the room is pretty great, too, as some things as I did as a joke early on wind up being actions I DID need to complete later. Everything matters in this game, every moment, and every second.
The design itself is touch notch, with some incredibly clever mirror effects and puzzle designs. As an escape room connoisseur, it was cool to see how some of these things translated into VR, and how innovative they are here compared to in-person rooms. The puzzles were obviously designed by someone who has an eye for this stuff, so major kudos for that.
Overall, it’s a incredibly fun, 20-minute or so experience that is bargain priced. I definitely recommend picking it up if you have a Vive headset, because it is a lot of fun, especially for the Halloween season!
You can find it on the Steam Store at: http://store.steampowered.com/app/544530
