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Lies Beneath is a new horror VR game from Drifter Entertainment, and it aims to deliver a “living comic book” experience with influences from Resident Evil and Silent Hill (via VR Scout).
It’s a heady mix of inspirations, and the pay-off looks nothing short of spectacular. Lies Beneath is set in Slumber, Alaska, in the mid-20th century. Mae must return to her hometown to save her father from the encroaching evil that grips the townsfolk. There’s more than meets the eye, though, as the girl’s past is brought to light through the living nightmare of Slumber.
Developer Drifter Entertainment explained that Lies Beneath is quite a departure from its usual fare. “Narrative isn’t something Drifter has focused a lot on in earlier games, and we wanted to really focus on telling a deeper story with this one,” said executive producer Hunter Hudspeth in an interview with Oculus. “The thriller/horror genre has its own set of rules for telling an interesting story, so we’re careful about what we say explicitly vs. what we want players to deduce on their own.”
With regards to gameplay, Resident Evil and Silent Hill were referenced. “We loved how these types of games blend a master class in creepy mood setting, punctuated with terrifying action sequences that challenge and surprise you over and over,” elaborated creative director Brian Murphy. “In terms of the world we’ve built, it pretty obviously draws inspiration from the comic world. I think of it as a kind of a cheeky mid-century American Creepfest, mixed with profoundly disturbing Junji Ito-style Japanese horror comic weirdness.” Artists like Bernie Wrightson, Mike Mignola, and Shintaro Kago also served as inspirations.
The game has been in the works for almost two years, and internal tests infer that Lies Beneath is certainly leaving an impression on players. “We had people going through some of the more unsettling parts of the early game, and getting to see their reactions told us we were on the right track,” explained Hudspeth. “Our narrative designer, Miko, and I would come out of the conference room after a playtest to tell the team how it went, and we’d often be met with, ‘Yeah, we heard the screams. We know it went well.’”
Lies Beneath comes to the Oculus Quest on March 31, then to the Rift S on April 14. Watch the trailer below.
