Here They Lie

Although it sits squarely in the realm of horror, Here They Lie borrows more from narrative games like Firewatch or Gone Home than Resident Evil or Silent Hill. It benefits from that minimalist approach, since the best parts of the game come not from what you’re doing, but from exploring a world that’s equal parts intriguing, repulsive, surreal, and grim.

Despite being a PlayStation VR exclusive, Here They Lie isn’t concerned with showing off the benefits of Sony’s new tech. It is not a series of actions designed to show you what the peripheral can do. Instead, it crafts a thoughtful, interesting world without relying on VR to do the heavy lifting. And by not leaning too heavily on the trappings of its platform, Here They Lie makes a strong case for how VR can improve the kinds of experiences we’re used to playing.

For one, VR enhances the game’s visual splendor. The game may be in black and white, but the contrast between those colors (and the occasional flourish of red or yellow) gives the game a strong tone. The environments are solemn and unsettling, and the PlayStation VR headset works to make them feel more imposing.

As you walk around a town full of claustrophobic, rundown alleys that seem to fall on top of each other, being able to look directly up and see how cluttered the skyline is makes them feel more cramped; conversely, when I find myself beneath a slew of expansive, crisscrossing highways, the sense of depth makes me feel that much more alone.

Most environments project a feeling of wistfulness, but a few of them feel oppressive and garish. At one point, I stumble into a red-light district in the middle of an underground city, with all the seedy businesses and activities that entails. Its residents, who wear wolf or pig heads atop soiled tank tops and dresses, don’t seem to notice me. As I stumble around, the limited viewing angle of the headset means I keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for the next scare.

Those scares don’t come, because that’s not what Here They Lie is going for. As you approach the story’s climax, the environments clearly signal the coming of the game’s most terrifying enemies, and I had plenty of chances to run away from them. There are a few sections where you have to sneak your way around enemies you can’t kill, but if you die, the enemy who killed you usually disappears, and you can forge ahead.

So instead of frightening me, Here They Lie consistently left me to fester with my own unease. Instead of a horror film, its best moments channel David Lynch’s more surreal works, like Eraserhead and Rabbits — but, y’know, a little more coherent. Some of the later imagery is downright psychedelic. And, like a good Lynch film, that brooding uneasiness stuck with me for longer than a series of jump scares.

As much as I enjoyed wandering around its various locales, Here They Lie’s actual narrative isn’t as good as the one its environments suggest. Throughout my journey, I followed the trail of a woman in a yellow dress, who’s introduced as a love interest. The moments you find her feel like they should be important, but the snippets she and your character act out didn’t make me feel invested in what is going on. Notes littered throughout the world give the story more presence, but they feel like a setup for a twist that doesn’t come.

I can infer some of the story from what the notes said, but I don’t have a good idea for why I’m exploring these dark paths.

More interesting than the written notes are photos of flowers or train stations that trigger audio snippets, which are less connected to the story but are more in line with the tone of the environments. The dialogue in these snippets sounds more like someone is being interviewed man-on-the-street style than actors delivering lines, but I actually enjoy the looseness of the delivery, since it makes them sound more natural and adds some surreal flavor.

While the story is unfulfilling, the descent into the hellish world of Here They Lie is, on its own, worthwhile. Its dreary, evocative environments, dark tone, and horrific imagery would stand out even outside the realm of VR games. Some of its places, acts, and monsters will stick with me for a while. It creates a strong sense of place, and while I wouldn’t say VR is crucial to experience, it definitely amplifies it. I may not fully get what happened during my time with Here They Lie, but I’m more than satisfied (and a little uneasy) with what I saw along the way.

Horror games are a big favorite among VR developers. The technology was practically made for titles where sudden jumpscares, creepy atmospheres and ghoulish enemies abound. You can pretty much expect the latter two in Here They Lie, a psychological horror immersive experience which will have your chest pounding. With heavy inspirations taken by guided story games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and horrifyingly atmospheric games like Silent Hill, Here They Lie takes VR horror in a unique direction.

Try to keep your pants dry as we explore what makes Here They Lie so special.

A Creepy Dream World

The Silent Hill inspirations make themselves quite obvious from the very beginning. The game begins where you and a woman named Dana are saying your goodbyes before she boards a train.

From there on, you’re set on a path through an eerily monochromatic town as you piece together clues as to who you and Dana are, what is your relationship and what the whole hubbub of the story is about. From small notes scattered about to phone messages, uncovering the mystery will be dished out in a variety of ways and it’s your job to make sense of it all. What’s immediately striking about the game is the copious use of symbolism and explicit imagery (definitely not for under 18).

Some Stealth, Some Decisions

Make no mistake, Here They Lie is a creepy, obtuse walking sim where the primary gameplay lies in finding the notes and symbols to piece together the story. Compared to other walking sims, like Layers of Fear, this title offers a little more than just walking and collecting. There are moments where some hard moral decisions need to be made which will affect the ending of the game. You’ll encounter some moments of faux stealth where you have to avoid some enemies. Don’t expect Metal Gear Solid in VR here, though, as the mechanic is scarcely used and is extremely basic in nature.

Subliminal Immersion

As a VR horror experience, Here They Lie is interesting. Where a lot of games try to leverage scary things and throw them at your face to make the immersive effect that much scarier, this game chooses to play with your mind by pushing a strange and evocative story within the context of a creepy dream world.

While the writing isn’t anything to...write home about, it’s the sheer effect the VR world has that makes the experience worth playing through. Virtual Reality isn’t often experimented as a storytelling vehicle so Here They Lie is definitely unique in that regard.

The Bottom Line

If you ever wanted to experience a Silent Hill version of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture then Here They Lie is your chance to give it a go.

Pros

• Eerily atmospheric and unnerving immersive experience.
• Intriguing use of monochromatic tones with scarce splashes of color.

Cons

• Graphics are quite janky and outdated but in some ways make the experience that much more creepy.
• The writing is a bit heavy-handed and simplistic at times.
• It’s considered one of the most motion sickness-inducing experiences on the PSVR.