'I Expect You to Die' VR makes a compelling case for Oculus Touch
It’s always exciting to find a game that requires you to think your way out of any given situation.
This has always been the draw of adventure games and puzzlers. They're not about having the best guns, or the strongest armor, or the fastest button presses. Instead, they're about working within the game’s logic system, putting together the pieces and finding solutions.
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I Expect You to Die from Schell Games has these hallmarks -- but because it’s an Oculus Rift-compatible virtual reality title that makes good use of Touch controllers, it makes the familiar adventure/puzzle setup feel very new.
As you may have surmised from the title, I Expect You to Die puts you in the role of a James Bond-like secret agent, with a twist: You possess telekinetic abilities. It sounds silly, but it works.
It was easy to pick up items within arm’s length during my demo, but I found myself stretching in real life to grab the hard-to-reach ones -- which probably looked ridiculous. That’s where telekinesis comes in handy: Using the Touch’s thumbsticks, I was able to pull faraway objects into my grip without invading the personal space of everyone around me in real life.
The title is quite literal, as it turns out. In the demo’s puzzle, you’re sitting in the driver’s seat of a car with very little context for why you’re there -- all you know is that you need to drive away.
There's just one problem: The car is rigged to kill anyone who's not supposed to be there, and -- spoiler alert -- this includes you.
Death by laser is easily avoidable, as I discovered after it killed me twice.
Another twist: Outside the car, poison gas is spraying haphazardly. The solution is just a few simple steps, but figuring it out involved multiple deaths and restarts.
I Expect You to Die requires quite a bit of trial and error, but the game was never frustrating during the short time I spent with it. Instead, I hurried to start the demo over after every failure, excited to give it another shot.
At first I couldn’t find the key to start the ignition, even after tearing apart the glove box and going through the car’s center compartment. Once it was in my hand, I started the car. But before I could start driving, a retina scanner popped out and shot me with a laser.
Death by laser is easily avoidable, as I discovered after it killed me twice; more complicated was the bomb I then had to disarm. One after another, small challenges arose, and I used the tools available to get through each one.
This would probably be an entertaining game without the full VR experience, but the use of the Oculus headset and controllers is what really sells it. There's a real "Escape the Room" quality to the 360-degree puzzles I Expect You to Die delivers.
Even though the Touch controllers just have triggers, a thumbstick and a couple of buttons, they made the motions feel just about as real as if I were using all five fingers on each hand. I had to physically turn the virtual key in the ignition or put the vehicle into drive. I could flip open a lighter and torch a stick of dynamite -- or anything else I found lying around.
I Expect You to Die can also be played using an Xbox 360 controller or mouse, but it wouldn’t be the same. The game is due out this fall. Considering the Touch controllers also have a vague "late 2016" release date, don't be surprised if they both surface around the same time.
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Topics Gaming Oculus Virtual Reality
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
