Review: Out Of Sight VR
When the announcement came that Out of Sight would launch a VR version of the game on the same day as the flatscreen version, with Flat2VR Studios managing the VR adaptation, I felt a surge of excitement for the game. I truly believe that the concept and execution of the game are ideally suited for this medium. I’ve have now experienced a game from the perspective of a teddy bear; did it fulfill my expectations?
Release Date: May 22nd 2025
Developer: Flat2VR Studios / The Gang
Publisher: Flat2VR Studios / Starbreeze
Price: £20.99
Reviewed On: DPVR E4 Black
* Access Provided For Review *
Can You Escape?
Discussing the story without revealing spoilers is quite challenging, but I will do my utmost. You will take on the role of Sophie, who finds herself confined in an orphanage run by two malevolent individuals posing as her guardians. With that in mind, let’s just say Sophie has one final opportunity to break free, but will you be able to navigate your way to freedom?
Your Teddy Is Your Eyes
At its core, Out of Sight VR is a puzzle game that adopts a unique method by utilising a first-person perspective for exploring the orphanage, while presenting the puzzles from a third-person viewpoint. This is achieved by switching to first-person when Sophie is holding her teddy bear and transitioning to third-person when the teddy is set down. The rationale behind this design is that Sophie is blind, and her teddy serves as her eyes. The shift between these two perspectives is executed in a very fluid and seamless manner.
While the core of the gameplay revolves around puzzles, I found that they weren’t excessively challenging. There was one puzzle that had me puzzled for a short time, but the others were quite easy to solve. One aspect I appreciated about the game and its puzzles is that everything you need is located within the same room or the connected rooms, eliminating the need to backtrack or search for items to carry with you.
As previously mentioned, all puzzles are experienced from a third-person perspective. Throughout the rooms, you’ll find marked points indicated by blankets with teddy bears. This is where you can place a teddy to gain a better view of the room. However, your movement is limited to about one hundred and forty degrees, as you are essentially a stationary teddy, which means your head doesn’t really turn. I enjoyed this little detail, but it occasionally led to situations where Sophie would get stuck in corners with movable objects, making it frustrating to free her. In addition to these annoyances, some issues arose from the movement mechanics when pushing or dragging objects, which often felt unpredictable and seemed to have a mind of their own.
While the game appears to strive for a horror atmosphere, I noticed that once you acclimate to its vibe, the tension fades away for most of the experience. Aside from a handful of strategically placed jump scares, the only moments that left me feeling uneasy were during the chases with your so-called guardians. These sequences can be quite intense—think of the chase scenes in Little Nightmares, but in Virtual Reality. However, I do have a concern regarding these segments: will individuals prone to motion sickness be able to handle the forced movement involved?
The other aspect of the gameplay involves first-person exploring the orphanage in search of your escape. This journey will have you traversing the corridors within the walls, occasionally requiring you to navigate through the walls and conceal yourself to evade your guardians, who are on the lookout for you. You’ll also encounter various elements to steer clear of, such as bells dangling from the ceilings and mouse traps, which could create noise. However, the core of the game lies in the puzzles you face along your path.
A Huge Orphanage
One aspect the team has truly mastered is evoking a sense of childhood wonder, making you feel small and vulnerable in a vast world. They achieve this brilliantly through scale, as everything appears enormous to Sophie, including her menacing guardians. This effectively heightens the suspense in the game, particularly during the chase scenes, capturing the essence of the fear and smallness that many children feel in real life. Visually, while its not cutting-edge, it possesses that charming indie aesthetic that doesn’t disappoint. One thing I would have loved to see is darker areas that convey a more sinister atmosphere in the house. The lighting contributes to this, and I believe the horror aspect could have been enhanced by incorporating some darker sections throughout the game.
In terms of the audio landscape, the game utilises familiar horror game elements such as creaking floorboards, slamming doors, a subtle atmospheric hum, and carefully timed musical builds to create a sense of tension. This was complemented by excellent voice acting for Sophie and her guardians, the latter of whom had a Disney villain vibe, albeit with a slightly more sinister twist. While the voice acting was impressive, I initially found the brief conversations Sophie has with her teddy bear to be quite charming, helping to establish their bond. However, by the end of the two to three hours it takes to complete the game, I found myself occasionally irritated by her repetitive remarks about objectives that I had already known since the beginning. Nevertheless, this did not significantly detract from the overall atmosphere the game aims to achieve; perhaps I was just being overly critical.
An area where I believe the game could enhance is its optimization. I noticed that occasionally, when I turned too quickly, it resulted in some image tearing, and there were moments when I experienced slowdowns, particularly when entering certain areas of the orphanage.
Comfort
The Verdict
Out of Sight VR left a strong impression on me overall, yet I noticed minor annoyances in various aspects, including the need for optimisation to enhance the overall VR performance. The story captivates your attention for the two to three hours it takes to complete, but it raises questions such as how your teddy gained the ability to be your eyes and how Sophie ended up in the orphanage. While the gameplay and the switching of perspectives are executed well and feel distinct, there are frustrations, such as instances where Sophie gets stuck and the movement of objects occasionally feels off, as if they have a mind of their own. Although the atmosphere is well-established and you develop a connection and fondness for Sophie, by the end, her often obvious comments became somewhat annoying. Nevertheless, despite these issues, I found myself wanting to continue playing the game and was not let down by my experience. Additionally, since the game is currently in Early Access, there is potential for improvements in these areas through patches before its official v1.0 release on Steam.