Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife Critic Reviews

Wraith: The Oblivion — Afterlife is a wonderful example of what a pure horror survival game made exclusively for VR can be. It forces you to be slow and deliberate. It rewards you for making the most use of your physical play area as you slip out of harm's way or sniff out Barclay Mansion's many secrets. It also hosts a cast of interesting characters, and each of its monstrous specters has a fascinating backstory to seek out.

If you are looking for an atmospheric VR survival horror with a beautiful ghost-story setting and prodigious sound design, Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife is the game for you.

Ultimately this is a horror game that I almost don’t mind playing… that is to say there are certainly horror elements (it’s not fun trying to escape a spectre), but there’s also a compelling story and a quite well set out world to explore. There are enough moments of exploration without direct terror to give you a chance to breathe… but then you are subjected to nightmare material again. If you like horror games then this is definitely worth a look.

Hooking us in with an intriguing story, Afterlife’s a strong VR debut for the World of Darkness universe. Offering a faithful adaptation that Wraith: The Oblivion fans will enjoy and a solid introduction to newcomers, it doesn’t rely on cheap jump scares, creating a disturbing atmosphere which plays to VR’s strengths well. Sadly, Afterlife’s slower paced gameplay won’t suit everyone but for survival horror fans, we’d recommend taking a look.

There’s so much more I could add about Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife but I’m not about to risk spoiling the experience. Or, more selfishly, I’m not going to say anything that could dial back its fear factor; if you’re going to play this, you’re going to be as scared as me, dammit. Gloomy, unsettling and engrossing in equal measure, you’ll regret not stepping into Wraith‘s distressing world.

For those that love slow and tense survival horror Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife certainly delivers. While it’s not completely plain sailing as the Oculus Quest 2 did at points look to struggle a little with objects occasionally popping up out of nowhere, the atmosphere and tension the whole experience creates make this a worthy horror title. Coming in at around eight hours of nail-biting content, Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife does the World of Darkness proud.

Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife creates an incredibly compelling narrative with a world that compliments it fully. I’m a bit sensitive when it comes to VR games, but luckily this title has both a standing and sitting mode, so I could play a little bit longer without feeling nauseous. There are some quirks here and there, but none of the things I mentioned above ever really took me out of the immersion of the experience itself. Some horror fans may not like the consistently slow pace you have to keep up with for the entirety of the game, but for those who don’t mind taking things nice and slow while being scared out of your wits, Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife is certainly for you.

An interesting horror adventure you should try, especially if you have an Oculus Quest 2.

Aftermath is a very interesting horror adventure. It’s engaging and well designed, and we have enjoyed exploring the Barclay Manor even if there was a constant sense of déjà vu.

Wraith is a tense, captivating stealth-adventure, held back by lack of finetuning as well as a few dull sequences.

Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife has some very good and tense moments. It gradually lures you into quite a few scary encounters, and it doesn't rely on jump-scares but an atmosphere that is carried by its strong audio design. It isn't necessarily a looker, and the visuals are a bit janky at times, but if you get over the slow start and occasional annoyances, you're left with about eight hours of a creepy and entertaining VR adventure.

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife serves up a fairly substantial slice of fear and intrigue. Don't be too held back by the pulpy delivery of the game's narrative, or some bits with noticeably lower polish, because in the end this horror-adventure fundamentally delivers on its promise to get your heart racing.

This is a stunning survival horror experience for VR, packed with exploration and stealth, although the infiltration is not very well implemented into the gameplay core.

A largely successful attempt to create a more cerebral style of horror game, even if it frequently comes across as just Alien Isolation with ghosts.

While the VR medium definitely makes the game scarier, there’s absolutely nothing about Wraith that wouldn’t have worked just the same in a normal game. The hide-in-seek genre of horror games has been done to death, and Wraith would have been much better served by more scripted encounters, on rails scares, and fewer (or no) fail states. Once a monster catches you and sends you back to your last save, it loses almost all of its power to scare you. Wraith stopped being scary when it started being tedious. It’s one of the most disappointing horror games I’ve played because I loved the way it started, but its strong introductions never developed into anything more compelling.