Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire Review: A Tense Horror Puzzler With Fangs

Schell Video games is likely one of the most enjoyable studios working within the VR area proper now. With a various portfolio of hits like Amongst Us VR and I Count on You To Die, I used to be so excited to see what sort of artistic spin they might convey to the horror style. I am joyful to say that Schell adopted via on its popularity with Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire with tense and interesting gameplay, even when it may be a bit taxing.

Should you’re like me, vampire killing in video video games often evokes pictures of platforming with a sacred whip and a few flammable holy water, chipping away at Dracula’s defenses one flying Gorgon head at a time. As an alternative of getting you run round an enormous fort, Silent Slayer retains you sq. in entrance of your quarry’s coffin with all of the instruments you want from the get-go; no relic gathering or exploration is required. Transferring as silently as doable, you may must undo a collection of booby traps and locks defending the vampire earlier than turning them to ash.

Evoking a jumpscare-riddled Operation (sure, the basic Hasbro board recreation that is all about regular arms) crossed with a vampire-killing spy thriller, Silent Slayer’s tense vampire killing had me on the sting of my seat as I snipped electrified wires, turned magical, drew historical runes—and sure, staked vampires via the center.

Every kill begins with a briefing. It is virtually like a fantastical Mission: Unattainable (although you don’t have any selection however to simply accept) the place a sinister however useful speaking e book tells you about your goal. As they run down the mission file, breaking down who this bloodsucker is and why they’re an necessary goal, you are tasked with assembling a Bindstone, which shall be essential to your mission.

It is laborious to not really feel like a garlicky Ethan Hunt as you get your briefing, put together your instruments, and perform your mission. As briefs get longer, so too does this puzzle; it may get a tad tough afterward, however aligning the stone’s rocky ridges and straight edges by no means received previous.

As soon as the temporary is completed and your preparations are full, the hunt begins. At first, these tense puzzle-like obstacles are fairly easy: transfer the steel bars locking the coffin, open their creaky doorways (have these buggers even heard of grease?), and shortly hint a number of magical runes to bind the vampire the place they sleep earlier than working them via.

Plenty of these mechanics evolve over time. A couple of ranges at a time, one steel block turns into two that have to be eliminated individually, or perhaps the screechy, high-tension metal wires that you must snip all of a sudden carry a harmful cost. Silent Slayer does an ideal job of reinventing most of its mechanics all through its runtime, layering in increasingly complexity and problem. Securing the kill feels more and more satisfying consequently.

You’ll be able to’t let that distract you, although. Sure, it is useful to dismantle every lure with calculated tact, however you additionally want to maneuver decisively. You may be caught and promptly killed with a jumpscare because the vampire wakes from their daylight slumber should you take too lengthy or make an excessive amount of noise.

Normally, Silent Slayer’s sleeping uglies are dozing closely sufficient to afford you a mistake or two. Drop a nail, miss tracing a rune, and even set part of the coffin down too loudly and a pointy violin screech will put you on discover, clearly speaking that one other mistake would imply sure demise. The sides of your display screen will quickly flip blood-red earlier than fading away, indicating that you simply’re again within the clear.

That shrieking violin is barely the tip of Silent Slayer’s sonic iceberg; screeching bats, clanging chains that jingle within the wind, and a myriad of different minor distractions compound as you’re employed in silence. These facets add a lot to the stress and immersion right here by making each noise (even those you did not make) stand out. However if you finally contact stake to coronary heart with a satisfying squelch, it is unnervingly thrilling to look at your prey shriek as they flip to ash and attempt to claw their method out of demise’s chilly grasp.

Should you do mess up and die, it is recreation over. Beginning again firstly of your coffin-cracking problem means slowly tugging nails, turning keys, and shifting blocks another time—slowly. There isn’t any checkpointing inside Silent Slayer’s ranges (nor ought to there be) and that places the stress on. You may must retrace your painstaking, pinpoint steps after messing up.

I took off my headset whereas enjoying a number of occasions. Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire straddles the road between feeling a bit jumpy and barely irritating after a failed mission; the thought of needing to repeat the sluggish move of a stage after its novelty had light was admittedly very irritating. Whereas it is clear that this recreation intends to long-con you psychologically by tickling that nagging itch within the deepest nook of your mind that claims, “I completely had that! Why did not I get that? Why do not I simply strive once more?” till you do, it is also fairly annoying to return to a failed stage instantly.

It is powerful to correctly illustrate simply how taxing this recreation might be. Although it is nothing in comparison with an intense Beat Saber session, it may take a psychological and bodily toll on you all the identical. As soon as the sport hits its stride, sure mechanics may power you to remain as nonetheless as doable briefly. It is often simple to anticipate this type of factor, however it’s simply as simple to get grasping and wind up caught in a clumsy place whereas turning a key.

Transferring slowly, silently, and fluidly in a few of the recreation’s later challenges turns into tough as you must preserve a good tempo to stab the vampire earlier than being observed. You additionally must steadiness all of it with additional tact since there are extra shifting elements to a few of these later puzzles. This makes replaying a stage much less enjoyable than you’d suppose, particularly should you fail simply earlier than killing the vampire, as you must progressively retrace every step.

Past the surprisingly tiring quantity of management you want over your physique for Silent Slayer, it is extremely simple and comfy to play. A part of what makes Schell Video games’ output so nice is their inherent approachability, and Silent Slayer isn’t any completely different. I performed all the recreation seated on my sofa and bumped into no points, aside from a number of minor audio bugs. Transferring round and re-adjusting myself was as simple as might be, because of a bar that I may seize onto and discover a higher vantage level to pry out a nail as wanted.

Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire – Last Verdict

Even when it turns up the stress as you sweat out your anxieties, Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire nonetheless makes you are feeling cool. Painstakingly prying nails, cautiously clipping chords, and constructing rocky runes feels satisfying and nervous on the similar time, because of this recreation’s intelligent strategy to puzzle and sound design. Although it has some rougher edges, they’re a part of what makes this delicate steadiness between stress, problem, enjoyable, and satisfaction work in addition to it does. This tight testomony to Schell’s prowess within the VR area shouldn’t be neglected.

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