The Exorcist: Legion VR's first chapter, "First Rites", is well worth that $4 spot
Wolf & Wood Interactive, along with Legion VR are testing the waters with bite sized VR content for a bite sized price. You can grab the first chapter of The Exorcist: Legion VR, First Rites for a mere 4 bones. These days, it's hard to get a decent chicken sandwich at a mediocre fast food restaurant for only 4 bucks. Of course, the side effect of the low, low price, is the fact that the content is brief. Wolf & Wood Interactive advertises the playtime as somewhere in the 20 to 25 minute range. My play-through of the experience was just short of a half hour. However, I learned early on in this experience, that it's designed to be savored, and rushing through wouldn't be the logical way to go about it.
The game starts off in a police precinct, where you're getting a bit of the backstory. You hear that a murder has taken place at a local church, and that police units have already arrived there, but as the homicide detective, it's your job to head over there and check it out. Once you get to the church, that's when this experience really begins.
Upon arriving at the church, you'll find evidence markers, showing you where the crime took place and in what order to check things out. This works out well for Wolf & Wood Interactive, because if you follow the markers, they know exactly which spots you're going to be investigating, in what order, and they can slowly but surely spring some surprises on you, along the way. I can't really go into any further detail, because I don't want to spoil this experience for anyone, and with a 25 minute run-time, it's easy to spoil. What I can say however, is that this experience can definitely send some hardcore chills down your spine as you work your way through it.
Several times throughout this production I nearly jumped out of my shoes in fright and terror. I'm not sure what it is about horror properties that go the devil/satanic route, but it's the kind of horror that gives me the willies. I'd much rather deal with a monster or ghost, instead of some demon incarnation from hell. For this reason, the tension of this experience was immediately heightened. Wolf & Wood Interactive of course know the right times to spring a surprise or two on you, which could easily scare the living daylights out of anyone, but I guess that's the whole point... Right?
Ultimately, the bottom line is that I would consider this first chapter to be a successful debut of their episodic content delivery method. First off, you can pick up First Rites for only 4 bucks. It's normal price will be $5, but it's on a temporary launch debut sale. So, it's not like the cost of this experience is going to put you in the poor house. My nearly one half-hour playtime is certainly reasonable, especially when you consider the fact that some VR games exist with such short playtimes, but with much more expensive price tags. At least you know ahead of time the experience is short. The one key recommendation I must make however, is to take your sweet time going through this experience. It's designed for a slower, more deliberate play through. The first time I tried this, I kinda rushed through it, and it wasn't nearly as enjoyable. The second time, I took my time, and savored the experience. As terrifying as this experience might be at times, that's definitely the way to approach it. (full disclosure, I didn't pay for this game out of my own pocket)
