Transference Preview
When Transference was revealed at E3 2017, my interest piqued. Yet remarkably, it was the Ubisoft E3 game nobody seemed to care about. While everyone was buzzing about Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Skull & Bones and Mario+Rabbids, this new psychological thriller from Elijah Wood’s development company, Spectrevision, showed some serious potential. Maybe it’s a sign people just don’t seem to be into VR this year or maybe the trailer (below) never resonated with anyone. Whatever the case may be for the lack of interest, Transference had me intrigued. The game is in development for both virtual reality headsets and traditional platforms, but at E3 2017 I was lucky enough to give the VR version a spin. And let’s just say it’s unsettling.
What makes Transference so unique is that it comes across as part film and part game. The 20-minute demo had me playing the role of a dude named Walter who suffers from PTSD. I wasn’t told how or why he suffers from PTSD but it isn’t long before I started to connect the dots. The premise of the game has Walter involved in some kind of experiment which gives him the ability to reconstruct memories from the past. This appears all part of Walter’s PTSD therapy.
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“The demo features a ton of jump scares and other jarring moments”
After the intro video by the creepy professor who explains the experiment, Walter is thrusted into a 1990’s memory inside a hallway in an older creepy home. It was at this point the hairs started to stand on the back of my neck. The goal was to get into Walter’s son, Scott, locker room. To get into the locker room I had to swap in and out of the two time periods, one set in the 1990’s and one in the 2000’s.
Light switches on the wall and other environment puzzles helped me proceed along. I nervously shuffled around the house looking for clues before a boy yelled at me that I didn’t belong. It is certainly an unsettling atmosphere as I could hear chatter in the background and creaks with every step. Despite the game telling me everything was “completely safe”, nothing seems safe at all as one misstep resulted in a sudden shotgun blast to the head. Who is this person that blows you away? Well, I won’t spoil that for you.
The demo features a ton of jump scares and other jarring moments but it isn’t long before you start to focus on the objective at hand. You also quickly learn the older version of Scott is deeply troubled and the game does a nice job sucking you in. I wanted to learn more about Scott, and why he was so troubled. I also wanted to know why the house was so damn haunting and creepy.
While most of the puzzles were solved with ease, I ran into some trouble lining up a door with my VR headset towards the end of the demo. Soon after I solved this puzzle, I arrived at the end of the demo and was deeply disappointed. Not so much because of the experience but that I wanted to play more. I wanted to know what was going on this house, with Scott and with Walter.
Visually there is nothing spectacular on display but the sound effects are spot on. The jolting sound of the phone ringing, yelling from another room, a TV suddenly blaring a broadcast. Every little sound added to an immersive and creepy atmosphere.
The tension and uneasiness never seem to dissipate in the demo. I am pumped to see how this game evolves. With Ubisoft and Spectravision backing this game, the potential is there for a rock solid VR experience. When Transference launches next year, it will be available for PS4, Windows PC and Xbox One. Also it will be compatible with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR.
