Breaking Down on Allison Road

Allison Road is looking to fill the void left in this poor little horror fan's heart when P.T. was pulled and Silent Hills was cancelled. From the gorgeous screenshots of ordinary household detritus to its bloody, human-like antagonist bent on twisting my spine into geometrically impossible shapes, it just has the style down. Lilith Ltd aren't just trying to match the fears built up by the game that inspired it, but through Oculus Rift support, they're looking to surpass it. They're looking to take the most frightening thing I've ever experienced and make it feel more real through VR. I honestly don't think my heart can handle this one.

An unnamed protagonist wakes up in their house with a big, blackout drunk-sized hole in their memory. Rather than call the police about the family going missing, instead they screw around the house, fiddling with the remote and reading magazines until an evil spirit comes around to teach them a lesson for leaving the place in such disarray. There's a dang phone right there, buddy. Maybe make a phone call instead of navigating your house while a quivering, bloody woman chases after you. Sure, some of these items you're messing with get added to an inventory that can help you defend yourself or figure out where your family's gone, but I think now might be a good time to call in some professional help.

The developer does seem to have the tension down, as even the trailer involves a fair amount of lead-up, showing reams of in-game footage before things get spooky. It's a slow boil that should have a huge payoff when I find myself getting chased in VR. It has the subtlety down, but will it match that careful confusion that P.T. infused its horror with? Uncertainty of goals played a big part in why that game frightened me, and it's something that's pretty easy to mess up. Allison Road can match the look, and maybe even surpass P.T.'s scares with VR, but can it get that careful confusion down? We'll know when it hits release in late in 2016.

For more information on Allison Road and Chris Kesler, you can follow development on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and IndieDB.

Source: IndieGames.com