Over the past few days, Sony has unveiled new PlayStation VR games that offer whimsical, colorful escapism. And though leading an army of “peeps” or flying on top of a paper phoenix could offer compelling reasons to purchase a unit, the latest reveal, Statik, offers a very different kind of VR experience: first-person, experimental, and very stressful.
Statik sees you as the captive of Dr. Ingen — whose face remains blurred — and his assistant Edith “on a journey to unravel the complexities of the human mind.” This takes the form of various hand-mounted puzzles, which feature numerous dials, buttons, and nobs, though it’s not made immediately clear how you can solve them from a gameplay perspective with limited use of your hands.
What is immediately clear, however, is that Dr. Ingen is a weirdo. The announcement trailer includes a line that would make pretty much anyone feel uncomfortable.
“I’ve been having this recurring dream where I’m a dog who wants to ride the back of a giant chicken and I can’t help clawing and biting and … it all got rather erotic at one point, but I don’t regret it,” Ingen says. “How does that make you feel?”
How does that make you feel?
Ingen has a collection of prosthetic hands on the table next to him, which he’ll probably use to gently pat your head as you desperately try to escape. Your character’s sole means of communicating seems to be an emoticon screen on the front of the device, which is used to offer Ingen a smiley face for his creepy dog dream story.
Developer Tarsier is no stranger to Sony’s systems. It previously contributed to Tearaway Unfolded and LittleBigPlanet 3, as well as LittleBigPlanet 2 DLC packs. The team is also currently working on the “adventure-suspense” game Hunger.
