Silent Slayer Vault of the Vampire Review – Tense VR Horror

Schell games is currently one of the most innovative VR studios. After a varied portfolio that included hits such as Among Us VR, and I Expect you to Die, I couldn’t wait to see how they would approach the horror genre. It’s great to see that Schell has lived up to its reputation in Silent Slayer Vault of the Vampire, with engaging and tense gameplay. Silent Slayer is a tense horror puzzler where you disarm traps to kill vampires. Moving as silently as possible, you’ll need to undo a series of booby traps and locks protecting the vampire before turning them to ash.

The Facts

Each kill starts with a briefing. The game is almost like Mission: Impossible, where you are told about the target by a talking book. You’ll be asked to assemble a Bindstone which is crucial for your mission as they go through the dossier and explain who this bloodsucker really is. As you prepare for your mission, get your briefing and complete it, it’s difficult not to think of Ethan Hunt. The puzzle gets more difficult as the brief gets longer. But aligning the ridges of the stones and their straight edges was never boring. The first time you encounter these puzzles, they seem simple. You just have to move the bars that lock the coffins, and open the creaking doors. The first time you encounter these puzzle-like obstacles, they seem pretty simple: move the metal bars that lock the coffins and open their creaky doors (have these buggers ever heard of grease? Many of these mechanics change over time. One metal block may become two and need to be removed individually, or the high-tension, screechy steel wires you must snip might suddenly have a deadly charge. Silent Slayer is a game that does an excellent job at reinventing its mechanics over time, adding more challenges and complexity. It’s gratifying to secure the kill. You can use calculated tactics to remove each trap, but it is also important to act quickly. You’ll be caught and promptly killed with a jumpscare as the vampire wakes from their daylight slumber if you take too long or make too much noise.

Usually, Silent Slayer’s sleeping uglies are dozing heavily enough to afford you a mistake or two. If you drop a nail or make a mistake, such as a mistraced rune, or if you set down a coffin part too loudly, a violin will screech, letting everyone know that another error would be fatal. Silent Slayer has a variety of sounds that can distract you while you are working in silence. This adds to the immersion and tension by making all noises (even those you did not make) standout. If you mess up, the game is over. To start over at the very beginning, you have to turn keys and move blocks slowly. Silent Slayer levels don’t have checkpoints (and shouldn’t), so the pressure is on. After a mistake, you’ll have to go back and retrace all your precise steps. After a mission failure, Silent Slayer Vault of the Vampire is both a little jumpy and a lot frustrating. The idea of having to replay a slow-moving level once its novelty has faded can be very frustrating. It’s obvious that the game is designed to trick you by making your mind think that “I had it! What happened? “Why don’t you just give it another shot?” It’s hard to describe how demanding this game is. It’s not as intense as a Beat Saber game, but it still can be mentally and physically taxing. It’s easy to anticipate this kind of thing, but it can also be very difficult not to get greedy and end up stuck in an awkward position while turning a key. You can anticipate these situations, but you could also get greedy, which would leave you stuck while trying to turn a key. It’s important to keep a balance, as some later puzzles have more than one moving part. It makes the replaying of a level a lot less enjoyable, particularly if you failed just before you killed the vampire. You have to retrace your steps. Silent Slayer is very easy to play because the camera doesn’t turn and you can only move in a small area. Silent Slayer is incredibly comfortable and easy to play, despite the fact that you have to exert a lot of body control to adjust or reach a tool. Silent Slayer, like all Schell Games games, is incredibly approachable. The entire game was played seated in my living room, and I had no problems other than some minor audio issues. Moving around and re-adjusting myself was as easy as can be, thanks to a bar that I could grab onto and find a better vantage point to pry out a nail as needed.

Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire – Final Verdict

Even when it turns up the tension as you sweat out your anxieties, Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire still makes you feel cool. The clever sound and puzzle design of this game makes it feel both satisfying and nerve-wracking to carefully pry nails and clip chords. It’s rough edges are part of the reason why this balance is so perfect between challenge, tension, enjoyment, and satisfaction. This tight testament to Schell’s prowess in the VR space should not be overlooked.

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