Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife

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Haunt the mansion where you died, and hide from what haunts it with you.

Platforms: VR, PC, PlayStation
Price: Paid
Rated: Meta Quest store 4.0 of 5 from 554 ratings; Mixed on Steam (62% of 118 reviews); Metacritic 76 (PC)
Length: about 6 to 7 hours
Players: 1
Controls: VR headset with tracked controllers (PC VR, Meta Quest, PlayStation VR).
Made by: Fast Travel Games
Released: 2021

Get it on Steam Meta Quest Store Official site

What frightens In VR you are the ghost of a man killed at a seance, drifting through the dark Hollywood mansion where it happened, while Spectres, twisted spirits you cannot fight, hunt you through its rooms.
Content: jumpscares, blood, references to alcohol and drug abuse.

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife is a single-player VR horror game set in the World of Darkness. You wake as a Wraith, the ghost of a man who died at a seance in a Hollywood mansion, and explore it to find out how you died while hiding from the Spectres that hunt you.

About Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife is made by Fast Travel Games, the Swedish studio behind Apex Construct and Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice. It came out on Oculus Quest and Rift in April 2021, on Steam VR in May 2021 and on PlayStation VR in October 2021. It is the first video game based on Wraith: The Oblivion, the ghost game of the World of Darkness, the shared setting of Vampire: The Masquerade.

You died during a seance at the Barclay Mansion, home of an ageing Hollywood actor, and you wake up as a Wraith, one of the restless dead. The mansion is dark and wrecked, and something went very wrong that night. Looking for the truth, you move through its rooms, find traces of the people who were there and use your powers to see what happened in the past.

You are not alone among the dead. Spectres, twisted and hostile spirits, roam the mansion, and you cannot fight them. You can pass through some walls, hide in lockers and behind cover, and keep out of sight while they search. Reviewers called it a slow, atmospheric kind of horror that builds dread more than it relies on jumpscares, though the moments when a Spectre finds you are frightening in a headset.

It suits VR players who like stealth horror with a story to uncover, and fans of the World of Darkness. No knowledge of the setting is needed. Some reviewers found the door and item handling fiddly, and players on Steam were more mixed than those on Quest.

How to play Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife

Explore the Barclay Mansion in first person in VR, reaching out to open doors and pick up objects.
Use your Wraith powers to see past events and learn what happened at the seance.
When a Spectre is near, hide in a locker or behind cover, or slip through a wall to get away.
Collect the items and clues that open new parts of the mansion and move the story on.

Screenshots

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife screenshot: a tall, gaunt Spectre in a shirt and tie stands in a hallway lined with film posters, the player's hands raised

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife screenshot: the player crouches behind a cinema seat as a dark, glistening Spectre stalks past in a blue-lit room

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife screenshot: the entrance of the Barclay Mansion at night, a lit doorway between square pillars and bare shrubs

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife screenshot: a red-lit room with walls covered in pinned notes and a desk lamp, the player's ghostly hand in view

Tips

Move slowly and listen; the Spectres can be heard before they are seen.
Learn where the hiding places are in each area before you need them.
Take your time with doors and objects; the hand interactions can be fiddly.
Hunt for collectibles if you want more of the story; there are many hidden around the house.