It’s not even October yet and here we are playing and reviewing a spooky VR game. Propagation: Paradise Hotel has arrived, and I checked in for a brief stay to see what all the fuss was about. Having recently come off of Saints and Sinners I was already in “zombie survival mode”, but this sinister hotel managed to offer up some genuine tension, thrills, and jump scares thanks to some dark and creepy visuals and incredible 3D positional audio.
Beyond the atmosphere, Propagation: Paradise Hotel offers up a quality gameplay experience with customizable controls for accessibility and comfort. For the first time that I can recall there are three settings for just your grip. Pro tip: Hybrid is the best so you don’t have to keep “gripping” your weapon. You can choose between simple and realistic reload mechanics, which can definitely add some tension in the later encounters where you are fumbling to swap a clip and move the slide.
Things start off slow enough as you explore the available areas, reading documents, opening every drawer, closet, and medicine cabinet to fine ammo and healing canisters to refill your deodorant-style healing spray. A slick artist pallet interface calls up this intuitive overlay giving you access to a cool real-time map along with your inventory to access keys and other items. Puzzles are mostly based on inventory and exploration, so when you come to that door that’s all chained up you know you need to keep an eye out for some bolt cutters.
One of the more sinister elements is that for most of the first hour you are walking through this blood-soaked hotel where the rooms and halls are littered with dead and decaying corpses that you just KNOW are coming back to life eventually, and when that happens…well, let’s just say I hope you’ve been collecting lots of ammo. It takes 3-6 bullets in the head to bring down a standard animated corpse. You can also punch them in the face to knock them back giving you precious seconds to reload if needed. The real-time nature of the realistic reload option adds to the tension, as do other actions in the game. In one area I was fleeing some undead and had to unscrew four bolts on a vent cover to get into the air duct.
Scattered about the hotel are Guest Registry books that you can sign to save your game. Do this often and use multiple slots, as it is quite easy to get yourself into trouble. There is a finite number of resources in the hotel and it is all too easy to find yourself in an “unwinnable” situation. This does lead to some fun moments though where you can distract and lure zombies away from where you really want to go. Just know these zombies are smart enough to open doors.
The presentation for Propagation: Paradise Hotel is outstanding with some quality visuals, terrifying sound design with great positional audio, and some thrilling encounters with undead and living survivors as well. The story takes a backseat to the action. You’re playing as Emily searching for her lost sister in the hotel. That’s all you know going in, and the rest will be revealed through countless notes to read and interaction with elements of your environment. Pretty standard adventure game stuff.
Available on Steam, I played and reviewed the game on my trusty Rift S and there were no issues with comfort. There are comfort settings for moving around, and the slow exploratory nature of the game helps keep VR sickness in check. Managing your inventory and using the map is perfectly executed. You can even choose to hold the flashlight or clip it to your chest. Just make sure to collect plenty of batteries.
This is certainly one of the better VR games out this year, and I look forward to many more visits to Propagation: Paradise Hotel until I can actually survive long enough to find my sister and escape the oppressive darkness and dread that is literally dripping down the walls and soaking the carpets. If you want to share my first trip into the Paradise Hotel check out my 90-minute first-look video with commentary.
