MADiSON VR review

I was going to start by saying that MADiSON VR is unputdownable horror but that’d be a lie. This game is so trouser-threateningly terrifying that I noped out several times, hastily removing my Meta Quest 2. But like teenage protagonist Luca, MADiSON had its hooks in me and it wasn’t letting go.

We were seriously impressed by MADiSON’s non-VR incarnation, to the point of awarding it a massive 9 out of 10 in our review. I’d recommend you take a peek if you want the lowdown on MADiSON VR’s story. But the short version is that something is horribly, horribly wrong in Luca’s world. A cursed camera is both the cause of it and his only defence.

The camera, a Polaroid in everything but name, is what gives MADiSON its fear factor, more so in VR. It’s used for altering the world, solving puzzles and even as a light source. Surprisingly, the latter is, by far, its most unsettling application.

90% of the time, there was nothing there. It was just a brighter snap of a door or whatever other obstacle I couldn’t make out. But my every single time I shook a photograph my stomach dropped, sure that this would be the time that I’d captured some nightmare on film.

MADiSON VR isn’t as pretty on Meta Quest 2 as it is on other platforms. But its environments are still deeply, deeply unsettling and mess with your head in all the right ways. There are enemies, but they’re used relatively sparingly.

Instead, MADiSON VR has a knack of putting you in places and situations where you feel gut-wrenchingly vulnerable. Even little things, like having to squeeze through a narrow passage, will put you in fear of having your face bitten off.

When something does happen, like a snap illuminating a humanoid shape or a door reappearing, the spike of terror is followed by a palpable sense of relief that you’re safe for a short while, right? Right? Well… maybe.

MADiSON VR does have the odd flaw, however. For the most part, going hands-on with its world works well. Everything from manually manipulating combination locks to smashing through planks with a hammer reminds you there’s no comforting screen between you and this game’s nightmares. You can bet I went around smacking everything with a hammer, just to see if it helped relieve the tension. It didn’t.

But something as basic as opening a door can be frustrating. Door handles seemed to hate me and, passing through, there was a chance I’d somehow catch it, forcing me to meddle with it again. As immersive as MADiSON VR’s interactions are, that’s the one I wished I could push a button for.

I’ll steer clear of spoiling MADiSON’s story too much, but it’s a gripping tale in the spirit (sorry) of The Exorcist, The Conjuring and other suburban supernatural nightmares. After all, doesn’t everyone have a haunted well in their basement?

If you’ve already played the ‘flat’ version of MADiSON, chances are you’ll know every sinister surprise that it has in store. But if you’ve never played it, MADiSON VR is a superb way to experience it – and it’s one of the best horror experiences on Meta Quest.