Paranormal Activity VR Review – The Lost Soul

Want to walk around a haunted house?

 Amanda BlainPosted:October 29, 2021
Updated: June 3, 2022

Let’s get started on this Paranormal Activity VR Review The Lost Soul.

What is Paranormal Activity VR The Lost Soul?

Paranormal Activity VR is a survival horror game. You are exploring an average-looking home that turns out to be anything but that. Unravel the horrifying mystery of what happened in this house and survive.

This game was originally launched in 2017 for Playstation VR. Does it still hold up?

Who Makes Paranormal Activity The Lost Soul?

Paranormal Activity VR is developed by VRWERX. They are a small developer from Los Angeles, California, USA. Paranormal Activity The Lost Soul is their main VR project but they have also worked on a live-action Jesus VR movie.

Which VR Headsets is Paranormal Activity VR On?

You can play Paranormal Activity VR on Steam VR, Viveport, PlayStationVR, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest 2.

I should also point out that due to the older controls, this is one of those games that I could not get working on Virtual Desktop and Quest 2. If you are a Quest 2 user, get the Quest 2 version.

Paranormal Activity Game Tutorial

There is a brief tutorial when you start Paranormal Activity VR. It walks you through movement, lights, turning, and interactions.

After you complete the tutorial there is in my opinion a MUST DO option. Change to controller turning and strife mode on. 

The game was originally created for Playstation VR so it does not have the option to use the controller to move side to side like most modern VR games allow you to do. There is snap turning you can also adjust.  This small change in options makes a world of difference in the game.

After you start the game, there is no way to return to the options menu or change the controls without restarting the entire game.

Games Modes

There are 3 different modes – Normal, Arcade, and Hardcore. Although these are not explained the difference between them is

• Normal – Die and you can respawn and continue from a random room
• Arcade – Die 3 times and you will have to start over
• Hardcore – Die 1 time and you will have to start over

Choose wisely!

Is Paranormal Activity VR Scary?

Paranormal Activity VR is a scary game. The entire premise of the game – walking around a haunted house – is a pretty tense and spooky experience.

Paranormal Activity The Lost Soul uses a procedurally generated or a randomizer for the scares. Because of this, each playthrough will be different. What you see might be dramatically different than what the next person sees or what you saw on a YouTube playthrough.

There ARE some seriously intense jump scares. The game has a way of placing these jump scares in your personal space. Even if jump scares don’t normally get to you, these ones might.

There is one in the latter portion of the game where I screamed,  jumped back, and was fully terrified. It was great. Perhaps the scariest single moment I’ve had in VR so far.

This game also has some seriously creepy locations/situations besides the jump scares.

Overall there is a feeling of dread, tension, and fear throughout the entire experience.

Is Paranormal Activity VR based on the Movie?

Although there are 7 different films in the Paranormal Activity franchise (one even releases today!),  Paranormal Activity The Lost Soul is a unique and custom story.

This is perhaps a slightly disappointing part. Although you will frequently see cameras, static TVs with a few filmed footage scenes on them, and some demonic possession and witches hints, there is not much else that makes this “Paranormal Activity”.  You are mostly just walking around a haunted house.

If you have never seen the movies you definitely can play this game.

Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul Review Gameplay

Paranormal Activity VR has you entering a creepy, dark, and seemingly abandoned large and haunted house.

There are lots of long dark hallways, and spooky voices whispering in your ear. The entire time you can hear your heartbeat in the background and it makes for an unnerving experience. There are lots and lots of jump scares.

The overall idea of Paranormal Activity VR (without giving away any spoilers) is similar to most survival horrors.  You have a dim flashlight. Explore everything and everywhere in the dark house. Find the main core items, listen to tapes, find keys for locked doors, read notes, and pick up batteries for your flashlight. There are a few very easy-to-do puzzles.

Your main goal is to look for various core items that you can see in a large book in your inventory.

There are also countless items that you can pick up and interact with everywhere, but they have nothing to do with the story which can be pretty frustrating. The only way to know which items matter is they will disappear after you pick them up and therefore be put into your inventory.

Many locations will be locked or not accessible but you have free range to explore the house however you want.

Eventually, as you explore around, you will enter a location that will trigger a spooky experience, a door opening somewhere else in the house, or finding a key that will unlock a door somewhere. You will then need to backtrack, search, find that door, and explore the new area.

Paranormal Activity VR Graphics and Sound

The graphics are pretty good for a Quest 2 product. There are of course not as many shaders as you would see in a PC VR experience but overall spooky things look spooky enough.

Similar to the Paranormal Activity franchise, there is a noticeable lack of background music that is found in most games. Things are anything but silent though as you hear doors bang, floors check, whispered voices, and countless other unearthly noises. It is very spooky.

Some concerns…

The main issue with this title in most review comments is the control system. In the Quest 2 version, if you followed my above suggestion of turning on strife and controller options, things should be dramatically improved. There were still a few concerns though.

There are many, many doors, and true to many VR horror experiences, most VR doors will be hard to open. You won’t know exactly if the door is locked or you just haven’t gotten the handle pulled in the right direction. Try listening for the lock click noise to help determine which it is, but this isn’t always helpful. Your best bet, unfortunately, is to fully try each and every door handle several times.

Running is not so great. You push in on the joystick for this to happen, but I frequently found that didn’t happen. Running would frequently start and stop at random as I pushed the joystick. That is not so great when there are spooky ghosts chasing after you.

I found the story to be a bit lacking. Even after the game was completed I’m still not exactly sure who all the characters were and what their role or link to everyone else was.

I was also hoping for some more Paranormal Activity movie easter eggs but didn’t really find any beyond that house address is the last name of the game’s producer – Bradan Dotson.

There will frequently be no indication on where exactly to go or what you need to do. This might be frustrating for some people as you seem to be aimlessly wandering around. Your best bet is to breathe, explore, and take it all in.

Does Paranormal Activity cause motion sickness?

There IS in-game movement in Paranormal Activity VR. You move at a pretty slow walking pace for most of the game. Snap turning is the default option. Because of this there should be minimum motion sick issues.

Paranormal Activity VR should not cause any motion sickness issues but use the various motion control options to find the best level for you.

Final Thoughts On Paranormal Activity VR Review. Is Paranormal Activity VR worth it?

Yes, Paranormal Activity VR is worth it!