The Exorcist VR Legion Review

Is it Scary? Is It Based on the Movie?

 Amanda BlainPosted:October 15, 2021
Updated: June 3, 2022

Let’s get started on this The Exorcist VR Review.

What is The Exorcist Legion VR?

The Exorcist Legion VR Is a survival horror VR Game that is based in The Exorcist movie universe. You play as a police offer who is investigating some spooky locations.

There are 5 different chapters and experiences to play through that are full of horror elements, jump scares, and mild puzzle-solving.

Who Makes The Exorcist Legion?

The Exorcist Legion VR is developed by Wolf and Wood. They are a UK-based developer who has been working in VR since 2014. They have created several VR products including Hotel RnR and A Chair in a Room: Greenwater.

Which VR Headsets is The Exorcist Legion VR On?

The Exorcist Legion VR is available on Steam VR, PlayStationVR, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Quest 2.

The Exorcist Legion VR Tutorial

Each time you start the game you will be in a police investigations room where you get a refresher on how the controls work. You can edit your movement settings here and you probably should. I used free movement with snap turning.

Chapter 1 is the tutorial and intro to the game. You start off in a church where someone has been murdered. You will move through the scene that has convenient police marker numbers that will walk you through where you need to look.

As you explore you will find the various pieces of an exorcism kit. It will introduce you to these items and how you use them. There are lots of things to read that helps give you some back story and some tapes to listen to as well.

This chapter blends a nice intro with the story. It also is pretty intense and scary. There is a fair share of well-timed jump scares and many dark and sinister moments. This brings me to….

Is The Exorcist VR scary?

Yes. The Exorcist VR is a scary game.

Horror is one of those things that can be different for each person. What I enjoy so much about Exorcist Legion VR is that it takes place in 5 different and unique horror-filled settings. In the various chapters you will visit:

• Chapter 1: First Rite – A murder crime scene at a church
• Chapter 2: Idle Hands – A psychiatric ward with a possessed teacher
• Chapter 3: Skin Deep –  A haunted baby in a spooky house
• Chapter 4: Samaritan – A diseased breakout infected morgue
• Chapter 5: The Tomb – A dark ancient tomb that is full of religious symbols

The overall theme of the horrible things in each horrible location changes for each chapter. Depending on your own personal fears and horrors, some of these chapters will scare you more than others.

There are common themes throughout though like ghosts, blood, insects, darkness, murder, and death. There are also plenty of niche fears that you will come across like dolls, heights, zombies, falling, fire, suicide, snakes… And so so so many more.

Overall The Exorcist VR does a great job of creating a tense and unnerving atmosphere that will keep you on edge and scared in VR.

Is the Exorcist VR Based on the Movie?

Yes, well sort of. The Exorcist Legion VR is based on the 3rd Exorcist movie and the novel by Willian Peter Blatty called Legion.

If you have not seen The Exorcist 3 I recommend giving it a watch as it is a pretty decent horror film with some really great scares. There are quite a few nods to the film in this VR game, but it certainly is not required in any way and the episodes do not follow the movie plot.

Exorcist 3 is not a very popular film compared to the main “The Exorcist” that most everyone has seen with Regan the possessed child. The universe is the same though and the demon Pazuzu talked about at the start of the Exorcist movie is shown through the VR game.

Some nods to the 3rd movie I saw were the clock, the references to the inmate with the knowledge he shouldn’t have, the entire VHS videotape scene sent to the detective, and of course, all the various legion evil spirits. Did you find any other movie references?

The Exorcist VR Gameplay Review

The actual gameplay is pretty simple. Each level will involve you moving around and exploring until something triggers the next scene. This could be picking up an item or walking by a certain location. Usually, there will be some kind of breathy ghost whisper, animation, or a jump scare to let you know the next part is available.

You should also pick up everything you can see. When you pick up something that will be needed to advance a chime sound will occur so you know it is important. Some may want a bit more action but most of this game is about the spooky atmosphere.

For example…. (Minor spoilers for next paragraph)

As you casually move around the haunted psychiatric ward, the lights go out. It is now dark, you can’t see in front of you. You turn around a full 180 degrees and that hallway you just walked down is now a wall. A blood-covered wall. You turn the other way and it is now a dark hallway you can not see the end of. And so on. Eventually, you will need to use pieces of your exorcism kit to progress past certain parts.

You can’t really die in Exorcist VR. That doesn’t mean things won’t try and kill you.

There are some truly terrifying moments in each and every level that will be sure to get your heart pumping.

Exorcist VR Artifact Puzzles

There are a few “artifact” puzzles to optionally solve. 1 in each level. Each of these artifact puzzles will be a pretty simple deal, moving pieces of something to get it in the correct order.  The trick is finding them. If you get one you will see a page that shows the other ones so read carefully!

If you successfully complete the artifact you will receive an “upgrade” to your exorcism kit. You can also miss these or skip them completely. They are a nice extra challenge so I recommend finding them!

The Exorcist Legion VR Graphics and Sound

The graphics in the PCVR version are slightly better than the Quest 2 version. Usually, the main difference is shaders. For example, you can see through the glass door in the police station in PCVR but not in Oculus Quest 2.

Overall the graphics in the Quest 2 are very good for horror VR and they were completely re-done not too long ago.

There are strong enough horror graphics here to get you feeling creeped out in either version.

The sound is one of the better parts of The Exorcist VR. There are constant breathy ghost whispers that start in one ear and move to the other. Even rather non-spooky normal sounds can turn truly terrifying when you are in these dark, ghost-filled rooms.

The Exorcist VR Control Issues

There are definitely some control issues that exist in this game. Usually to do with boundaries.

Quite a few times I found I had to reset my height and guardian. More than once in Chapter 5 level I got stuck in a wall and saw the all too familiar “out of bounds” warning screen.

I kept fiddling with things and never had to actually reset a level but I could see many people just restarting when this happens. Don’t. Keep playing around with it (push one joystick, turn around, move in real life over one step, etc) or you will lose all your progress in that level so far and have to play it again.

There was also a moment of “How do I answer the radio/walkie-talkie” in the Police headquarters in Exorcist VR… Which for some reason is pushing the right joystick IN. Not up, not A, push that joystick IN. A quick look online sees many people have this issue and I’m not sure exactly why this command was done this way when almost nothing else uses this joystick in command.

Several people also complained about losing level progress. I found that you should always use your phone and exit the game via this menu just to “be safe” and make sure it keeps your progress on the level instead of just resetting.

Who Will Enjoy Playing The Exorcist Legion VR?

Does The Exorcist Legion VR cause motion sickness?

The Exorcist Legion VR DOES have in-game movement. It also has a large number of movement settings that you can customize from snap turning to vignette. Play around with the settings until you find something that is comfortable for you.

The Exorcist Legion VR should not cause any motion sickness issues if you use the in-game movement settings. 

Final Thoughts On The Exorcist VR Review. Is The Exorcist Legion VR Worth It?

The Exorcist Legion VR is totally worth it!