Of Lies and Rain is the kind of VR project that dials things down instead of amping them up. It’s not built around fast movement or flashy mechanics. Instead, it’s a slow burn—part interactive fiction, part environmental drama—wrapped in a noir aesthetic that leans into mood and tone more than combat or spectacle.
A playable demo recently dropped on Steam, giving a first look at the game’s direction. And while it’s still early, what’s there feels focused. This is a story-forward experience, with the player stepping into the shoes of a jaded protagonist navigating a rain-soaked dystopia.
Stylized Visuals With a Clear Point of View
Visually, Of Lies and Rain doesn’t chase realism. The art direction opts for a minimalist, sketch-like style with hard shadows and muted tones. It’s somewhere between graphic novel and stage play—deliberately constrained, but effective in shaping atmosphere. The rain is constant, both literally and metaphorically. Water streaks the windows, drips from ceilings, and seeps into the game’s emotional tone. It’s the visual cue that reinforces the central themes: isolation, paranoia, and memory. In a VR context, that stylization creates a focused space that doesn’t overdo sensory input but still keeps the world alive.
Slow-Paced, Story-Driven Interaction
This isn’t a game built around fast-paced action or complex puzzles. The demo is mostly walking, talking, and looking. Conversations unfold slowly, with full voice acting and deliberate pacing. Movement is limited to room-scale exploration and some basic interactions with objects.
What’s unusual here is the confidence in doing less. The game leans heavily into its narrative structure and uses VR not to simulate realism, but to physically place you inside the frame of a noir mystery. It’s reminiscent of The Under Presents or Half-Life: Alyx’s quieter moments, where the environment and pacing do most of the storytelling.
Design Choices That Prioritize Immersion
One standout detail is how Of Lies and Rain handles its framing. The player isn’t fully present in every scene. Some sections feel like you’re watching through the eyes of the character, while others shift to more abstract perspectives. It’s a reminder that this is more cinematic than sandbox, and the game is trying to guide your emotional state, not hand over full agency.
This won’t appeal to players looking for deep mechanics or replayable systems. But for those interested in narrative-driven VR, especially games that experiment with form and mood, Of Lies and Rain is quietly ambitious. It uses VR as a stage, not a playground, and that difference is what gives it a distinct voice in a space crowded with shooters and sims.
Early But Promising, If You Know What You’re In For
The demo is short and leaves a lot of open questions. But it does enough to suggest that the full release will stick to this low-interaction, high-atmosphere model. Whether it can sustain that over a full game is still unclear, but the tone and presentation are already doing heavy lifting.
As VR storytelling continues to split between gamified experiences and immersive theater, Of Lies and Rain seems to be carving out space in the latter. It may not be flashy, but it knows exactly what it wants to be.
Virtual Reality Explorer & Game Reviewer
Always the first to plug in. VRSCOUT dives head-first into the most immersive VR worlds, analyzing mechanics, comfort, innovation, and that elusive “presence” factor. If he says it’s worth it, it probably is.
