Last Updated on Sep 10, 2026 @ 17:29:55 PM.
If you are a fan of VR horror games, then we have some amazing news for you, as we had the opportunity to try out Into the Dead: Crimson Heights at Gamescom, where we were able to play the intro of the game within a room that the VR headset was able to bring into the game itself, enabling us to explore safely and not just because of the zombies waiting for us.
During my time with Into the Dead: Crimson Heights at Gamescom, I was able to experience the beginning of the game, where I was able to walk around the various apartments that the game is set inside of while also seeing the world the game is set in before ultimately coming face-to-face with one of the zombies.
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Although the gameplay started off slow with me being introduced to my tasks as a new superintendent to the building I was working in, which started off simple with getting people to turn their music down, collecting money, and checking on the inhabitants, the game quickly pivoted into a more horrific scene with the residents slowly turning on each other as zombies began to infest the building.
Sadly, due to a bug, because I was too quick to interact with the lever in the elevator, I wasn’t able to get to a point where I could go properly against a zombie, but I instead had one come close to me so I could see it in all its glory. Even though I wasn’t about to fight the zombies, I have been told that fighting them is a possibility, as there are knives and guns you can acquire to fight back, but the main focus for players should be to sneak their way through and stealth on the zombies rather than running and gunning, as there aren’t enough bullets to do that.
During my time with the game, I did have a lot of fun exploring the actual game world, as pretty much everything was interactable with me, being able to pick everything up and open all sorts of doors, cabinets, and even fridges, but what made the game world even more interesting was how the gameplay area was impacted by my surroundings.
Even though the room I was playing in was rather large and didn’t have too much furniture within it, these few pieces of furniture had a serious impact on how the game world was designed. For example, within the room I played in there were 2 chairs stationed within the room that, when the game scanned my surroundings, didn’t just fill the game with random chairs but instead turned those chairs into obstacles that made sense within the game.
For me these pieces of furniture were turned into things like tables, desks, walls, and yes, even chairs in order to provide a sense that you can’t go here without hitting something, and yes, it worked absolutely wonders, as even though I was always worried about bumping into something and even tested how close I could get to the furniture before I hit it, the game was pretty much exactly perfect with its measurements, and I was never in any danger unless I ignored the game, which was a great feature to include.
As I have mentioned above, the room I was playing in was rather large with a lot of space to roam around in, but not everyone has the space to do this, and the developers do know this, so if you are worried about not having enough room to play the game, the developers are looking to alleviate these worries as they are trying to shrink the play space to allow players to enjoy the game even if they are limited in space.
That is to say that even if your space is small, the game will run perfectly, as all the furniture in the room plays a part in the game, so you can’t have too much litter around the room; otherwise, it won’t work very well. Other than this, I had a lot of fun playing the game, as the world was rather inviting with a lot of fun VR gameplay that was just simply a joy to roam around in.
At the time of writing, Into the Dead: Crimson Heights doesn’t have a set release date but is scheduled to release sometime within 2027.
For your next read, why not check out our article that talks about our experience with Blackwood and its gameplay, or check out what we experience with Rock, Paper, Severed at Gamescom?
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
