Song in the Smoke

Song in the Smoke excels with fantastic controls and VR mechanics, accomplishing some things that veteran VR developers still struggle with. A full-sized, immersive experience, Song in the Smoke is not easy, but it is engaging and fun.

There is a vague story to Song in the Smoke and cutscenes that guide the player through their boss fights. The tips for how to defeat bosses or draw them out are revealed in a creative and immersive way. The environment and music, as well as constant sounds made by other creatures, make Song in the Smoke a truly mesmerizing experience. Players will feel the dread of traversing dangerous areas, and the satisfaction of defeating a powerful boss. Song in the Smoke is an unrivaled VR survival game with horror elements, and it gives players complete freedom to explore, hunt in, and conquer the treacherous wilderness.

The level design is magnificent and becomes a real challenge the deeper in you get. Every day feels fresh and new, a mixture of joy when a new area is discovered and dread when a menacing growl suddenly appears from behind you. It’s a huge experience that you can get lost in, spending hour upon hour taking it all in. Song in the Smoke looked like it was something special and it is, one of the best VR games of 2021.

I am, if you couldn’t tell, quite in love with Song in the Smoke, then. It’s rough, yes, and some of its design ideas need a second pass. But it’s also an intoxicating trip, an experience directly connected to the beating heart of nature and acutely aware of the structure and interaction needed to make its survival gameplay work in VR. All of this is thrown into a mortar and crushed beneath a pestle to conjure a game in which you can practically feel the slip of wet mud, scrape of scrambling over a cliff face or chill of water flowing over your feet. Like the healing potions and mystic concoctions you’ll brew, Song in the Smoke is a hell of drug.

You can't craft your way to godhood in Song in the Smoke like in some survival games, but you can build a hardened resolve to make it through this primeval adventure, which challenges the player to get through each day in the face of hunger, cold, fatigue, and plenty of beasts that lurk in the shadows. Combat isn't super engaging, and visuals feel a little too muddy to be awe-inspiring, but Song in the Smoke can still leave you breathless with its large and complex levels that hide many secrets.