Watch out! YOU are REC!

Posted by Alpha Auer, with special thanks to Aenea Nori, for having reminded us of REC!

Having a proven and vested interest in crime scenes, it would appear that I really am the woman for the job here, as can be readily witnessed on this link on my Real Life website.

And yet, even with all of my prior preoccupations in the matter, dai Lageos' REC turned out to be my match and much more. This is an immersive experience, which you can indulge in only through the aid of a head mounted camera. This will put you in the position of wandering inside a darkened apartment building's stairwell; whilst looking for the clues of a truly gory crime that has been committed on the premises, through a visor. And compounding your agony is that, as the blinker on the top relentlessly reminds you, you are forced to not only record everything that you encounter but the camera also offers unexpected flashbacks of images of the very moments of the actual crime itself.





And it is indeed these flashbacks, over in split seconds, occurring at rare and random intervals, that take REC from the mere mundane recreation of a CSI episode stageset on to a whole different level: A terrifying experience.





While the building is rendered in an almost cartoonish, anime-like fashion, complete with contours that surround the beautifully textured individual surfaces; the flashbacks are cruelly photographic, frozen moments of visual noise ridden horror. And it is this juxtaposition of the very real with the cartoon-like that makes for the extraordinary visual and immersive experience that is REC. Furthermore these flashbacks are placed at sufficiently rare intervals (not more than 5 altogether during the half hour or so that I spent at REC) and are over so fast that they stay shy of becoming gimmicky but achieve the effect that they are meant to convey: Abject horror and helplessness!

At REC you are meant to aid the investigation by gaining access into the dwelling units behind the closed doors through finding the clues that are meant to open those very doors. But as said, REC proved to be my match when it came to my amateurish investigative skills: I was utterly unable to do so. May you have better luck! But regardless of whether you do or not - REC is a must see of Second Life®, to which you can teleport to directly from here.