VR Classics: I Expect You To Die
You’re trapped in a car.
The car is on an airplane.
A bomb just fell out of the dashboard.
What do you do? That’s the question in I Expect You To Die. The so-called “VR Escape Room” is a popular genre, but the hook here is excellent: You’re an international super-spy, a la James Bond. (The title is taken from Goldfinger.) Travel the world and foil the plans of the evil genius Dr. Zor. Do whatever needs doing, whether that’s donning a window washer’s uniform to break into a secret research facility or cracking safes in a trap-filled hunting lodge or making contact with a defector (and concert violinist) on a train.
As the title so aptly puts it, you’re expected to die. Once, twice, a dozen times. I Expect You To Die is a game of trial-and-error, of fixing one problem and triggering five more. You got the safe open? Great, now bypass the voice lock. You can’t? Hmm, well in that case you’d better deal with the poison gas now flooding the room.
Completing a level can take as little as two minutes, if you do it perfectly—but you won’t do it perfectly. Not on your first try, at least. (I hope you remembered to remove the grenade from the engine before turning it on.)
Death means starting over, this time with knowledge of the next pitfall. When you do finally nail a level, the journey to get there makes victory that much sweeter. You can feel yourself getting better with each attempt—setting up items you know you’ll need later so that they’re easily accessible, memorizing passcodes and reacting to traps before they’re even fully triggered. In effect, you become the superhuman spy that I Expect You To Die pretends you are from the start. It’s an extremely satisfying progression.
It’s also hilarious. I Expect You To Die leans into the spy tropes—cigars and jazz, lasers and crossbow-wielding statues. And then there’s your handler, expertly delivering lines like “That doesn’t look good, Agent!” with just the right amount of chipper optimism to make you laugh as you dodge the bullets an enemy is firing through the mail slot.
There’s a sequel out now, I Expect You To Die 2, and it’s excellent. The new levels and scenarios are clever and the puzzles just as challenging as ever. Fans wanted more I Expect You To Die, and the team at Schell Games gave them that and then some.
But I replayed the original before writing this, and it holds up remarkably well. Each level is more clever than the last, culminating in the three (free) DLC levels where the story escalates in spectacular pulp-novel fashion.
While you don’t have to play them in order, I’d still recommend doing so—just to prolong the fun. Foil all of Dr. Zor’s plans. It’s worth it. Note also that I Expect You To Die is great for VR newcomers, given that it’s played seated and stationary, and levels are nice and self-contained—perfect if you’re demoing your headset for friends and family.
Look for I Expect You To Die on the Quest and Rift Platforms—and pick up I Expect You To Die 2 on the Quest and Rift Platforms as well! We'll be back soon with another installment of VR Classics.
