Horror shooters and action horror The Dark Pictures

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR

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Ride the rails through the Dark Pictures, and choose who rides with you.

Platforms: PlayStation, VR
Price: Paid
Rated: About 4.3 of 5 from some 2,900 ratings on the PlayStation Store; critics mixed (64 on Metacritic from 32 reviews)
Length: about 4 hours
Players: 1
Controls: PS VR2 headset and PS VR2 Sense controllers, played seated; eye tracking is used in some sections
Made by: Supermassive Games
Released: 2023

No. 26 of the witch horror games · No. 24 of the hotel horror games · No. 10 of the vampire horror games

What frightens In PS VR2 you ride a horror rollercoaster through the places of four Dark Pictures games, a ghost ship, a fog-bound town, a buried temple and a murder hotel, shooting creatures with pistols, flipping switches to change the track, and deciding whether the passengers with you live or die.
Content: blood, violence, strong language, jumpscares, motion sickness.

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR is a PS VR2 rail shooter by Supermassive Games and the follow-up to Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. You ride a horror rollercoaster through the settings of four Dark Pictures games, shooting what comes for you and choosing which fellow passengers survive.

About The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR was developed and published by Supermassive Games for PlayStation VR2 and came out on 16 March 2023. It is a spiritual sequel to the studio's PS VR game Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, built on the world of The Dark Pictures Anthology.

It opens on a train: you are a passenger who meets a young woman just before the train crashes, and you wake on a rollercoaster ride through a nightmare. Armed with a pistol in each hand, you shoot targets, objects and enemies, and boxes along the track give your guns brief upgrades such as a shotgun. The track runs through places from the Anthology's first four games: the wrecks and ghost ship of Man of Medan, the abandoned town of Little Hope with its demons of persecuted witches, the vampire-haunted ruins beneath the desert of House of Ashes, and the copy of H.H. Holmes' World's Fair Hotel from The Devil in Me. Later levels hand you a UV light, a flare gun and a stun gun for set obstacles and puzzles. You shoot switches to change the route, and your actions decide, for good, whether the other passengers live or die. The anthology's Curator watches you along the way.

What sets it apart from Rush of Blood is PS VR2 itself: in its Don't Blink sections the headset's eye tracking lets enemies move only while your eyes are shut, and headset rumble and the controllers' triggers add to the ride. The scares are mostly sudden jump scares and crowds of enemies closing in. There are three difficulties, a score on your cart and leaderboards, and levels can be replayed for a higher score or a different route.

Critics were divided: Metacritic's average is 64, with praise for the variety of enemies and the eye tracking and complaints that the scares grow predictable. Players on the PlayStation Store rate it far higher. It is played seated, but the coaster moves you constantly, so it is not for anyone who gets sick in VR. It suits PS VR2 owners who liked Rush of Blood or the Dark Pictures games and want a loud, scary ride.

How to play The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR

Buy it on the PlayStation Store; you need a PS5, PS VR2 and its Sense controllers, and you play seated.
Pick one of the three difficulties and ride the coaster, shooting the creatures and targets around you with a pistol in each hand.
Shoot the boxes along the track for short weapon upgrades.
Shoot switches to change the track's route.
Use the UV light, flare gun or stun gun where a level hands them to you, and solve the puzzles that decide whether the other passengers survive; their fates cannot be undone.

Screenshots

Two pistols aimed at a white door marked DON'T BLINK in blood, at the end of a rusty, candlelit ship corridor

A screaming, decayed woman in a sailor cap lunges at the player's two pistols in a dark train carriage

Two pistols aimed at the open iron gates of a clapboard house in night fog, a silhouette in a lit window

A gaunt, charred creature with bared teeth leans out from behind a beam in a burning, ruined hall

Two pistols firing at a screaming, rotting figure with a dog tag in a dark industrial room, more undead behind it

A pale, screaming creature with a second head on its shoulder reaches up toward the player from the dark

Two pistols firing at a screaming, decayed figure in a doorway of a dim green room

Tips

Keep your eyes open in the Don't Blink sections: some enemies only move while you blink.
Watch for the switches: each track has several paths, so a replay can show you scenes you missed.
Replay levels for a higher score on the leaderboards, or to make different choices about the passengers.
Take breaks if the motion bothers you; it is a rollercoaster, even sitting down.

Questions

Do I need PS VR2 for Switchback VR?

Yes. It is a PS VR2 game for PS5 and needs the PS VR2 Sense controllers. It is not sold on PC or other headsets.

How long is The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR?

About four hours for one run of the main story, according to HowLongToBeat and UploadVR's review. Different routes, choices and difficulties give reasons to replay.

Is Switchback VR connected to the Dark Pictures games?

Yes. Its levels are set in places from Man of Medan, Little Hope, House of Ashes and The Devil in Me, with their villains, and the Curator appears.

Is it like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood?

Yes. Supermassive made it as a spiritual sequel to Rush of Blood: another horror rollercoaster shooter, now with PS VR2's eye tracking and haptics.

Will it make me motion sick?

It might. You sit still while the coaster moves, speeds up and drops; the store warns that VR games may cause motion sickness, and UploadVR named comfort as its main hurdle.