Back when PSVR first arrived on the scene, a lot of folks talked about what their "introduction" game was - which game they would plunge friends and family into to demonstrate the power of their new toy. Lots of folks opted for the shark level of PlayStation VR Worlds, or the simple appealing fun of Harmonix Music VR. Some people would allow their mom to mess around in the slightly off-color but ultimately harmless Job Simulator. Me? I was strapping my friends and family into the demonic rollercoaster of Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.
There was no better fun that seeing people scream bloody murder at the first jump scare in Rush of Blood, or watching them realize that yes, indeed, this was going to be scary as hell. For a launch game, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood had it all - immersion, great action, and a real sense of being transported to a different place. Everything about Rush of Blood was finely tuned, from the great coaster design that slowed long enough to allow players to take in the scene before plunging them into various circles of hell, to the great shooting action that had players blasting away at baddies the entire time.
That's why I am crazy excited for The Dark Pictures: Switchback, which look like a sequel to Rush of Blood in everything but name. Announced last week on a PlayStation Blog post about launch games, Switchback immediately eclipsed everything else on the list to become my #1 most anticipated PSVR 2 game.
I've played a lot of the other PSVR 2 launch titles on Quest 2, and while many of them are indeed awesome, Switchback is giving me everything I want from PSVR 2 - including the fact that it is a PlayStation Exclusive. Much like Rush of Blood ran the player through nightmare alternate scenarios using imagery from Until Dawn, Switchback looks like it's going to be cranking through settings from The Dark Pictures Anthology, which is one of my favorite ongoing series in gaming.
"Switchback VR will take players for a multi-sensory ride on where they’ll need to survive the terrifying Ghost Ship and its distorted apparitions, confront hideous demonic incarnations of persecuted ‘witches’ in 17th-century New England and then fight for your life against other-worldly vampires trapped beneath the desert. Finally, escape the horrifying World’s Fair Hotel with a sadistic serial killer out for blood and discover how your story connects these worlds on this sinister rollercoaster from hell," according to Alejandro Arque Gallardo in the blog post.
Good lord, where do I sign up? PSVR 2 launches on February 22, 2023. Expect to see me first in line for the front car on that day.
