The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR [PlayStation VR 2] | REVIEW

I’ve been eagerly anticipating The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR ever since it was announced, especially since Supermassive Games have already proven they can nail VR horror with the brilliant Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. Taking the frights of their critically acclaimed Dark Pictures series and mixing it up with the power of PlayStation VR 2? It’s a spine-chilling recipe for success.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR sees players re-living the frightening horrors of The Dark Pictures series, with the players guided through an assortment of areas from Man of Medan, Little Hope, House of Ashes, and The Devil in Me on a monstrous rollercoaster ride. Given how spooky each of those games were, players can expect plenty of shocks along the way as they re-live some of the scariest sections of those games, with easter eggs aplenty as you re-visit familiar territory. Oh, and the nasty monsters and sights you fearfully remember from those titles? They show up to give you plenty of shocks along the ride.

Those who have already played through The Dark Pictures series will probably appreciate the game the most, but there’s still plenty on offer to keep complete newbies absorbed in the terrifying world. The narrative doesn’t take centre stage quite as much as the mainline titles, whilst it’s easy to appreciate the compelling locales you venture through on your journey without knowing the backstory behind them. It does mean you might miss out on some little nods to the mainline titles (I found it exciting recognising some of the sights or monstrosities I’ve previously face off against), but it doesn’t make the game any less entertaining to play.

When it comes to the gameplay, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR will feel familiar to those that played through Until Dawn: Rush of Blood on the original PlayStation VR. A (literal) on-rails shooter? Check. Plenty of monsters to jump out and give you scares? Check. A pair of guns to blast away at enemies to protect yourself? Double-check. In everything but the title, this feels very much like a sequel to Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, though that can only be seen as a good thing since it was so damn fun. You can expect tons of tumbles and rumbles on the rails as it constantly changes in pace, slick set pieces where you’ll be shooting non-stop at incoming monsters, and plenty of replayability as you try to rack up high scores, whilst you’ll even find the occasional puzzle this time around that demands cleverer gunplay from the player. It’s a simple gameplay loop, but it’s one that’s immersive and that offers hours of enjoyment across the game’s ten levels.

“You can expect tons of tumbles and rumbles on the rails as it constantly changes in pace, slick set pieces where you’ll be shooting non-stop at incoming monsters, and plenty of replayability as you try to rack up high scores, whilst you’ll even find the occasional puzzle this time around that demands cleverer gunplay from the player.”

Of course, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR is a PlayStation VR 2 title, so it brings with it plenty of improvements that utilise all of the features of the more powerful headset. For one, the haptic feedback of the headset feels great and adds to the atmosphere when you find yourself in a particularly frightening situation, whilst the responsive triggers of the Sense controllers make you feel every bullet you unload. Each feature makes the experience feel more immersive, whilst they’re also complemented by the 3D audio that’ll ensure you’ll hear EVERYTHING around you no matter the direction you might be facing. It’s a good way to track where enemies might be coming from, but it might also make you a little bit scared of turning your head…

What’s especially clever is the way that the game implements eye tracking. I don’t want to give too much away here, but when the games warns you not to blink, you might want to listen to it – not only can you expect to see some jump scares with each blink, but incoming enemies will change position to catch you off-guard. It’s the best use I’ve seen so far of PlayStation VR 2’s eye tracking and makes for some of the most frightening moments in the whole game.

Whilst The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR does make full use of the PlayStation VR 2’s features, it was a bit more iffy on the technical side. The visuals are fine and certainly manage to re-create the horrors expected of the series, but they’re nowhere near as impressive as some of the headset’s other releases such as Horizon Call of the Mountain, Resident Evil Village, or Gran Turismo 7. The resolution was a little fuzzier too, whilst I even noticed some pop-in in some area of the game. There was nothing drastically bad by any means, but it doesn’t pack the visual punch seen in some of the other big launch window titles.

Then you have the load times, which felt especially long given that it’s being played on the PlayStation 5’s SSD. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not in for any LONG waits, but it definitely felt noticeable when compared to other titles I’ve played on the platform. I’m nit-picking a bit, but I guess I expected to be dropped right into the action without much waiting in-between.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Thankfully, these issues didn’t sour the experience for me, with The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR still managing to offer everything I hoped for from the game. I haven’t even mentioned the epic boss encounters, the multiple paths you can take through levels, or the fact that some of your decisions affect the fate of other characters (wouldn’t be a Supermassive Games release without it), with The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR packing in PLENTY to keep players fully engrossed in the adventure. You’ll find yourself spending around five hours to play through the main game, but believe me, you won’t be able to resist coming back for more horrifying fun.

Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: Supermassive Games
Platform(s): PlayStation VR 2 (Reviewed)
Website: https://www.thedarkpictures.com/switchback-vr