I left my hands-on session of The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR with the title of the only person who punched a boss to death, and I’m still undecided if that’s an impressive accomplishment or an embarrassing failure. You’re not meant to do this. You’re supposed to punch enemies back and then carry on unloading your magazine into them, but I panicked and kept slamming my fist into their face. If it works, it’s not stupid.
Surprisingly, my aim was much better in VR than I thought it would be, given that I am usually terrible at traditional shooters. I learned I’m not that ambidextrous, and I often forgot I had a second gun and failed to aim well with my left hand entirely, but a little practice goes a long way. In my short time with the game, I quickly got the hang of it, primarily driven by instinct and panic.
Game director Alejandro Arque Gallardo and senior systems designer Sofia Romualdo were cheering me on from the sidelines as I checked out two levels from Switchback VR. I felt like I was appallingly bad at the game, especially after repeated deaths, but I was reassured that everyone died at some point. You can easily retry, and knowing where something is going to pop up from or which enemies you should target first made all the difference in ensuring I survived. Plus, I had the benefit of Gallardo and Romualdo telling me to take out the projectile vomiters first, as they deal the most damage. Unfortunately, most players won’t have this advantage, so you’ll need to be intuitive.
Switchback VR starts with a train crash, which kickstarts a hellish rail ride through different levels inspired by The Dark Pictures Anthology. Throughout your journey, you’ll be plagued by the demon Belial and encounter other train passengers trapped in the nightmare. As well as drawing on the best of the series to inspire its levels, providing fans with familiar scenes, characters, or events, there are also many nods to classic horror. In the levels I played, I saw a scene inspired by The Fog and a hallway scene reminiscent of The Shining. It’s a nice touch, as it means even if you haven’t played the series to recognise all the references, you can still find some nice Easter Eggs from horror golden oldies.
Armed with guns and your wits to overcome the horrifying obstacles before you, this rail shooter racks up your score per level as you try to navigate back to reality. Everything you can destroy or kill scores you points, but there are optional targets with demonic symbols that result in a bigger payout. While you have standard infinite ammo revolvers by default, there are opportunities to pick up heftier weapons such as a shotgun or grenade launcher, but these come with limited ammo and disappear once empty, so use them wisely.
I love horror games, and I especially love The Dark Pictures Anthology, but that doesn’t mean I handle the scares well. I lost count of the number of times I jumped, swore, and likely embarrassed myself by reacting poorly to the events unfolding before me. Switchback VR wants to scare you. It wants to unsettle you and make you jump, and it uses every trick in its arsenal to achieve that. As well as horrifying scenes and creatures from The Dark Pictures Anthology, jump scares, and gruesome scenery, Switchback is made even more hellish by taking full advantage of the PS VR2’s precision, picture quality, and eye tracking technology.
The latter is so precise that the game uses your own eyes as a weapon against you. Certain enemies only move while you’re not looking directly at them, you can see horrid mannequin bodies shuffling forward in your peripheral vision, but they’ll stop as soon as you look right at them.
They’re not even the worst ones. There are other mannequins that immediately jump to a new position every time you blink, like the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. I knew these would scare me, so I thought I’d easily solve the problem by not blinking. It’s harder than you might think.
When I first experienced these foul creatures, I had to blink to continue forwards. I was trapped in a room with them, and while my eyes watered, waiting for my little rollercoaster car to keep moving, I realised I had to deal with these mannequins before I could get away. With each blink, they increased in number and appeared closer and closer to me before finally pummeling my face. It’s overwhelming but makes your heart race deliciously. You’re surrounded, you can feel them touching you, you’re trying not to blink, and watching as your screen turns red as your death nears. Once I was finished with the hands-on, Gallardo told me there were sections where I would have seen more disturbing or changing scenes had I blinked a few more times, but once again, fear had prevailed. When I saw any mannequin, I forced myself to keep my eyes open and stay safe.
The unsettling scenery and enemies are even more frightening because of how the PS VR2 envelops you in its twisted world. You are surrounded. Enemies can come from all around you, and you can hear noises coming from different directions, keeping you on your toes at all times.
The haptic feedback was also used to great effect. You can feel the kickback of your guns or things touching your hands and head. In one scene, I was traveling through a narrowing meat tunnel of fleshy limbs and god knows what. It was impossible to avoid it all as you find yourself absorbed into this weird internal chamber where horrifying creatures await you, and all the while, you can feel those creepy limp arms brushing against your head.
Switchback VR is not a linear rail shooter, as your actions matter and can change your experience. I breathed a sigh of relief when Gallardo told me that a twitching animatronic I had spared (purely because it didn’t come towards me) was a blessing. If I had killed it, my cart would have stopped, and enemies would have swarmed me. Each level offers opportunities where the track splits, and you shoot at the arrow above you to decide which path you’ll take, keeping the scares as fresh as the corpses you’re shooting every time you replay.
There was some light puzzle solving in the levels I played, which Gallardo promised me would become more involved in the full game, especially in situations where you come across fellow train passengers also trapped in the hellscape. You can choose to ignore them, or perhaps you can figure out how to put them out of their misery or even save them entirely. Gallardo explained there are multiple endings, but saving all the passengers doesn’t guarantee you the best outcome, it just gives you the best chance of success upon entering the final chapter.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR offers a thrilling wild ride that will haunt you for days afterward. I’ve spent the last few days gushing about what I experienced to my colleagues, and I can only imagine how much fun it would be to compare a full playthrough with a friend’s to see what you did differently or what each experienced. If you love horror games, The Dark Pictures, or you want to see what the PS VR2 is capable of, Switchback VR is a must-play on all counts. Mark March 16 as the day you’re going for a train ride from hell.