| “ | Experience the thrill of the most nightmarish VR roller coaster horror-shooter, enhanced by the innovative features of the PlayStation VR2 and all set inside the sinister world of The Dark Pictures.
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Switchback VR is a VR rail shooter developed and published by Supermassive Games, released on March 16, 2023 as an exclusive for the PlayStation VR2. It is a spin-off of The Dark Pictures Anthology and successor to the 2016 VR spin-off of Until Dawn, Rush of Blood.
Gameplay[]
The game has a gameplay identical to Rush of Blood, with the player riding a roller coaster cart through locations and shooting off various enemies. The game has ten levels, with two of each centered around one of the games from the first season of The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, Little Hope, House of Ashes and The Devil in Me.
The player is armed by default with two handguns; they have infinite ammo, but require reloading after six shots. The player can replace the handguns with various firearms by shooting a colored box in the levels. The weapon will be utilized by the respective hand that shot the box. Each weapon is better in power and/or speed, but has limited ammunition and with its emptying, they are replaced back to the handguns.
The player is rewarded with points for shooting enemies and certain targets. Multiple kills add a level to a multiplier, which can rise up to a maximum of 10x. The multiplier starts to drop if the player doesn't shoot for a long time or takes damage, with the rate of drop can vary, slow during the ride and fast during combat. At the end of each level, the player is given a score breakdown.
Continuing the motif of the anthology, the game allows the player to make choices that affect the playthrough. At some points in the ride, the player reaches a fork and can choose which path to take by shooting signs with an arrow flipping to the direction the track goes. The player also finds four trapped train passengers and can choose whether to try to save them or leave them to die. Each saved passenger gives fifty additional seconds to the timer for the final battle, which gives the player one extra minute in total.
Plot[]
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The player character travels by train to New York to visit their sister Charlotte, with whom they haven't been in contact since the death of their father. Suddenly, the train begins to shake and the protagonist finds themselves on a roller coaster ride with one of the train's passengers, watching them; in reality, the train crashes and the protagonist is left on the brink of life and death. During the ride the protagonist has several flashbacks in the burning train, where they see the Curator and listen to Charlotte's voice. In the course of an sinister ride, the protagonist is confronted by ghostly apparitions of an abandoned ship, demonic incarnations of ‘witches’ of the New England, other-worldly monsters beneath the desert, and the sadistic serial killer living within the murder hotel. At the same time, the protagonist finds the other passengers trapped and about to be killed. Depending on the player's decisions, they may be rescued and their souls saved, or abandoned to their doom and dragged to the underworld. By the end of the journey, the protagonist directly confronts the last passenger Laila, revealed to be a demon named Belial, who intends to drag the protagonist's soul to hell. With the help of the souls of the rescued passengers, which buys the protagonist time, they manage to defeat Belial. The demon returns to hell, while in reality, the protagonist is rescued from the train by the fireman. The ending depends on the timer and has two versions:
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Characters[]
- The Curator
- Amelia Tyler as Belial/Laila
- Clare Foster as Charlotte
- Milton L. as Anthony
- Anne Wittman as Scarlett
- Angeline F. as Claudia
- John Moraitis as Robert
- Ed Ashe as Fireman
Development[]
The title of the game was trademarked on August 5, 2021, although no information was known about it.
The game was announced publicly with a trailer[1] on November 2, 2022. It was initially announced that the game would be released as a launch title of the PlayStation VR 2 on February 22, 2023. Pre-ordering became available on November 29, with a pre-order bonus of the "Inferno Pack"[2] featuring two new guns, an exclusive cart skin, and an exclusive bobble head cosmetic. As Supermassive Games wanted to improve the quality of the game more, the game was eventually delayed to release on March 16.
In order to market the game, Supermassive Games invited three different content creators to play three different levels of the game[3] on February 13. A few days later, an interview[4] with the game director, Alejandro Arque Gallador, along with a gameplay showcase of some of the levels, was released.
On July 21st, 2023, patch 1.0.6 was released as a "major update" that overhauled the game's graphics while also fixing bugs and tweaking certain levels.[5]
On October 18th, 2023, patch 1.0.7 was released and introduced a free DLC "Horde Mode" featuring endless waves of enemies.[6]
Reception[]
Special Releases[]
Inferno Pack[]
The Inferno Pack pre-order bonus.
A pre-order bonus that features two new guns, an exclusive cart skin, and an exclusive bobble head cosmetic.
Trivia[]
References[]
- References to Switchback VR appear in the installments of The Dark Pictures Anthology:
- In The Devil in Me: a theme park photo hinting at Inferno's Ride.
Other[]
- Switchback VR is the first spin-off of the anthology, as well as the first VR game in the series.
- The title of the game is a term for a type of path that follows a zig-zag pattern up a steep stretch of terrain.
- Switchback VR is the first game in the series not published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
- Since Switchback VR is not part of the main series, its full name doesn't include the word "anthology", being simply The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
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| Installments |
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| Spin-offs | Switchback VR | ||||||