There are few genres that are more suited to VR than horror. No cushions to hide behind, just your eyeballs and whatever high-res pixel terror developers want to throw at you. With Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (opens in new tab) Supermassive Games is clearly planning to scare us absolutely silly and has carefully constructed this on rails shooter to creep under our skin and stay there.
We know that the studio understands horror – Until Dawn (opens in new tab) is a brilliant exercise in terror that made me hold my breath for so long I almost passed out – so it’s good to see that its using that knowledge for virtual reality. Well, good and utterly terrifying at the same time. The full trailer is above but here are some moments that make me want the PS VR on my head immediately and not have to wait until October 13.
A fun house with none of the actual fun
Rush of Blood is set inside the head of one of the characters from Until Dawn so means that there’s plenty of cause for alarm. It’s basically a fairground ride from hell so I’m totally in.
Shoot to thrill
While shooting is clearly the order of the day, that doesn’t lessen any of the fear factor. Your carriage slows down and stops for perfect scares. This is a ghost train that doesn’t have people queuing up behind you so it’ll stay in position for as long as it takes to deliver peak terror. Hopefully these glowing eyed Purge-style characters are only the beginning.
The action looks sick in a good way
Yes, I went a bit Tony Hawk’s for that header. Forgive me. Executive producer Simon Harris says that the team has focussed on making a rollercoaster that actually works in virtual reality and hopefully that means we’ll be sick bag and fancy free. This looks enjoyably frantic and probably a welcome respite from jumping at things in the dark.
Because we need a horror movie on our head
Hello, The Shining and every horror movie worth its salt. Even a few of these little moments will be a nice shock while trundling along.
Well, this is just unpleasant
Oh. Dear. We’re going to need to watch cartoons after this. I’m fully expecting to be lulled into a false sense of security as the nasties stay on the other side of the carriage before clambering in. Just look at that elbow on the side of the cart. It’s not going to be long before that ‘wall’ is broken. Expect close company.
Us on October 13
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