When Sony announced Until Dawn: Rush of Blood at its press conference at the Paris Games Week, I was both glad and doubtful. On one hand, I was happy developer Supermassive Games weren’t milking the game through the ground by adding chapters or additional story elements to the game. Until Dawn as it is now doesn’t need to be tampered with.
On the other hand, learning that Rush of Blood was going to be an on-the-rails shooter didn’t quite set well with me. It’s an antiquated gameplay mechanic that robs players of movement and pacing, which especially for a horror game makes little sense. Does Until Dawn, one of the best horror games this year, really need this? However, as I plugged myself into the PlayStation VR to play a 5-min demo of the game, I was convinced Supermassive Games had something impressive on their hands.
The demo that I played took me through an abandoned hotel, and the game didn't waste any time to get down to business. You notice a trail of blood leading up the entrance and you begin to suspect that something is coming, just then you are distracted by a sound and you turn to look. Nothing. You shrug and turn back and there is a mangled up old witch starring right at your face. Now I am not the one to shriek in a brightly lit room full of adults, but I did make a noise that I am not too proud of.
Rush of Blood, much like Until Dawn, uses a lot of clever sound designs and horror tropes to get the scares out of you. It’s heavily reliant on jump scares, which are becoming ineffective these days, but on virtual reality it's an entirely new beast and works tremendously well.
You do get fire power to navigate through the zombie infested spaces though, with additional guns available to pickup if you shoot at it with your Move controllers. Of course, it’s hard to get scared when you are loaded with a quick firing Uzi and a pump shotgun, but the game does well to keep the tension up. The roller coaster you are on slowly moves through the hotel as you try to physically dodge blood dripping from the ceiling and keeping your wits in check as the game tries its best to distract you with creepy noises. It’s heart pumping action from start to finish, even if you are just coasting from one corridor to another.
And I think this is what Rush of Blood does extremely well. It keeps you in fear throughout the level, and despite using tried and tested horror formulas, the virtual reality experience lends a hand into making it new and fresh. If Supermassive Games can keep up the level of quality here, using smart ideas to convert filmy horror into video game experiences, Rush of Blood could be one of the best games to come out for the PlayStation VR. It’s easily my most anticipated for the platform.
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