Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, a rails shooter with many memorable moments, was one of the unsung heroes of the PSVR’s software roster – and pseudo sequel The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR looks set to build on that legacy. While it will offer a similar experience to its predecessor – you’re riding a rollercoaster through increasingly unnerving environments – it does have some horrifying ideas that will take advantage of the hardware.
One feature that’s been teased previously but described in more detail by EDGE magazine is its implementation of eye-tracking. As you may know, PSVR2 can detect where you’re looking, and it can use this technology in a number of ways. For many, it’ll likely be leveraged for foveated rendering, which is used to enhance the detail of objects you’re specifically looking at, cutting back on computational cost – but there are gameplay possibilities, too.
In Firewall Ultra, for example, you’ll use your eyes to select your weapons – and in the aforementioned horror spin-off, well, developer Suppermassive Games has something particularly horrific in mind. EDGE explains: “A door painted with the instruction ‘don’t blink’ opens up into a room of blood-smeared mannequins in harlequin masks, their bodies twisted into unnatural poses. Eventually we can’t help it anymore, and let our eyelids flutter closed. When they open again, the mannequins have been rearranged – or have rearranged themselves.”
The magazine continues that it learned to use its blinking tactically, only closing its eyes once its weapons were reloaded and ready. While it is obviously a gimmick – and one that’s likely to be copied by countless other developers over the course of PSVR2’s lifespan – it sounds particularly harrowing, doesn’t it? Pair all of this with the headset’s haptic feedback and life-like visuals, and we imagine this is going to be a pretty heart-pounding experience.
[source gamesradar.com, via mp1st.com]
Comments 21
Eye tracking has so many possibilities in horror games especially. Having entities appear from wherever you are not looking. Having them drift in your peripheral vision only…it’s usually what isn’t entirely shown which is scariest in films, and so too in VR.
Plus of course, just having NPCs look you directly in the eye is unsettling enough, lol.
Aim assist, menu interfaces, not to mention the foveated rendering tech…eye tracking really is irreplaceable.
This sounds awesome and I hate it. I don't ever want to play anything that does this. Nope. Take it away.
I'm glad this will add new tools to developers' arsenal, but this is something I already know would be too much for me (FEAR freaked me out enough back in the day with things happening just off-camera which you only notice when you look around)
No thanks 😂
That sounds absolutely horrific.
Very impressive too though. My hype for PSVR2 dipped a little due to distractions over Christmas, but this has triggered it again.
I can't wait to see what devs do with this thing.
This would make a perfect Weeping Angels Doctor Who game!
A game I would never play, because I’m a baby when it comes to first-person horror games, let alone one in VR 😢.
Sounds incredible, I really want PSVR 2, but that price!!
PSVR 2 is gonna blow our minds. Bet.
Fifty two days away.
Skipped psvr1 but going all in for psvr2,yes it's expensive but I'm sure the experience will be worth it with the added features not seen in other headsets
They might make playstation official nappies for the more scary games.
Oh awesome, didn't realise they were doing a dark pictures VR.
I thought Until Dawn was good but Rush of Blood as a separate experience was actually amazing. I don't usually get scared by the usual horror tropes (I'm more fearful of realistic horror, themes of madness, lack of control etc) but Rush of Blood terrified me with traditional horror in a way I didn't think possible.
Also, I wonder how well eye tracking works if you drop an E beforehand and your pupils are the size of black holes
@Impossibilium my first thought too, as soon as i say the under headline "dont blink". A doctor who weeping angels game would be amazing, and I'd definitely play it. Doctor who in general shoukd be ripe for gaming adaptations, but so far no one has done a particularly good job
Loving the features that playstation design into their hardware/peripherals. This is something they always seem to do but only a few developers take advantage of these things. Possibly due to cross platform formats. Here's hoping they can really take advantage of the extra features incorporated into PSVR2. Can't wait. Bought up most of the PSVR1 games that will be getting updated. Can't wait.
@theheadofabroom FEAR? One of the most NON scary "horror" games ever? Haha. Don't ever play the first two Fatal Frame games. You would never recover.
PSVR2 is when this gen finally begins.
Nothing terrifies me anymore .. not even The Terrifier the supernatural is where it’s atc where you get reeled in and then BAM. Slow burning up to one big fright some dude this to me; well that’s the thing he wasn’t a dude to begin with. It didn’t end well and I hightailed out of there
Counting the days, got it in preorder! I'm one of those fools that still uses the PSVR 1 on a very regular basis connected to a PS5. Hardly played any native PS5 stuff at all, there's just very little that appeals to me these days in pancake mode. Horizon FW still sits on a shelf because i can't get into it. I play my rounds of BF2042 and enjoyed Stray,(the shorter story and cyberpunk world managed to keep me engaged) but everything else i play is VR. The real next-gen. kicks off february 22 for me personally and i'm excited beyond belief to be there from day one!!
@Almost_Ghostly it's the jump scares that get me, and that's something FEAR did very well for its day
Great... I'll only play this is someone is holding my hand and hiding me in real life.
@BeerIsAwesome
Agreed. “ suddenly disappear the second your eyes move over to that point” Is pretty much the same as “Having them drift in your peripheral vision only”
@MayaMousavi It truly is, the level of immersion is insane with scary games that are well designed. RE7 still takes the crown in my opinion of what's available for PSVR right now, and i can only dream of what PSVR 2 will be capable of! Back in the day i used to try explaining to people why horror in (flat)videogames can potentially be scarier than watching it in a movie- (in a game you decide for yourself if you go down the stairs leading to a pitch-black basement from where that unsettling noise erupts, instead of just gazing at someone that does all the discission making for you), and now VR has given the above mentioned a whole new meaning i can assure you!😬😁
@Impossibilium Agree weeping angels (don't blink) is a great fit, also agree I wouldn't want to play it. Brilliant idea, terrible business model
While it was scary playing without VR, and hoping they have implemented for the DLC. I'm petrified to replay the Rose DLC with the moving mannequins in VR. That moment was extremely scary
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