Until Dawn Rush of Blood review: VR horror at its best

The thought of putting ourselves on a horror rollercoaster in VR voluntarily seemed mad at first, but what Supermassive Games has done is create a great horror experience that's marred by one simple thing - an obsession with bosses.

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is basically an on-rails shooter set across various locations from the main Until Dawn game released back in 2015. The gameplay is simple enough, you settle into your virtual rollercoaster seat and grab yourself a pair of Move controllers to act as your dual-wield weapons.

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You can play with a DualShock 4, but it's not nearly as satisfying or accurate. And trust us, you'll want to have as much control and accuracy as you can in Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, because not only does it require some serious gun skills, there's also usually a barrage of enemies to take out.

There are seven levels in total, each focusing on a different terror. There's literally something for everyone, whether you're terrified of a rollercoaster hurtling over the edge of what feels like a sheer drop; horrendously huge spiders; being burnt alive; zombies; hospitals or so much more.

In every level except the last - which is actually supremely stupid and downright disappointing, but we won't spoil it for you - Supermassive manages to build the tension superbly. So much so that we had to play it with our arms wrapped around our knees, which were tucked up under our chin.

You can feel quite vulnerable in VR, and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood takes advantage of that. You're sitting there, seemingly safe in your little coaster cart, blasting horrific creatures out of your way, but the further you progress in the game, the more these things will try and penetrate your safe space.

There are very few cheap tricks, just a delicately balanced sense of fear and isolation. Oh, and a heck of a lot of foreboding.

But sadly, that amazing atmosphere and tension that Supermassive manages to build up is ruined by the studio's apparent obsession with bosses. Now, last time we checked it was 2016, and coming up against a boss where you have to do a certain action OVER AND OVER again until a boss is taken out was something that we left back in the '00s - or even '90s.

It's a lazy game mechanic and in Until Dawn: Rush of Blood it doesn't just undo all the clever stuff that Supermassive has done with the game, it's also downright irritating. Get mega grumpy, rip the headset off and play something less irritating.

Take one particular boss fight we encountered mid-way through the game. You've come up against the masked psychopath from the original Until Dawn game as you're (almost) happily trundling through a well-earned peaceful moment of empty rollercoaster track.

Your guns are just cooling down, you can almost feel the wind in your VR headset and you're admiring the impressive graphics of Rush of Blood's levels, when suddenly your favourite masked maniac appears and grabs the front of your cart. You jump, surprised by his appearance, but trust us, you'll soon begin to hate his face. And not because it's terrifying.

This particular boss fight needs you to blast explosive barrels that appear as you roll backwards, causing the masked man (whose identity will remain a secret unless you've played Until Dawn) to stagger a few paces back, giving you the chance to blast him in the face for a while before the next set of barrels comes along.

That same gameplay mechanic repeats a few times, before throwing in a few other masked horrors that will lob molotov cocktails at you from above. You've got to shoot the explosive barrels that lie near them too otherwise you'll quickly go up in flames.

Of course, you've also got to monitor the original masked menace's advance, and basically shoot any explosive barrels you see.

It might sound easy, if a bit frantic, but timing is frustratingly crucial. Shoot a barrel too early and it won't affect your oncoming attacker. Too late, and he'll smack you in the face with the pointy end of his axe. Sometimes the barrels just won't appear in time, or you'll miss the barrel for the guys up top. There's so many ways to meet your end in really irritating ways that you - like us and many of our friends - will spend ages repeating this same boss fight, with the horrid feeling that with just one more barrel you'll be home free.

More than once we had to take a break due to sheer frustration. We've not felt like that for a LONG time, and that doesn't even include us playing any of the Dark Souls series entries.

This specific boss fight - and a few others - aside, what Supermassive Games has created is very effective. Each level is very atmospheric, with strong ties to the original Until Dawn but also its F**ked-up Fairground theme.

There's also plenty of variety and even some tactics involved with the gameplay. There are coloured boxes scattered around the levels that are home to more powerful weapons, such as shotguns, machine guns or even a rather impressive flame-based hand-cannon.

Finding these not only adds some spice to the gunplay, but is also crucial for taking on some of the trickier enemies. After all, you don't want to be repeating the same section all the time, do you?

There are also plenty of fun trophies to discover, including shooting the clown bowling skittles that are hidden in each level. Of course, there are also local and global leaderboards to compete with, as you're given a score for each level based on your accuracy and other skills.

Replayability suddenly just went through the roof, eh?

It's also a great advertisement for PS VR, because it's an easy one for people to jump into when your friends are over. Just prepare them for the fear before you strap them in, it's not for the faint hearted.

Verdict

If Supermassive could have laid off the stupid boss mechanics, this would have been a perfect VR horror game. It skilfully walks the line of tense, psychological horror and creepy, boo-scares for an experience that you won't forget for a while - in fact, we've dreamt about it. Damn those spiders.

Like Batman Arkham VR, we wish it was longer, but there's plenty to come back for here and it's one of the most affordable PS VR games out there at launch.

Go on, treat yourself to some scares for Halloween.

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood release date: October 13, 2016

Price: £15.99

Available on: PS VR exclusive

Developer: Supermassive Games

Publisher: Sony