[PSX 2015] “Until Dawn: Rush of Blood” Hands-On

Until Dawn was one of the most welcoming surprises of the year, so it was even more welcoming to see another Until Dawn featured on the show floor at the PlayStation Experience.  We got our hands (and head) on the…

Until Dawn was one of the most welcoming surprises of the year, so it was even more welcoming to see another Until Dawn featured on the show floor at the PlayStation Experience.  We got our hands (and head) on the game and honestly don’t know what to expect yet.

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood was in development just as the original game was getting through with its finishing touches.  While we weren’t let in on much of the plot yet, Sony’s rep did tell us that they did want to expand upon the world and a few of the characters that they introduced in Until Dawn.

The result?  An on-rails shooter in virtual reality.

I actually spent my Thanksgiving weekend in Disneyland, so I do have some withdrawals there.  How does that relate?  Well, Rush of Blood isn’t just an on-rails shooter.  It’s a shooter where you appear to be on an amusement park ride on the same mountain where the Until Dawn gang spent their vacation.

Oh. There’s some zombie girl in our way. Shoot her.

Think those slow Disneyland rides where all you see are characters and it’s all happy-go-lucky, except replace those happy-go-lucky images with blood, gore, severed heads, skeletons, and all that creepy stuff.  When you look left and right the VR headset on, you can take in your surroundings to further the horror.

In addition to the VR headset, the game makes use of PlayStation Move controllers to act as your guns, so it’s pretty much like “Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters” except more violent. Here, you’re tasked with shooting targets and a few monsters here in there.

There was actually a part in the level in which we were in an absolute stop.  It was like that for about a couple minutes, until I turned to the left to see a monster jumping at me.  Like Until Dawn before it, the game relies a lot on cheap jump scares to keep you out of your seat.

I expected that to happen, but I also didn’t expect the roller coaster-like drops to all of a sudden feel so real either.

There’s no release date for Until Dawn: Rush of Blood yet, but it’s shaping up quite nicely for what it is.