Right, first things first, let’s get this out the way. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is not a sequel or prequel to the game that released in 2015 in any way shape or form. Rush of Blood is a spin-off in every sense of the meaning. It has no story as such, as you begin the game by being introduced to a man that wouldn’t look out of place as a circus ringmaster, and as the games marketing campaign puts it, this is where you then “decent into madness”.
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is an on-the-rails-shooter. You’re located in a rollercoaster carriage and you playthrough seven stages of fast, frantic, jump scare heavy house of horrors. While each of the seven stages offers a similar sense of horror and gameplay, each is also unique to their own with their theme and if the first house doesn’t hit a nerve, then I can pretty much guarantee that at least one of the remaining six will. But even if you don’t find any of its stages scary, this game is so much fun, more than I ever expected. However, it’s incredibly difficulty talking about Rush of Blood without going into spoiler territory. But even if you’ve played Until Dawn several times and if you think you’ve got Rush of Blood worked out, it suddenly throws you a curve ball now and again that will take you completely by surprise.
One of the many things I loved about Rush of Blood is that even when you’ve played through its seven stages, it encourages you to have multiple playthrough’s. Many of its stages will not only have various firearm power-ups, collectibles and secrets to discover, but there will also be opportunities to take alternative routes. Then when you throw-in the competitive leaderboards, you’ll soon find yourself replaying levels as you aim to beat that friend on your friends list. With its launch price of £15.99, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood offers superb value for money.
I used to love on-the-rail-shooters from my childhood back in the day, however, that genre would normally be reserved for the relic that it’s the videogame arcade. The team that brought us the main Until Dawn (Supermassive Games) also develop Rush of Blood and their blueprint is all over this title and I firmly believe that if this PSVR game was outsourced to another developer, it would have lost much of its identity. Supermassive Games has not only brought us a valid, high quality spin-off to one of the best horror games in recent years, but they have potentially revitalised a dying genre in doing so.
If you own a PSVR and for some reason you’re yet to own Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, this game needs to be added to your collection, it’s simply the perfect game for the PSVR. Its a game that I never expected to much of, but I soon found it to easily be the most fun I’ve had with the PSVR at launch. Even if you’re unfamiliar with Until Dawn, the lack of any real story helps any newcomer to the series to jump right in and enjoy this pick up and play rollercoaster ride.
If you’re a fan of the series or just horror in general, you’re going to love Rush of Blood. Now if some developer out there wants to make a new House of the Dead game for the PSVR, then you’ll make me happier ever more.