The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Summary
It’s a little late for spooky stuff….but some things are truly timeless.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR is an on-rail shooter developed by Supermassive Games, (who also released Until Dawn). This carnival ride through hell takes the player through a shooting gallery of various monsters, set locations, and more! It’s up to the player and their quick trigger finger to make it through this house of horror. Released on March 16, 2023, for the PlayStation 5, this horror game is a spin-off of The Dark Pictures series, also on the PS5.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Premise
It was supposed to be a simple train ride, one that would take the player to meet their sister in New York. Sure, it would be a long trip, but hey, it’s a train ride! It’s not something you get to do every day.
But you weren’t expecting the conductor to pull you into Hell itself, and what’s worse, take all of the other passengers with you. But that’s okay, if there’s one thing you know how to do, it’s shoot guns well. The other passengers need your aid, and the demon who dragged you there in the first place needs a shotgun discharge to the face.
This on-rails shooter’s story is fairly simple — make it to the end of the level, kill as many as you can, and save who you must in this train ride to hell. Belial, the demon who torments you, wants nothing more than to drag your soul to the underworld. You must do what they can to make it out alive.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Main Characters
- The Protagonist. You. There’s not much known about the player character, save that they have a sister in New York, and know how to use guns quite well.
- Belial. Making her first appearance in the franchise, Belial is the demon who drags you to hell. Possessing the body of a young woman named Laila.
- Anthony. One of the train passengers who is with you. A young man who finds himself facing death multiple times throughout the game. His only way out is with the player’s help.
- Scarlett. A humble woman. Her fate in Hell is to be burnt at the stake, but the player can save her, leave her, or set her ablaze themself.
- Robert. A dog owner, who, surprise! Is also in Hell. He is tied to a contraption that wouldn’t be out of place in a Saw movie. Shoot three generators if you want him to live. Or don’t. Your call.
- Claudia. Like the others, she was also pulled into Hell by Belial. You can find her in a cage, suspended above a hole that will kill her if dropped into. But hey! There are some planks nearby. You could use those. Or not. You do have other things to worry about…
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Titles of Video Games in the Series.
The Dark Pictures series has more than just a VR On-Rails Shooter. Here is a list of the various games from Supermassive in the same series.
- The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (2019)
- The Dark Pictures: Little Hope (2020)
- The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes (2021)
- The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me (2022)
- The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR (2023)
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Cheat Codes.
As with many games these days, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR doesn’t have any cheat codes that don’t come from extensive modding. So instead, let us give you a few tips and tricks to make it through this train ride through the afterlife.
- Stay in your Chair, but select Standing. This one is a bit confusing, so let me go over what it means. See, as fun as it is to stay standing throughout a VR game, it is also tiring. What’s more, the parameters for VR games aren’t quite big enough for most adults. As such, if you extend your arms fully, you’ll break your ‘cage’ and ruin the immersion.
- Never stop shooting, even when looking away. Okay, so, this one seems like a no-brainer, right? Monsters are everywhere, so you need to keep an eye out for every sort of danger. But did you know that you can risk a glance around even as you gun down a foe? This seems like simple enough logic, but in most VR games, you can only attack something so long as you look at it. Here, you can take your eyes off the face-eating monster long enough to look around.
- Break everything. There’s a variety of weapons, ammo, and hidden switches located around the levels and train tracks. Be sure to open fire on everything that even remotely looks breakable. Or if it moves.
The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Cheat Code FAQs
Alright, let’s cover some commonly asked questions!
- How many levels are in switchback VR? About ten, with two being callbacks to previous Dark Pictures games.
- Can you save everyone in the Dark Pictures anthology? You can save everyone that you can! Which is helpful, so let’s just say yes.
- Is Switchback VR a sequel? It’s a spin-off, neither a sequel nor a prequel. So…. concurrent?