The teen slash game from Suppermassive Games is going to take up 46GB on a PlayStation 4.
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The hook here is that every decision you make has an effect on the story. Having played through the story once, I’m already diving straight back in for a second helping. To mark the one year anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of their friends in the surrounding woods, naturally.
The story goes through twists and turns that explore all types of horror tropes. Or do they?
On a similar note, the character models in Until Dawn are extremely high quality – from their clothing to their basic animations – to the point that each of the characters feel like real people.
Personally, I think my favourite little touch from the butterfly effect system is that the characters actually start to piece together the mystery from the clues you pick up. For those unfamiliar with the theory, it explains how the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can, through a series of interdependent events, lead to a hurricane. Although its thrills are tempered by a lack of story cohesion, its robust choice-and-consequence system and keen eye on horror’s most ridiculous tropes makes Until Dawn ultimately worth playing. That’s something games rarely deliver. And because Supermassive Games does such a great job at realizing these characters, the deaths feel all the more impactful. To be honest, I believe that each character was portrayed perfectly.
It’s a ridiculous place to spend any length of time, of course, and during its first half Until Dawn really revels in the slasher genre’s idiosyncratic idiocy.
The same can be said of how Supermassive plays around with established character archetypes.
In the beginning I literally thought that Until Dawn would be a monumental flop; however, after various playthroughs of the gripping 10-11 hour storyline, I believe that Sony and Supermassive games has a true gem on their hands. It may surprise you. You might not fall in love with these characters, but after five or six hours of wandering alone on a mountain with them, you’re going to understand their backgrounds and their relationships with one another.
Until Dawn benefits from a masterclass in on-screen presentation. That isn’t really the game it turned out to be, with what’s on offer being a lot better than I gave the developers credit for.
Check out the cast list of the voice actors in the game, which includes stars Rami Malek (Mr. Robot), Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), and Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
This same level of obsessiveness and passion for the genre is also present in the design of Blackwood Mountain itself.
What also pushes Until Dawn above the average film is its use of choice to drive the narrative forward. While it may seem trivial in the large scheme of things, my action would dictate whether Matt held a grudge against Emily throughout the game, which could very well cost her life if he deemed she wasn’t worthy of his help.
Much of your time with Until Dawn will be spent exploring these areas, either manually or through cutscenes occasionally laden with button prompts. The latter – a middle-aged adult – isn’t part of the impressive main cast, but he does feature into the game as a psychologist who tests the player during breaks in the action.
Among these are a healthy number of collectibles that help piece the narrative together and, in some cases, prophesise future events. While some totems show visions of fortune, most depict scenes of danger and even death. The game always hints at which direction the player should head towards, but there are plenty of side routes, hidden rooms, and alcoves providing entirely optional distractions. The controls, which have one stick moving the character and another moving their head, can be awkward at times, but never detract from the overall experience. That said, their value is diminished somewhat in one of the later chapters of the game, but we won’t divulge any of the specifics.
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The gameplay is choose-your-own-adventure style where player choice decides the outcome. The premise is absolutely great, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Since this is a horror game, each and every one of the characters is disposable, and one wrong choice can take them from perfectly healthy to headless in an instant. The environment feels warm and welcoming at first; however, things tend to look more sinister the further you progress into the game. The amount of jump scares I experienced in Until Dawn felt endless as the eight friends spend the opening moments of the game messing with each other.
