Until Dawn

When I first started playing the game I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Horror games have that challenge to really scare the people that are playing it and personally scary movies usually don’t do it for me unless they are superb. Until Dawn was different than any other horror game I played in the sense that I felt it kept drawing me back to play it more and I became extremely attached to some characters, making me act like any human would trying to save the ones they care about more and sometimes, consequently, leading to mistakes and ultimately some character deaths. Supermassive Games did a great job of building a world that is not too big for this game’s scenario, but at the same time making me feel like I’m being watched everywhere I turn.

The game starts out as any super cliché horror story would; 8 young adults going to a huge cabin house in the middle of the cold, dark woods all by themselves with no escape except an extremely unreliable cable car to take them up or down the mountain. To make things even creepier they are there exactly one year after their two other friends mysteriously disappeared. Throughout the chaos and disarray that happens throughout this game the characters venture out to explore an abandoned sanatorium, old collapsing mine shafts, and dangerous wildlife that will strike back. The kids went up to have a fun time partying with each other, but this party would go much differently than any of them would expect.

In my opinion the game is divided into two halves; chapters 1-5 seem to be the introduction to the characters, building relationships with other characters (which determines if others will help them survive or leave them to die later), and gathering a large amount of the collectibles to better understand the storyline, as in the later chapters you replay certain areas where you have already obtained some collectibles. Chapters 6-10 were the more intense half of the game for many reasons. The horror aspect grew intensely as I almost felt like I was in a Paranormal Activity movie with doors closing randomly and ghostly figures moving about, messing with the characters mental state. This is also when many decisions that you made earlier will come back to either save your life or ultimately lead to many different characters dying in horrible ways. Each chapter has a meeting with an extremely unnerving and creepy psychiatrist who seems to do more harm than good.

Now this game was indeed scary at parts and some decisions I made would shock me pretty good with the outcomes (usually something very negative happened) and I had several moments where the game made me jump or caused my heart to race and hands to sweat. Even when the game was just loading I jumped when the “Until Dawn” popped up and made a loud noise! My favorite moments are the thrilling chase scenes in which I was always on the edge of my seat, ready to hit every quick time event perfectly, and had to make split second decisions whether to be safe or quick and reckless with shortcuts.

Not everything is this game is perfect in my opinion. One thing I had a problem with on this game was some visual aspects (graphical hiccups) I noticed. This game was made using performance capturing technology, which records a person’s movements, voice, and characteristics to make them into a “real” 3D character in the game. Now this technology is extremely impressive in making the characters look and move like real humans, but the finer details were flawed. Many characters’ eyes seemed like they were staring into space and looked a little buggy at times. Their teeth also glitches at times and made them look like they had some massive chompers, especially the character Josh. Lastly on this rant, the characters were in a freezing cold forest with snow everywhere, at night, and no one seemed to be phased by the cold at all. Sam even outran her pursuer in the cold snow in nothing but a towel! I know I would get frigid and shut down very quickly in this snowscape scene with no clothes on.

In closure I personally loved playing this game and it is now my top horror game that I have every played. Sometimes the game looked so real I felt like I was in control of my own movie and could control the outcome with my own decisions, which I love the old “choose your own path” books so this game really clicked well with me. The characters were all individual in their own aspects and really gives the gamer the ability to connect with them personally on some level and when a game can get you emotionally invested then it has done a great job, in my opinion. Of course any game will have graphical flaws in minor sections but other than those this game was an extremely fun adventure and I would highly recommend it.

Score 8.5/10

Trophy difficulty: Easy. Most trophies are collectibles or decision-based actions, which you can go back and redo or change after you beat the game once. Platinum trophy maybe takes 7-9 hours, depending on how accurate you are with Quick Time Events and following a trophy play through guide.

Recommendations – Play the game at least once with no guide and see how far you get! It is much more fun that way. Great game for people who like the horror genre or “pick your own adventure” gameplay. Single player campaign only; if you’re looking for a multiplayer game you grabbed the wrong game.

*This game review was played and written using traditional controls (not motion controls) and is PlayStation 4 exclusive.

This review was originally written for Real Dream Productions. You can read more HERE.