Until Dawn Reviews
Until Dawn is a video game that should jump to the "to-play" pile for those gamers who love classic horror and want to see the high-quality that the PlayStation 4 can deliver when it comes to faces and character interactions.
Fans of interactive story experiences, or just horror in general, would be wise to give this a shot. Supermassive Games has done a great job and hopefully they will have the chance to experiment more with titles of this ilk in the future.
This interactive horror movie is heaps of fun and packed with moments that'll have you and anyone watching jumping out of their skin. Being able to kill off characters you don't like is more fun than you'll want to admit. You'll definitely want to play it more than once too to put the cast through hell again and again.
Until Dawn is a very, very fine game, with a quality, intriguing, and intelligent narrative rolled around the concept of player choice. It's also another example of why Sony is the best blockbuster publisher out there because it's happy to do stuff that breaks away from the safe conventions of expensive games.
Until Dawn does what it is aiming to do well. It's a near-perfect adaptation of an average slasher/monster film. It's a fun romp through a horror movie, and the tension of all characters being able to live and die contributes well to the overall feel. At the end of the day, though, it's not exceptional and lacks replay value.
The lore of the story might be for a niche group of gamers, but what it lacks in originality story wise it makes up for in ingenious ways throughout the game.
Until Dawn is a fantastic title from Supermassive Games with plenty of scope for replay given the amount of alternative choices available. If you've missed out on it so far, get it in time for Hallowe'en, but just remember to watch your back...
Until Dawn distills the tone of teen horror perfectly with scenes that bounce between chilling and cheesy every few minutes. The characters are hapless and often stupid, and the dialogue is just stilted enough to feel a little campy. Until Dawn offers the rare opportunity to experience one of these horror stories from a position of power. The characters all start out fairly prissy, petty, and unlikeable—again, standard for the genre—and it's up to you to decide who you want to survive and who, if anyone, you want to "accidentally" meet an untimely death.
If you like adventure and horror games or cheesy slasher flicks you'll be right at home with Until Dawn. It unashamedly uses every trope in the book but is so well developed that it will become the new standard that future adventure games are compared to. Overall I enjoyed it enough to play through again and see the alternate outcomes as well as find the missing collectibles.
Between its graphics, its storytelling, and its character-driven gameplay, Until Dawn represents many of the things that truly excite me about this generation of gaming.
Until Dawn contains almost everything I want from a story-driven horror game. A thoroughly captivating narrative, a believable dynamic between characters, choices that have a direct and meaningful impact on the storyline, and most essentially: a constant state of tense fear created through the environment and narrative. If you're looking for the next great horror game, look no further. Just wait for the sun to go down, turn off the lights, and try and survive Until Dawn.
Considering the number of cliches thrown in, it works surprisingly well, mostly due to exceptionally good voice acting. Bar some attempts at motion controls which don't quite fit, the control scheme is sensible.
It may not be a masterpiece, almost solely relying on jump scares to shock, but it is fun to play, and that's what matters most. Once it gets going, it is a non-stop rollercoaster of visceral excitement. Letting players have control as they take a selection of disparate characters through the nastiness awaiting them is a fantastic idea that is also well executed. The fact these characters quickly go from looking fine and dandy to resembling someone that's been dragged through a hedge backwards only adds to the fun!
Niggles creep in due to the rudimentary control scheme - and the option to reconsider decisions that are obviously heading a bad way would've been nice - but otherwise I still found I couldn't put this slaughterrific adventure down.
Until Dawn is gripping through its nine-odd hour running time and never lets off the gas. It's scary — although sometimes cheaply so — and does a great job illustrating the butterfly effect. What Supermassive has accomplished so early in their tenure is impressive and something all horror fans should experience.
Self-aware and deconstructive
What we have here is a fun story with actual impactful choices lending a level of replayability unseen to date in similar games.
Until Dawn captured the slasher flick perfectly.
Until Dawn may have gone through some development problems and lengthy delays but after completing this title twice, I can safely say that the wait was worth it. It's also one of those games that heavily focuses on storytelling and even though the gamplay does take a back seat, the interactive plot is equally as satisfying. All in all, Until Dawn puts the player into the world the unknown which makes your choices a very hard chore that will leave you with mixed emotions when you "think" you've made the wrong decision. Until Dawn is the perfect interactive medium on the PlayStation 4 that succeeds at drawing you into your own personal horror story.
With choices that have real consequences, Until Dawn is definitely a game to pick up. Especially since you can look back at what your choices did and try for a different outcome the next time you play.