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Until Dawn

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Until Dawn
Developer(s)Supermassive Games
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)Maria Cevizovic
Composer(s)Jason Graves[1]
EngineUmbra 3 (modified Killzone Shadow Fall engine)[2]
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
Release
  • NA: 25 August 2015
  • EU: 26 August 2015
  • AU: 26 August 2015
  • JP: 27 August 2015
  • UK: 28 August 2015
Genre(s)Survival horror, adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Until Dawn is an adventure survival horror video game developed by Supermassive Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4.[3] It was originally scheduled to be released on the PlayStation 3 and feature PlayStation Move support, but in August 2014, the game was reintroduced as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.[4] It is released worldwide in August 2015.[5]

Gameplay

Until Dawn is designed to be replayed multiple times, as players will miss out on quite a bit of content with just a single playthrough. Each playthrough will last about ten hours in length and the game mechanics utilize a new in-game system called the "Butterfly Effect" in which any choice of action by the player may cause minor or major unforeseen consequences later on. For example, locating a weapon in an earlier chapter may allow you to pick it up down the line when a chase scene brings you back to the same room. Throughout the game, players will make difficult decisions during ethical or moral dilemmas, such as sacrificing one character to save another. The Butterfly Effect system blurs the line between right and wrong decisions and it is possible for players to keep all eight characters alive as well as having all eight of them die, allowing for many different paths and scenarios as well as offering several different endings. Until Dawn has a strict auto-save system to prevent players from reloading a previous save file to an earlier point in the game if they regret an in-game decision they have made. The only way to change your choice is to restart the game from the beginning or continue your playthrough to the end and start a new game. In a developer interview, it has been said that Until Dawn will have "hundreds of endings", but this remains unconfirmed as of yet. [2][6]

The gameplay is focused on exploration, quick-time events and discovering clues as well as making countless decisions. There is an in-game system that will keep track of all of the clues and secrets players have discovered in total, even if there are multiple playthroughs; these clues will allow the player to piece together the mysteries of Blackwood. In terms of the gameplay mechanics and theme, Until Dawn has been noted to be similar to Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.

Plot

When eight friends become trapped on a remote mountain getaway gone wrong, things quickly turn sinister and they start to suspect they aren’t alone. Gripped by fear and with tensions in the group running high, you’ll be forced to make snap decisions that could mean life or death for everyone involved. Every choice you make while playing as each of the eight friends – even the seemingly trivial ones – will carve out your own unique story. Your actions alone determine who survives until dawn. [7]

Prologue

In 2013, ten friends, Sam (Hayden Panettiere), Mike (Brett Dalton), Josh (Rami Malek) and his twin sisters, Beth and Hannah (Ella Lentini), Ashley (Galadriel Stineman), Chris (Noah Fleiss), Matt (Jordan Fisher), Emily (Nichole Bloom), and Jessica (Meaghan Martin) are gathered together at the Blackwood Mountain Ski Lodge for their annual winter getaway. During their celebrations, a few of them decide to play a prank on Hannah, who is romantically interested in Mike. While Chris and Josh are passed out drunk in the kitchen, Mike invites Hannah up to his room. Unbeknownst to her, Ashley, Emily, Jessica and Matt are hiding under the bed and in the closet. As Mike convinces Hannah to start taking off her clothes, the hidden observers reveal themselves just as Sam bursts in to warn Hannah of the cruel prank. Humiliated, Hannah runs out of the cabin and into the snowy woods as some of her friends run after her, trying to apologize and convince her to come back. Hannah's twin, Beth, sees her sister and everyone else from the kitchen window and runs outside to find out what's going on. After learning that Hannah's been humiliated, Beth insults them and chases after her sister. As Beth finds her way into the middle of the woods, she locates Hannah crying in the middle of a small clearing and comforts her. Suddenly, they hear a violent noise and run from an unseen pursuer. As they're cornered at the edge of a cliff, Hannah slips and falls, grabbing onto Beth, taking her with her. Beth manages to hang onto a large branch at the edge of the cliff, holding onto her sister with her other arm and something starts to breathe fire above them. The next moment, a man crouches by the edge of the cliff and extends his hand, but Hannah and Beth both fall to their gruesome and violent deaths, never to be seen again.

A year later, Josh has extended invitations to everyone to return to Blackwood on the anniversary of his sisters' disappearances. As the remaining friends make their way to the getaway retreat, it's not long before they discover that something malevolent is present, as they are stalked by a crazed serial killer. Meanwhile, during interludes throughout the narrative, psychiatrist Dr. Hill (Peter Stormare) conducts an interview with a mysterious figure, apparently responsible for everything that happened at Blackwood.

Cast

  • Hayden Panettiere as Samantha, 19 years old, Hannah's best friend. Samantha is a diligent, considerate and adventurous member of the group.
  • Peter Stormare as Dr. Hill, a psychiatrist who interviews a mysterious patient between chapters.
  • Brett Dalton as Michael Munroe, 20 years old, Emily's ex, Hannah's love interest and Jessica's new boyfriend. Michael is an intelligent, driven and persuasive member of the group.
  • Rami Malek as Joshua Washington, 20 years old, Hannah and Beth's brother. Joshua is a thoughtful, loving and complex member of the group.
  • Noah Fleiss as Chris, 19 years old, Joshua's best friend and Ashley's love interest. Chris is a methodical, protective and humorous member of the group.
  • Galadriel Stineman as Ashley, 18 years old, Chris's love interest. Ashley is an academic, inquisitive and forthright member of the group.
  • Meaghan Martin as Jessica, 19 years old, Michael's new girlfriend and Emily's arch-nemesis. Jessica is a confident, trusting and irreverent member of the group.
  • Nichole Bloom as Emily, 19 years old, Matthew's girlfriend, Michael's ex and Jessica's arch-nemesis. Emily is an intelligent, resourceful and convincing member of the group.
  • Jordan Fisher as Matthew, 18 years old, Emily's new boyfriend. Matthew is a motivated, ambitious and athletic member of the group.
  • Ella Lentini as Hannah and Beth Washington, Joshua's sisters. Hannah has crush on Michael and is Samantha's best friend. Hannah got pranked by her friends and is considered missing along with her sister Beth.
  • Larry Fessenden as Victor "Flamethrower Guy" Milgram, an unstable man wanted by police for making threats of vengeance against the Washington family.

Reception

Until Dawn received positive reviews from critics. It received an aggregated score of 79.40% on GameRankings based on 40 reviews[8] and 79/100 on Metacritic based on 52 reviews.[9]

Lucy O'Brien of IGN gave a generally positive review of the game, giving it a 7.5 out of 10. She praised the "creepy" environments, "tongue-in-cheek" tone, and the choices the player has to make. She did however dislike certain characters, particularly 'Doctor Hill', and the second half of the game, mostly the story's focus, calling it "silly" and "derailing". "Until Dawn is a flawed, but fun experience," O'Brien said. "Though an unfocused story means it falls short of greatness, it’s an otherwise entertaining homage to the curious traditions of horror movies which pays off your in-game decisions with occasionally shocking consequences."[18]

Jim Sterling was extremely positive about the game, comparing it favorably towards the games of David Cage and Quantic Dream, saying that it was "everything that Quantic Dream games have tried to be – unsuccessfully – for the past decade." He did criticize some of the characters as stereotypes and said that the gyroscope sections were a "sound idea in theory, but far too twitchy in practice." However overall, he said that developer Supermassive Games "emulate horror movies while demonstrating a clear understanding of what makes those movies work." He gave the game a 9.5 out of 10.[21]

Game Informer's Jeff Marchiafava gave the game a positive review, with a score of 9/10. He praised the player choices decision making mechanic, saying "your smallest choices can snowball into story-altering (and sometimes fatal) consequences", the game's score, which he called "superb", the voice acting, the story, which was thought of as "intriguing and exciting", and the visuals. He called the gameplay "simple yet effective" and thought it was "engaging", but said some animations can be "awkward". Marchiafava stated that the game is a "remarkable experience that horror fans shouldn't miss".[13]

In her mostly positive review for GameSpot, Alexa Ray Corriea scored the game an 8/10, saying "I didn't expect to have so much fun with Until Dawn". She particularly praised the narrative because it "offers dozens of branching paths with varying outcomes", saying "choices matter in big ways and affect the rest of the game". She also liked the actors' performances, calling them "incredibly good", and the overall replayability, saying. Negative comments were concerning the story, mostly towards the end, and the "unflattering" camera angles. She also said "the visuals can be wonky at times".[15]

Destructoid's Chris Carter gave the game a 7 out if 10. He praised the game's environments, collectibles, and premise, saying: "Until Dawn knows exactly what it is, and doesn't pretend to be anything more. In that process it allows for some predictable plotlines, hammy acting, and lack of meaningful choices, but I'm glad that it exists, and every horror fan owes it to themselves to play it at some point -- especially at a price cut."[11]

Giving a mixed review for Polygon, Philip Kollar scored the game a 6.5/10, saying: "Until Dawn exists within a strange duality. It's a game that's generic while being unlike anything else I've ever played. It's bad in some very evident ways, and yet I want everyone I know to try it. It's not a great game, probably not even a good one, but it does things I want every narrative-based game going forward to learn from. I'm still fascinated by it, still planning more playthroughs for myself, still wanting to recommend it to friends. Until Dawn's greatest mystery may be how it manages to remain compelling in spite of such huge flaws."[19]

GamesRadar's Louise Blain gave the game a 3.5 out of 5, calling it a "beautiful" "bloodstained love letter to every horror movie you’ve ever seen". She enjoyed the jump-scares, pace, visuals, and overall tone, but criticized the game for being "painfully" short. She said she felt "somewhat cheated" with the decision making mechanic as it's diminished because of "set plot points".[17]

VideoGamer.com's Tom Orry gave the game a positive review. He scored it an 8/10, citing the horror elements, acting, "lovely" visuals, and the player choice mechanic as positives, even though he had some minor criticisms. Orry stated: "After 30 minutes I expected Until Dawn to be a silly horror game that was mostly terrible but got pulled through thanks to the sheer idiocy of everything going on. 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. In terms of gameplay mechanics it's incredibly simple, but that works in its favour, leaving you to become fully engrossed in the thrilling and malleable storyline. If you fancy a gory treat that hits plenty of high notes, Until Dawn is highly recommended."[20]

References

  1. ^ Greening, Chris. "Jason Graves creates a cinematic horror score for Until Dawn". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Until Dawn Unveiled Official Website for PS4". supermassivegames.com. 25 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Until Dawn, The Unfinished Swan, and Journey Confirmed for PS4". IGN.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Gamescom 2014: Until Dawn is Now a PS4 Exclusive, Uses the Killzone: Shadow Fall Engine (Updated)". playstationlifestyle.net. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  5. ^ Samuels, Pete (26 May 2015). "Until Dawn Launches on PS4 August 25th". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Preview". Playstation Lifestyle. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  7. ^ Usher, William (14 August 2012). "Until Dawn Brings Cheesy Teen-Horror To PS3". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Until Dawn for PlayStation 4". GameRankings. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Until Dawn for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  10. ^ Emile, Melanie (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn (PS4) Review". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. ^ a b Carter, Chris (24 August 2015). "Review: Until Dawn". Destructoid. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  12. ^ L. Patterson, Mollie (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ^ a b Marchiafava, Jeff (24 August 2015). "A New Dawn For Interactive Storytelling - Until Dawn - PlayStation 4". Game Informer. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ^ Vazquez, Jessica (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  15. ^ a b Ray Corriea, Alexa (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  16. ^ Bloodworth, Daniel (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". GameTrailers. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  17. ^ a b Blain, Louise (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review: a dark night rises". GamesRadar. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  18. ^ a b O'Brien, Lucy (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". IGN. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  19. ^ a b Kollar, Philip (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review: a cabin in the woods". Polygon. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  20. ^ a b Orry, Tom (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  21. ^ http://www.thejimquisition.com/2015/08/until-dawn-review/
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