Until Dawn
- Game mechanics – 70%
- History – 70%
- Music – 70%
- Graphics – 70%
Summary
Until Dawn remains entertaining because it maintains the gameplay full of branches and decisions from the original. However, outside of its graphical change there is not much incentive to buy it. Especially when the new graphics came with sacrifices of its gloomy atmosphere and framerate. Better bet on the original if you haven’t tried this winter nightmare yet
- Genre: Interactive drama
- Platform: PS5, PC
- Premiere: 04/10/2024
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Ballistic Moon
Until Dawn It was one of the video games most related to the PS4. This work by Supermassive Games became an unexpected success for Sony and gave rise to several similar titles with varying degrees of acceptance. But this game, heavily influenced by the slasher genre, was the one that started it all.
Just nine years after its original release, the title received a remake. In addition to improving the graphics, it promised new options to determine the fate of its characters and additional scenes to give better context to its story. But is this new visit to this winter cabin worth it?
What you should know about the Until Dawn remake
What is Until Dawn about?
Until Dawn shows us the story of a group of friends who are vacationing in a cabin in the middle of a mountain in the middle of winter. After a prank, a pair of sisters go out into the snow to disappear without a trace. A year after these events, the friends meet again in the same place to face different horrors.
Although this is a game from 9 years ago, I will avoid giving spoilers about everything that happens. What I can say is that the whole journey comes with a lot of inspiration from the slasher movies so popular in the 80s and 90s. In fact, it follows several of the typical tropes of those films.
The most interesting thing about Until Dawn is that our decisions can change the destiny of its characters. In total there are eight friends that we can control throughout the duration of the game. But based on our reactions and some QTEs we can determine who will be the ones who arrive alive at the end.
Although the story is predictable at times, it has that b-movie charm. In addition, precisely these forks due to our different decisions make it worth going through it more than once to see what other ways your story can end.
These are really cool games
Regarding the gameplay of Until Dawnyou could say that it is an interactive film. Most of the time you’ll be watching cutscenes that are often interrupted by decision making. In addition to some quick time events or events where you should not move the control at all.
Many times the game gives you the opportunity to explore its different locations with the different characters. Here you can take the opportunity to go in search of different clues that explain everything that is happening on this mountain. Of course, don’t expect large open spaces, they are almost always very small places.
These spaces also contain some totems which can serve as a guide if you want to keep everyone alive. The strange figures present you with visions of either the death of some characters or situations where they are saved.. This way it will be easier for you to make some decisions in the heat of the moment.
Actually the gameplay of Until Dawn It’s pretty simple. However, for someone who doesn’t have that much experience in video games it could be challenging due to the QTEs. ANDThese give you very little time to react and they are also life or death situations where the character does not have any extra life. Unless of course you decide to start again from the beginning.
What changes does the Until Dawn remake have?
The remake of Until Dawn It does not have any noticeable changes in terms of its gameplay. Just as it was played in its PS4 version, it is played here. The only changes present are in the graphic section and with some additional scenes of the story. Although there are not many.
For this new version, its developers decided to use Unreal Engine 5. Thanks to this, the settings and characters look more realistic. However, I think that because they only put the graphics engine on top of what was already there, some things feel strange. Some character animations and facial reactions come across as oddly exaggerated.
Unfortunately I also ran into several performance issues throughout my time with Until Dawn. On several occasions while exploring, frames would constantly drop. Also it was in scenarios where there were no things happening on screen so I don’t know what caused it.
Also, perhaps due to the same situation of only superimposing the new graphics on old models, sometimes the characters’ voices do not match their mouths. In addition, in some scenes it seems that the characters have delayed reactions to what they are seeing.
Finally one of the biggest sins of the remake of Until Dawn It is enlightenment. It seems that they concentrated so much on the lights and shadows that in the end they ended up killing the darker and more gloomy atmosphere of the original. There are many very well-lit scenes here that greatly diminish the fear factor.
Is this remake worth buying?
The remake of Until Dawn It remains fun if you like this type of games. The gameplay remains identical to that of PS4 where it was very interesting. It is still entertaining to play with the different possibilities and try the paths that will lead you to save everyone present.
However, it is being sold as a remake when it has more to do with a remaster and one that fails more than it succeeds. Their only change is to give characters and settings that look better, but this came with certain sacrifices that I already mentioned. Even the additional scenes they added are very few, very brief and don’t add much at all. Out of apparent clues to a sequel.
It is only advisable to buy this remake of Until Dawn If you are a PC user where this title arrives for the first time. But if you already have the original PS4 there’s really no reason for you to buy this one. Just watch the new scenes on YouTube, because paying $60 for a remake with such minor changes really isn’t such a good idea. Unless of course you are a big fan of this game and want to add its reimagination to your collection. Don’t stop sharing us on Discord your opinion if they play it.
We played Until Dawn on PlayStation 5 with a code provided by a Sony Interactive Entertainment representative in the region.
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