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It's been quite some time since I've written anything on here, but after I finished my playthrough of Until Dawn I felt like it might be time to post some thoughts. Until Dawn, if nothing else, is a "game" that does make you think about your decisions and the different possibilities that can come as a result. It's definitely not perfect. But it is memorable.
What is it?
Until Dawn is probably best described as an interactive horror/slasher movie where your actions help shape the ultimate outcome. Like the Quantic Dream developed games such as Beyond Two Souls and Heavy Rain, most of the gameplay is tied into quick time events and binary decisions. It works well. The only unique part is when the game forces you to stay still by sensing motion in the controller (which I did fail on one occasion, despite the fact that I really didn't feel like I was moving). In a tense moment, or just because most people fidget around when they are doing stuff, it is harder than you might think to keep the controller still. The gameplay is secondary and not really innovative. But that doesn't matter. It's not why you play this game.
The reason you would play Until Dawn is the combination of uncertain decisions resulting in real consequences to the story, and the feeling you get by realizing that you helped to create that outcome, for better or worse. Until Dawn really plays up the concept of the Butterfly Effect, because things you decide to say to your friends, or the path you decide to take during a chase, or a successful or failed quick time event could lead to characters living or dying. And you have to live with it, because you only have one shot. The game is constantly auto saving. Until you finish the game the first time, you can't go back and change things (once you do finish it you can go back and replay to get different outcomes). Regret what you just said to your girlfriend? Too bad. Make a good decision and you will feel proud of yourself for doing it "right" the first time.
Of course, there is no real wrong or right. There are clues in the form of totems scattered throughout that will give you hints on how you might be able to avoid a tragic fate. From what I can tell, just about anybody can be saved, but maybe you WON'T want to save them. It is your experience, after all. Do you want to be true to the character's personality they establish in the beginning, or do you want to do things your way? I tended to do things in between. There were characters I disliked and yet I found myself doing noble things for them, and so on. I messed up at times, but in the end it didn't really bother me. Like most movies, I accepted the fact that despite my wishes or efforts I couldn't totally control the outcome the first time.
Do I like it?
For the most part, I enjoyed my time with Until Dawn. It has some positive qualities. The actors, especially Peter Stormare (vee vahnt ze monee Lebowskeee), are pretty good, although the writing is predictably dumb as you might expect for a horror movie. That's also fine in my opinion. They have to make the characters do stupid things in order to create a fleshed out experience. It also looks great, despite framerate dips. The motion capture and facial details are absolutely outstanding. The lighting is incredible. Just look at this.
The creators made a smart move prioritizing detail over framerate. The dips never impact the gameplay experience, but the detail enhances the cinematic experience. Well done.
So I put the word game in quotes earlier because one of my biggest gripes with Until Dawn, probably the only significant one, is the fact that the action feels very uneven. The first few chapters I found very boring. Part of it is that these early jump scares, especially those that are red herrings, don't really grab me. The game forces you to walk at times very slowly through areas with basically no significance or action. I guess the goal is to increase the tension as well as show off the graphics, although at times it feels like too much. The thing about the Quantic Dream games I mentioned earlier that is sometimes criticized is the fact that some of the quick time events don't really mean anything, but after playing this I realized that sometimes those meaningless events actually keep you into the game by forcing you to interact with the world, whether it really matters or not. Until Dawn also has many pointless decisions and actions though, and it has way less interactivity. If you miss your high five with Josh in one of the early parts of the game (spoiler alert, I guess...), something tells me that won't be the pivotal moment you'll regret in the end. The actual gameplay is minimal, although later in the game the action picks up and should keep most people interested.
The characters for the most part I found unlikeable. The acting is fine...the characters are annoying and come across as entitled brats (NOTE: Peter Stormare does not play an entitled high school brat...I know you were wondering). That's the intent, but I think if they were at least a little more relateable it may have created more desire for you to save people. By the end of the game I think my sympathy for their experience overcame my antipathy towards them.
Until Dawn is truly memorable and I recommend it for almost everyone who can deal with the graphic nature of the content simply because of the variety of outcomes. Not all of the characters survived for me (I won't say who), but it's possible for someone to be a superhero and save everybody. Truth be told...I think a horror movie where nobody dies is fucking lame, so I'm glad some of these people bit the dust. In fact some of the deaths were gory to a point where I did find it humorous. Some may find it dark, but I think over the top deaths can be quite funny. I suppose remembering the fact that it's fiction allows me to see it that way. That may have a different affect on others. It could be troubling if these kinds of images bother you. This game didn't scare me like P.T. (RIP) did. P.T was insane. I don't think it really was as scary as Dead Space 1 and 2 (personal favorites and you should play them). But with movies/TV/games it takes quite a lot to scare me. As I said, I never quite get over the fact that it's not real. It's a legit horror experience though.
The fact that I wanted to write something about this game, despite many flaws including some moments where I didn't actually find it enjoyable, speaks to why I ultimately feel it's worth your time. There are a lot of games that have super tight gameplay and offer no substance to actually keep you motivated (*cough* Destiny *cough*), and when you are done you never think about them again. What I want to do now is talk about the decisions I made, and find out how I could have done things differently from my friends. Of course, I won't be doing that here. Many games try to give you the feeling of affecting the outcome based on your actions, but few do it as well as Until Dawn. Even now I'm considering what I could have done differently...and if I would want it to be different. This is really where Until Dawn sets itself apart from the Quantic Dream games. The ending is YOUR ending...not purely the game's ending.
So turn off your lights, install the game, then install the updates (make a sandwich or get a drink so you pee yourself over the jump scares while you wait for PSN to download it) and give this one a shot. It will stay with you much more than most games.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment.
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