Until Dawn is a horror adventure game about a group of eight teenagers who decide to have a holiday for a night in a cabin on the fictional Blackwood Mountain
If questioned if we could survive a horror movie, I would think perhaps with some sense of bravado that most people would believe that they could make it to the end credits. This theory of course is what’s at the centre of Until Dawn as developer Supermassive Games puts you in control of a group of teenagers staying in a remote mountain cabin only to find themselves being target by a psycho as they attempt to survive until sunrise.
Using a style of gameplay similar to that which we have become familiar with in the Telltale Games, you as the player switch between the eight characters while the decisions you make not only affect your story path, but also potentially them on the path to a grisly demise. What makes the game especially interesting through is the use of the Butterfly Effect which makes it impossible to see the whole game in one playthrough, but equally makes it fun to see what happens if you choose for example to pick up a weapon in one scene compared to the outcome if you chose not to. The possible paths only being further teased by the totems which can be discovered and when looked at closer reveal possible endings / warnings for characters.
Opening with a prank gone wrong the aftermath of which providing the cataylist for the group reuniting for the eventful night your tasked with guiding them through the game wastes little time in getting going as it eases the player into the choice based system which lets you decide the actions your current character takes often with no clear right answer. The game at the same time mixes thing up further by giving you the choice of course to choose neither option and just do nothing which of course can lead to its own outcome.
The group can largely be seen as following the usual horror movie tropes such as the jock, the nerd and hot chick, though the their interactions between each other can be changed depending on your choices so that potential relationships or just general interactions will play out differently depending on how characters act from your choices. Still thankfully the plotting has more than enough twists and turns to stop this from being just another generic horror movie in video game form and takes the time to allow you to get to know each of their characters so that you care what happens to them, especially as you get closer to dawn and the risk only get higher.
Broken into chapters the game only adds to its tension by playing out like an episodic TV show and like any good thriller this game equally loves to end on a cliffhanger which is fantastic fun if your limiting yourself to playing the game a chapter at a time. At the same time its the sort of mechanic which keeps you playing that a little bit longer to just see what happens next. Breaking things up further though are the therapy sessions which you undertake with Peter Storemare’s psychiatrist were your asked to answer questions about your own fears of course how these effect the events in the game its hard to say though the more observant player will notice elements of fears highlighted sneaking into these sessions.
Unquestionably an atmospheric game especially with the isolated setting and the numerous hidden passage ways built into the lodge were the majority of the game takes place not to mention excursions to the nearby mines and former mental asylum only serve to amp up the tension much like the continuous blizzard. Certainly not since Outlast has a game been so gripping and terrifying at the same time while knowing that any of the characters can be killed off at any time only adds to the tension.
A fantastic gripping experience and one which is crying out for a sequel which for now seems to be limited to the VR experience’s Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and The Inpatient but hopfully Supermassive games can at some point give us something more like this game which is a must play for Heavy Rain fans especially.