Behold, I have returned to the Internet once more. It has been a while, so in the interest of warming back up...it has begun. It is once again the season where the heavy hitters of the gaming industry come out swinging - the new Metal Gear came out today in fact, I'm sure we'll be speaking about that sooner than later. On the other hand, something else came out - something I had never heard of before (a rare feat for such a widely praised game).
If you're anything like me, you spend most of your time during horror movies bemoaning the dimwitted decisions of the poor souls on-screen. Why, just why would they go in that room? How do they not see these things coming? Until Dawn has had enough of your sass and puts you in a classic horror movie situation and gives you control - if you're so damned smart then things shouldn't be a problem right? Right?
Until Dawn, developed by Supermassive Games, places you in the age old scenario of teens + old winter cabin + complete isolation + murder. A group of students return to their friend's sprawling winter cabin (when I say sprawling I mean sprawling) on the anniversary of the disappearance of two members of their group. All the ingredients you could possibly need for a good ol' hack and slash - and that's what you're going to get.
Not only that, and this is without any sort of spoilers of course, the flow of the narrative is interrupted by someone known as The Analyst. He, who is also a freakishly lifelike rendering of actor Peter Stormare, probes you with tests like a psychiatrist - questioning you about how you are feeling, your fears, and your anxieties.
Also, yes indeed that is Hayden Panettiere and she does a wonderful job in the title. Massive respect goes out to those that brought this title to life, the environments, characters, animation, sound design, composing, voice acting, and well - pretty much everything else are absolutely top notch. When my only complaint with a game is - it's kind of hard to direct your hand holding a light source, but not really I'm just bad at it - then you can believe without a doubt that this title is worth your time.
Will it scare you? I'm a vetreran of a thousand deaths both supernatural and mundane, I have viewed many of the horrors film has brought to life, and yeah sure this game scared me once or twice - but I was too busy having fun to care if it was actually scary, I was too busy slowly falling in love with my cast of characters...who I can barely keep alive apparently.
It's true, every choice you make does indeed have an effect on the game ahead. I can see in the video above that there are massive game changing situations that could have happened to me had I made another choice, some negative some positive. Is your character doing something as mundane as a quick time event based on hopping from rock to rock? Did you just trip and spend a little bit of time climbing back up on the rocks to continue? Well, get over it because you just changed the entire out come of the game by not pressing triangle when you should have.
Until Dawn demands your attention, and doesn't even really need to. You'll be on the edge of your seat with your controller gripped in your hands, waiting for the next second you need to make a life saving (or ending) choice. The idea of the "Butterfly Effect" is present throughout the game, as choices literally have a Butterfly Effect on the rest of your game - and after these game changing choices are made they are logged in your journal for you to peruse later. The best part? There is no warning of which choice will have a bigger effect than another - something as trivial as moving something from one place to another could have more effect than firing a gun.
I have yet to complete the game, but it is only a matter of time before I finish it. Though I can see replay value being high in a title where there are so many paths you could take. I can't praise this title any more than I have - do yourself a favor if you own a PS4 and pick up Until Dawn.
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