Until Dawn (2015)

Until Dawn is a horror-themed 3D adventure game that was originally developed for PlayStation 3 with PlayStation Move motion controller support. In mid-2014 there was an announcement that the title had been redesigned and was going to hit PlayStation 4 and offer DualShock 4 support. The title was developed by the British studio Supermassive Games, who previously created such games as Tumble, Start the Party and Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock.

Story

Players should not expect Until Dawn to be a psychological horror that slowly builds up the tension. The game’s story is inspired by typical B-class horror movies. The main heroes are teenagers who meet up in a remote mountain retreat to eventually end up cut off from the outside world. They gathered there in the anniversary of the disappearance of their classmate in order to finally put the matter behind them. However, the reunion turns into a nightmare, and the eight youngsters have to fight for their lives.

Gameplay

The game employs third-person perspective, whereas gameplay resembles what we have seen in Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain. As you play you take part in story-driven sequences and make various choices as to how to behave: hide or run, attack or sneak past the enemy, etc. Each decision has an impact on how the game progresses, and from time to time the game faces you with big dilemmas that affect the whole story. These moments are signified with a butterfly icon and thus called the Butterfly Effect.

Until Dawn does not forgive mistakes – your choices are always final. If you make a wrong one, resulting in death of one of your characters, there is no way of turning that around. It is even possible to have all of the heroes killed. This results in dozens of different endings, although completing the game once takes about 9 hours.

Technology

Until Dawn for PS4 is powered by the same technology that was used in Killzone: Shadow Fall, hence featuring high quality visuals.

Other information

It is also noteworthy that the story was written in cooperation with two horror movie screenwriters: Larry Fassenden (The Last Winter, Habit) and Graham Reznick (Stake Land, I Can See You). On the other hand, the protagonists were starred by such actors as Rami Malek (Need for Speed, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2), Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Killing Lincoln), Hayden Panettiere (Heroes, I Love You, Beth Cooper).

Last updated on December 31, 2015